MODALS
 CAN
 ABILITIY
 COULD
 PAST ABILITY
 MAY
 PROBABILITY
 MIGHT
 PROBABILITY
 SHOULD
 ADVISIBILITY
 OUGHT TO
 ADVISIBILITY
 MUST
 OBLIGATION
 HAVE TO
 OBLIGATION
 NEED TO
 NECESSITY
CANKAYA UNIVERSITY - OFFICE OF
BASIC AND ELECTIVE COURSESENGLISH UNIT
ADVISIBILITY IN THE PAST
 SHOULD
 COULD
+
HAVE
+
V3
 MIGHT
These modals often comunicate a sense of regret or blame
related to past.
CANKAYA UNIVERSITY - OFFICE OF
BASIC AND ELECTIVE COURSESENGLISH UNIT
 I should have applied to college
(I didn’t apply to college, and I’m sorry)
 You might have told me.
(you didn’t tell me. That was wrong)
 She shouldn’t have lied.
(she lied, that was bad.)
CANKAYA UNIVERSITY - OFFICE OF
BASIC AND ELECTIVE COURSESENGLISH UNIT
SPECULATIONS & CONCLUSIONS ABOUT THE PAST
• We use may have V3, might have V3 and could have V3
to express speculations, or possibilities about a past
situation.
• These speculations are usually based on facts.
• FACT: -Archeologists found pictures of creatures with
wings.
• SPECULATIONS:
- Space beings may have visited that culture.
- The pictures might have marked a landing strip for
a spacecraft.
- The pictures could have shown mythological
creatures.
CANKAYA UNIVERSITY - OFFICE OF BASIC AND ELECTIVE COURSES- ENGLISH UNIT
SPECULATIONS & CONCLUSIONS ABOUT THE PAST
• We use must have V3 and had to have V3 when we are
almost certain about our conclusions.
• FACT:
- The Easter Island statues are made of stone.
• CONCLUSIONS:
- The islanders must have had sharp tools.
- The stone must not have been too hard for the tools
they had.
CANKAYA UNIVERSITY - OFFICE OF BASIC AND ELECTIVE COURSES- ENGLISH UNIT
SPECULATIONS & CONCLUSIONS ABOUT THE PAST
had to have V3
• FACT:
- The statues are very big.
• CONCLUSIONS:
- The statues had to have been difficult to move.
CANKAYA UNIVERSITY - OFFICE OF BASIC AND ELECTIVE COURSES- ENGLISH UNIT
• couldn’t have V3 often expresses a feeling of disbelief or
impossibility.
• E.g.:
1. He couldn’t have drawn that map! He didn’t have
enough information about it.
2. She couldn’t have come to my house yesterday
afternoon. She had an important exam.
CANKAYA UNIVERSITY - OFFICE OF BASIC AND ELECTIVE COURSES- ENGLISH UNIT
•
We don’t usually use may have V3 or might have V3 in
questions about possibility. Instead, we use could have
V3.
•
•
•
E.g.:
1. Could the Egyptian have built the pyramids?
2. Could the tourists have damaged those old stones in
the museum?
3. Could my sister have sent me an e-mail?
•
CANKAYA UNIVERSITY - OFFICE OF BASIC AND ELECTIVE COURSES- ENGLISH UNIT
SPECULATION EXAMPLES:
1. It is likely that the Egyptians built the pyramids.
The pyramids must have been built by the Egyptians.
2. Probably, my brother didn’t pass the exam. He didn’t
study at all.
My brother mustn’t have passed the exam.
3. My sister probably finished her assignment.
My sister must have finished her assigment.
4. Perhaps my cousin went to İstanbul.
My cousin might have gone to İstanbul.
5. It is very unlikely that my son saw an elephant in the
school’s yard.
My son couldn’t have seen an elephant in the school’s
yard.
CANKAYA UNIVERSITY - OFFICE OF BASIC AND ELECTIVE COURSES- ENGLISH UNIT
It is time for activities 
CANKAYA UNIVERSITY - OFFICE OF BASIC AND ELECTIVE COURSES- ENGLISH UNIT