Past modals

of deduction
and
speculation
GRAMMAR

LEVEL NUMBER LANGUAGE

Intermediate B2_1055G_EN English
Goals

■ Review modals of
deduction in the present
tense
■ Learn modals of deduction
in the past tense
■ Learn modals of deduction
in the past continuous
tense

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 Ever wanted to know how to guess
what happened in the past?

Let‘s take another look at modal verbs

and see how they can be used to
predict what happened in past events.

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Preview and warm-up

■ In this lesson, you will learn about the past modals of deduction and
speculation.

He must have won the lottery because last week he had nothing and
now he has an exclusive sports car.

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Modals of deduction: must, might/may, can/can’t,
could/couldn’t

■ We use modals of deduction to talk about how certain we are that something
is happening or has happened.
■ Modals of deduction can be used to talk about the present and the past.
■ For the present tense: modal verb + the base form of the main verb (i.e. the
infinitive form without to).
■ There might be a chance of thunderstorms this evening.

main verb in the the rest of the

Subject modal verb
infinitive sentence

We might go swimming.

The brothers must be on holiday.

Her elder sister can‘t allow it.

Her mother may die of her illness.

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The use of the different modals: must, might, may, and could

■ Might, may, and could mean the same thing in most sentences.
■ They all suggest that something is possibly the case, but that it is not certain.
■ Must is used to guess what is the case when there is a lot of evidence. Must
expresses a strong sense of certainty.

It might be the case that the crocodile

ate the baby, but we are not certain.

It absolutely must be the case that the

crocodile ate the baby. There is no
other reasonable possibility.

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Modals of deduction (past): modal verb + perfect infinitive

■ As with the last example, must is used when we are certain that something
happened in the past.
■ Might, may, and could are used when we think it is possible that something
could have happened in the past.
■ To talk about the past with modal verbs we use this structure:
■ must + have + past participle.

Modals of deduction (past)

She must have crashed. (expressing

certainty)
She could have crashed; there was no salt
on the road. (possibility)
She may have crashed, but we will probably
never know for sure. (possibility)
It must have been the ice on the road.
(certainty)

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The modal verb can’t

■ Can and can’t are also modal verbs..

■ Can’t means that something is not possibly the case. There is no evidence to
support a conclusion that the event or thing happened.
■ can’t + have + past participle

It can’t have been her. She was an excellent swimmer and always
canoed safely. She knew not to swim in rivers full of crocodiles!

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Further example sentences

■ Here are some more examples of deductive modals talking about the past.

The writer of the opera might have been

wrong about his heroine.

She must have been a trained singer. Her

voice had so much power.

He could have been wrong about her

passion for eternal love. She was more
cynical than that.

He can’t have gotten the scenes in

Austria right. She played in Hungary
during that period, not Austria.

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Which modal verb would you use in these situations?
Might, may, must, could, or can’t? More than one answer is
possible.

1. There is a 3. It is not possible

2. You have to go
possibility you will for you to attend a
to a job interview.
go swimming. meeting.

4. There is some 6. You have an

5. You are deciding
possibility the obligation to
whether or not to
plant in your living attend a friend’s
move house.
room will survive. funeral.

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Transform these sentences into the past with a modal of
deduction (modal + have + past participle)

1. The girl is drowning. The girl must have drowned.

_______________________________________________________________

2. The tree is probably dying. _________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________
3. The boy is probably kissing the _________________________________________
girl.

_______________________________________________________________
4. The naughty child is hiding the _________________________________________
violin.

_______________________________________________________________

5. The elephant is alive. _________________________________________

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What could have happened to the girl?

Complete the text with a modal verb construction.

Then continue the conversation and take turns predicting what happened.
For example: She must have run away from her family; well, she could have done that,
but…

Detective 1: Her body has not been found and the dog
is still missing. She _______________ alive for all we know.
Detective 2: You are forgetting that we have found her
shoe and the dog’s lead by the river. She _______________
drowned. We will have to start a bigger investigation.
Detective 1: But I have had the officers search the forest
and the place in the river and they have found nothing.
She _______________ lost her shoe and dropped the lead
by accident.
Detective 2: You are too certain. She _______________
alive, but I have the feeling something more sinister has
happened. We _______________ talk more with her father.
Her mother was acting strangely.
Detective 1: I agree, but I _______________ been a bit nicer
to her at the interview. I was in a hurry.
Detective 2: We _______________ get back to work and find
this girl.

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Writing with modals

The police investigation has been closed. The girl is still missing. The police have a
lot of evidence, but they have not found the girl so they must deduct what
happened to her in order to close the case.
Write a short paragraph that states what the police think either could have
happened or must have happened to the girl.
Share your responses with your teacher.

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Modals of deduction and the continuous tense in the past

■ Modals of deduction are frequently used with the continuous tense: - ing verbs
■ The structure is modal + have + been + verb in the - ing form
■ Example: He could have been living in the old hut by the river. (past)
■ This sentence shows that the action that could have happened continuously
over a period of time in the past.

Deductive modals in the continuous tense

The man must have been living on the streets.

The children could have been distracting the driver.

