MODALS OF PROBABILITY/POSSIBILITY

MUST - CAN’T (You need a lot of conclusive evidence to use this correctly)

SHOULD – SHOULDN’T (You need a good amount of evidence)

COULD - COULDN’T (You need some evidence)

MAY/MIGHT – MAY NOT/MIGHT NOT (You won’t have any conclusive evidence when you use
this. You’ll be guessing)

NOTE: modals like these can be used in different tenses, such as the past:

1. Amy can’t have been sick and in bed yesterday, I saw her at the mall in the afternoon.
2. Jane might have been at the gym this morning; she usually goes at 7:30 a.m.
3. They might have done their homework already. I saw them at the library yesterday.
4. Alex should have slept all night long, because I gave her a sleeping pill.
5. Robert got excellent grades on all his exams. He must have studied a lot.