Past Modals
Modal Verbs: Speculating about past events
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100 % certain |
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| We often speculate, or make “best guesses”, about past situations based on facts that we have. The modal that we choose depends on how certain we are about our speculation. | Affirmative
Must
have |
Negative
Can’t
have |
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0% certain |
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| When you are almost 100 percent certain that something was possible, use must have or had to have. |
The
statues are very big. · They must have been hard to move.
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| When you are less certain, use may have, might have, or could have. |
The
islanders were able to carve the stone. · The stone may have been quite soft.
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| When you are almost 100 percent certain that something was impossible, use can’t have or couldn’t have. | · The islanders couldn’t have moved the stone! It was too heavy. |
| When you are slightly less certain, use must not. | · They must not have moved it without help. |
| Use may not have or might not have when you are less certain. | · The islanders might not have moved the statues over land. They could have used boats. |
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There is a man badly
injured in the hospital. Complete what his friends are saying about him,
using each of these verb forms.
“He __________ be in hospital for weeks.” “He __________ recover completely.” “But it ___________ be worse. He ____________ been killed.” “This is a very good hospital. He ___________ get better medical treatment anywhere else.” “The other car was on the wrong side of the road. The driver ___________ been drunk.
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Created by Adriane de S. S. Romano
2. Exercise
3. Exercise (present & past)
4. Exercise (present & past)
5. Exercise (present & past)
6. Exercise (present & past)
8. Song - The day before you came
9. Implied Meaning of Past Modals
10. Use of "should have / should not have"
11. Use of "must have / must not have"
12. Use of "may have / may not have"
14. Past Modals - Class activity - Teacher's notes