The woman might have been eating the dead animals.

The cows can’t have been feeding properly.

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Past negatives and contractions

■ In informal English, not is contracted with the modal verb.

■ I mustn’t have been…, I couldn’t have been…, I mightn’t have been…, I can’t
have been…
■ May is not contracted: I may not have been…

I may not have been eating enough food.

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Further examples of deductive modals in the continuous
tense

The continuous tense shows that something happened over a period of time.

The woman must have been reading

aloud in the library.

The girl could have been lying.

The girl mightn’t have been singing her

best.

The young couple may not have been

planning on having a child so soon.

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Other ways of making predictions about the past

■ Another way to express a prediction about the past is to use the verbs will,
should, or ought. These forms are used when you are guessing what has
happened.
■ Will + have + past participle: They will have left the city already.
■ Should + have + past participle: Aaron should have left work by now.
■ Ought to + have + past participle: They ought to have finished by now.

Further examples

He will have already signed the contract.

Harold should have gone by now.

She ought to have left by now.

He will have found another partner by now.

Molly should have finished work by now.

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Two meanings of should have

■ Note that should have is used when we think something happened in the past.
■ Should have also means that it was a good idea to do something, but that this
good idea did not happen.

They should have left the cinema by

now.

We should have gone to the cinema

earlier.

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Two meanings of ought to

■ Ought to + have + past participle has a very similar meaning to should have +
past participle.
■ However, ought to is also commonly used to talk about the present and future.
■ It expresses a moral duty or obligation and is similar in meaning to must.

He ought to have accompanied the

children down the street. (moral
reason, past)

We ought to visit the children’s concert

next weekend. (talking about the
future)

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Using modals and the continuous tense

Practise making sentences with modals in the continuous tense.

Example: Andrew didn’t answer the phone; he must have been driving
home.

may
hike

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What could George have been doing?

Meet George. George never answers the phone, replies to emails, or

pays the bills on time. Using modals of deduction and the continuous
tense, practise saying what George has been doing. Be creative.

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Complete the dialogue with negative modals

You _______________ worry. I am sure the police will find your missing
bird. It is probably just hiding somewhere in a tree.

But that _______________ be! My bird can’t fly. It has always lived in a
cage. It couldn’t even fly out of its cage. The cat must have eaten it.

You are worrying too much. The cat _______________ have opened the
cage door, so it _______________ have eaten the bird.

I _______________ not ever see that bird again and what am I to think of
the cat? He just sits there looking so innocent. I _______________ blame
him. That’s just what cats do.

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 Should have and ought to have

?? ? ??
? ?? ?
? ? ???
?
?
?
?
? ?
?
?? ? ? ??
What should you

? ?
have done last What ought you do
week that you in the next six
didn’t do? months?

? ?
????????????
????????? ? ? ? ? ?
What ought you

? ? ?
have done in

?
What will you have
?
your life that
you haven’t yet done by the end of
done?
the day?

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Using modals to guess

Where do you think this photograph was taken?

(Example: It could have been taken in Africa; It must have been taken
in…)

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Reflect on the goals

Go back to the second slide of the lesson and check

if you have achieved all the goals of the lesson.

yes no

_______________________________ _______________________________
_______________________________ _______________________________

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Reflect on this lesson

Think about everything you have seen in this lesson.

What were the most difficult activities or words? The easiest?

+ _______________________________
_______________________________

+ _______________________________
_______________________________

– _______________________________
_______________________________

– _______________________________
_______________________________
If you have time, go over
the most difficult slides again

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27 www.lingoda.com
Exercise p. 10
I could/might go swimming; 2. I must go to a job interview; 3. I can’t attend the
meeting. 4. The plant may/might/could survive. 5. I might/may move house. 6. I
must attend a friend’s funeral.
Exercise p. 11
The tree might have died. The boy may have kissed the girl. The naughty child could
have hidden the violin. The elephant must have lived.
Exercise p. 12
She may be alive. She might/could have drowned. She must have lost her shoe and
dropped the lead by accident. She might be alive…We must talk more with her
father. I agree, but I could have been nicer… We must get back to work.
Exercise p. 22
You mustn’t worry…; But that can’t be! The cat couldn’t have opened the cage door,
so it can’t have eaten the bird. I may not ever see that bird again. I mustn’t blame
him.
Answer key
Homework

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Using modals to guess what happened in the past

Using the modal verbs covered in this lesson, write two sentences using
each modal verb in a continuous and non-continuous sentence.
Be creative!

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Homework writing activity

Using modal verbs, write a paragraph that outlines what your

best friend or partner must have or might have done last night.
Try to use modal constructions that include negatives, the
continuous tense, and the verbs should have and ought to
have.
He couldn’t
He might have My best friend couldn’t have been at
have been very
gone to the pub
busy because home last night because he has a
to watch the
he rang me
football. concert tonight and needed to
twice.
prepare, but he might have gone out to
He mustn’t visit his girlfriend.
He could’ve
have gone out
been
because he
babysitting my
starts work
friend’s child.
early today.

He may not He ought to

have done have come over
anything at all. for a beer.

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