Hi guys!
In the 'Modal Verbs' post in this blog (see here) I explained to you everything we are going to study this year about modal auxiliaries (next year we'll even expand all this!). Those modals are called present modals, since they are followed by present infinitives and they make reference to the present time -and the future. In this post, we are referring to the past time, I mean, modals in the past.
Must/May/Might/Can't + have + past participle are used to express certainty and possibility in the past.
Peter must have been in his office when the window glass broke
Jennifer may have passed her exams
She can't have killed the fox on her own
Should + have + past participle can be used to make an
assumption about something that has probably happened, if everything is
as we expect:
The train should have left by now
Phone Anna now, she should have come back home already
It can also express regret in the past:
I shouldn't have told Peter about his girlfriend's affair
Mat should have studied harder
For practice:
Exercise1, Exercise2, Exercise3
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