MODALS IN THE PRESENT- REMINDER-

Obligation You must / have to stop when the traffic lights are red.

Advice You should see a doctor.

Prohibition You mustn't smoke here.

Ability I can run fast.

Certainty He has a Rolls Royce. He must be very rich.

He can't be American. His English is terrible.

Permission Can I go out?

Possibility It may / can / could / might rain. It's cloudy.

Lack of You don't have to / needn't buy any tomatoes. There are

necessity plenty in the fridge.

MODALS IN THE PAST

Grammar explanation
We can use modal verbs for deduction – guessing if something is true using the available
information. The modal verb we choose shows how certain we are about the possibility. This
page focuses on making deductions about the past.

must have+ participle

We use must have + past participle when we feel sure about what happened.

Who told the newspapers about the prime minister's plans? It must have been someone close
to him.

The thief must have had a key. The door was locked and nothing was broken.

Oh, good! We've got milk. Mo must have bought some yesterday.
Should have+participle
I should have phoned Anna to congratulate her on her remarkable resultas in the
final exam

might have / may have + participle

We can use might have or may have + past participle when we think it's possible that
something happened. 

I think I might have left the air conditioning on. Please can you check?

Police think the suspect may have left the country using a fake passport.

May have is more formal than might have. Could have is also possible in this context but less
common.

can't have / couldn't have+ participle 

We use can't have and couldn't have + past participle when we think it's not possible that
something happened.

She can't have driven there. Her car keys are still here.

I thought I saw Adam this morning but it couldn't have been him – he's in Greece this week.

MODALS IN THE PRESENT vs. MODALS IN THE PAST

Obligation You must / have to stop when You had to stop.

the traffic lights are red.

Advice You should see a doctor. You should have seen a

doctor

Prohibition You mustn't smoke here. You mustn't have

smoked there.

Ability I can run fast. I could run fast. now I am

old.

Certainty He has a Rolls Royce. He must have been rich.

He must be very rich. He had a big house and an
He can't be American. His English expensive car.
is terrible. He can't have written that
poem. He was illiterate.
Permission Can I go out? She could drive her
father's car when she was
only 15.

Possibility It may / can / could / I guess it may / can /

might rain. It's cloudy. could / might have
been Lacy on the phone.

Lack of You don't have to / You didn't have to / didn't

necessity needn't buy any tomatoes. There need to buy tomatoes.
are plenty in the fridge.

EXERCISES: MODALS IN THE PAST

https://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-exercise-modals-present-past.php

https://speakspeak.com/english-grammar-exercises/intermediate/modal-verbs-for-past-
probability-must-have-cant-have-couldnt-have-may-have