Past Modals for Degree of Certainty
We can use past modals to talk about how sure we are that something happened.
The general form for using past modals is:
modal + have + past participle
The charts below demonstrate how to correctly use past modals.
Degree FACT
Example sentence
He had a meeting with a
client.
The speaker is 100% sure. This
is a fact.
Almost 100% Sure
Comment
He must have had a meeting
with a client. The speaker is making a
logical conclusion and is almost sure (but not completely sure) that Mike had a
meeting with a client. If Mike always goes to lunch with the speaker unless he
has a meeting with a client, then it would be reasonable to say that he must
have had a meeting with a client.
Possibility
He may have
had a meeting with a client.
He might
have had a meeting with a client.
He could
have* had a meeting with a client.
The speaker
is simply mentioning a possibility here. All three examples in the first column
are ways of saying “It’s possible that
Mike had a meeting with a client.”
Question: Why didn’t Mike come to lunch with us?
Degree
Example
sentence
Comment
FACT
He wasn’t
in the office.
The speaker
is sure that Mike was not available. This is a fact.
Impossible
He couldn’t
have been in the office.
The speaker
believes that it was impossible for Mike to have been in the office. Maybe the
speaker spoke to Mike right before lunch and Mike said he was 100 miles away
visiting a client.
Almost 100%
Sure
He must not
have been in the office. (not mustn’t have been)**
The speaker
is making a logical conclusion. The speaker is 95% sure that Mike was not in
the office.
Possibility
He may not
have been in the office.
He might
not have been in the office. (not mightn’t have been)
The speaker
is simply mentioning a possibility here. All three examples in the first column
are ways of saying “It’s possible that Mike was not in the office.”
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