(we know it was IMPOSSIBLE for her to do it) The printer’s been broken for the past week, so she couldn’t have printed out the report.(we draw the conclusion that she did not do it) I don’t see the report here – she must not have printed it out.Here’s an example that illustrates the difference between must not have and couldn’t have:
But Eric couldn’t have reached the cookies on the top shelf he must have asked his older brother to get them.Ĭan’t have is also possible, but it is much less common than couldn’t have. Martha couldn’t have takenyour notebook she wasn’t even in class yesterday.
When we are certain that something was IMPOSSIBLE When we draw the conclusion that something did NOT happen There was one banana left, but now it’s gone.She must have spent a lot of time in the sun lately. When we draw the conclusion that something DID happen When we consider some present evidence and draw a reasonably certain conclusion about what happened in the past, we use must have and couldn’t have plus the past participle of the verb. For each one, fill in the blank with must (if you think it is true) or can’t (if you think it’s not possible). You’ll see five pictures accompanied by sentences. (we are very certain he is NOT a policeman)Ĭarla works every day from 9 AM to 5 PM. (we are very certain, because of his uniform and what he is doing) Note that these verbs, like all modal verbs, are followed by an infinitive without to.ĭo this exercise to test your grammar again.For example, if you see this guy, you can say: It can't be easy for him, looking after three kids on his own. We use can't when we feel sure that something is not possible. They all have the same meaning, but may is more formal than might and could. We regret to inform you that some services may be delayed due to the bad weather. We use might, may or could to say that we think something is possible but we're not sure. You must be freezing out there! might, may, could He must live near here because he always walks to work.Ĭome inside and get warm.
We use must when we feel sure that something is true or it's the only realistic possibility. This page focuses on making deductions about the present or future. 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. Modals – deduction (present): Grammar test 1 You can't be bored already! You've only been here five minutes. They might be at work or they could be in the car. Look at these examples to see how must, might, may, could and can't can be used.
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