But in ordinary speaking, most of us are not so precise, and so you could often say one or the other and mean the exact same thing. that you already have a ticket for the event - than the second one, which could indicate an intention to go more than having taken action to go (i.e. The first one could suggest you've already made arrangements to go - i.e. The meaning here is much more dependent on the context than the first one.Īs for the last two sentences, in many cases they would mean the same thing. For example, maybe I believe you're not hungry because I just saw you eat, or maybe I'm encouraging you not to eat when you appear tempted to have a piece of cake. Hence, our answer should be in present tense not in past tense. 'You're not hungry' is less specific and so it could be used in many situations. May is a modal verb and is used to express the possibility. Perhaps I've just seen you eat a lot of food, for example, and so now it's hard for me to believe that you are still hungry. If I say 'You can't be hungry' to you, it means that I think it's not possible that you are hungry. Modals – deduction (past): Grammar test 2
I thought I saw Adnan this morning but it couldn't have been him – he's in Greece this week.ĭo this exercise to test your grammar again. We use can't have and couldn't have + past participle when we think it's not possible that something happened. Could have is also possible in this context but less common. Police think the suspect may have left the country using a fake passport. I think I might have left the air conditioning on. We can use might have or may have + past participle when we think it's possible that something happened. The door was locked and nothing was broken. Who told the newspapers about the prime minister's plans? It must have been someone close to him. We use must have + past participle when we feel sure about what happened. This page focuses on making deductions about the past.
The modal verb we choose shows how certain we are about the possibility. We can use modal verbs for deduction – guessing if something is true using the available information. They Although Leila was very hungry, she didnt eat very much. Modals – deduction (past): Grammar test 1 AdvertisementChoose the correct answer He French. If you haven’t studied English modal verbs before, we recommend to start from the modals in the present form, learn about their unique features and meanings. How did she fail that exam? She can't have studied very much. These exercises are specifically composed to practise the past modals: how we combine modal verbs must, could, should, might, would with the past infinitive (have + past participle) and what each verb means. We don't know for sure that Alex broke the coffee table. Look at these examples to see how must, might, may, could, can't and couldn't are used in the past.Īn earthquake? That must have been terrifying!
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