Past modal verbs

PAST MODAL VERBS

MODALS MEANING
MUST HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE LOGICAL DEDUCTION
(We use it to say that something almost certainly happened based on the facts or evidence that we possess)
SHOULD HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE REGRET
(We use it to talk about something that didn’t happen but should have happened OR something that happened but should not have happened)
COULD HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE PAST UNREALIZED POSSIBILITY
(We use it to mention that something was possible but didn’t happen)
MIGHT HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE PAST POSSIBILITY
(We use it when we are not sure if something happened or not)
MAY HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE PAST REALIZED POSSIBILITY
(We used it to emphasize something that happened in the past)
CAN’T HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE LOGICAL IMPOSSIBILITY
(We use it to say that something did not happen because it was impossible according to the facts or evidence we possess)
HAD TO + INFINITIVE WITHOUT TO PAST OBLIGATION
(We use it to talk about past obligation)

Exercises:

1. Fill in the blanks with the correct past modal verb + the verb in parenthesis.

a) A: I just lost it! I got so angry that I yelled at my boss yesterday.
B: Really?! What happened? Did you get fired?
A: No, not really. But he was really upset with me.
B: Well, you ____________________________ (yell) at your boss. He ________________________ (fire) you! Next time try and keep your temper!
b) Yesterday I ______________________ (work) late because I ________________ (finish) a sales report for my 08:00 a.m. meeting.
c) No wonder you got a bad grade. You didn’t study! You ____________________ (study). You ________________________ (get) a good grade if you had studied.
d) We ________________________ (lose) the game but we won the championship.
e) The lights are out. They ___________________________ (go) to sleep.
f) This car is amazing! It __________________________ (cost) a fortune!
g) Police officer: She ________________________ (kill) him. She was out of the country