Grammar

Modals in the past

I can use modal verbs to talk about past actions.

4 Underline the incorrect modal verb and replace it with a

more suitable one. Sometimes more than one answer is
possible.
1 They mustn' t have seen Max - he's away on holiday.
2 Joe knew about the strike. He must have warned me !
3 I couldn' t have yawned when Tim told that story. It
was a bit rude of me.
4 It was so noisy. It's possible he ought not to have heard us.
5 I emailed Erin a week ago, so she can't have read it by now.
5 Read the Look out box. Then find examples of needn't
have and didn't need to in exercise 2.
1 Look at the photo. Where do you think this is ?
2 iTilll Listen and complete the dialogue. needn't have / didn't need to
Jo Hi, Tom. How was your trip to Japan ? 1 We use needn't have + past participle to say an action
Tom It was a disaster ! I read about their that was done was unnecessary.
customs beforehand - then 12 not have The cafe lent open yet. I needn’t have got here eo early!
embarrassed myself so badly. 2 We use didn't need to + infinitive to say an action was
Jo Why ? What happened ? unnecessary, whether or not it was done.
Tom Well, Aki's parents took us to dinner one night. I The bus stopped nearby, so I didn’t need to walk far.
had a really bad cold. Aki 3 have told me not
to blow my nose in public ! Everyone kept staring. »- Grammar Builder 3.3 pages 121-122
They 4 have thought I was so rude ! When
Aki told me later, I felt terrible about it 6 Look at the sentence. Are both verbs correct, or only one ?
Jo I'm sure you needn' t have done. How could you Explain the difference between them.
have known ? The hotel provided towels, so I didn 't need to take /
Tom Anyway, I bought a gift for Aki 's parents. I sent needn't have taken any.
it on Monday, so it 5 have arrived by now. I 7 Complete the sentences with a suitable modal verb and
probably didn' t need to send them anything, but the correct form of the verbs in brackets.
I really wanted to apologise. 1 Dan looks tired. He (sleep) badly last night.
3 Read the Learn this! box. Match the modal verbs from 2 Luckily, Ela gave me her spare ticket, so I
exercise 2 with the rules. (buy) one.
3 I'm not certain, but I ( leave) my passport at
I LEARN THIS! Modals in the past
home.
a We use may ( not ) / might ( not ) / could have + past 4 The restaurant 's empty. We (book) a table
participle to speculate about the past. We don' t use after all.
couldn't have + past participle in this way.
8 SPEAKING Work in pairs. Take turns to be A and B.
She might have been worried about something.
Student A: tell Student B about a situation below.
b We use should / shouldn't have + past participle or Student B: listen to Student A and respond using past modals.
ought ( not ) to have + past participle to say what the 1 My best friend isn' t talking to me.
right or wrong way to behave was.
2 My brother thinks he saw a ghost yesterday.
He shouldn ’t have left early. He ought to have stayed.
3 I haven' t got any money at all this month.
c We sometimes use an exclamation with might have
+ past participle or could have + past participle (but I had an argument with Minh and he won’ t talk to me now.
not may have + past participle or negative forms) to
tell somebody how we think they should have behaved. You shouldn’t have argued. You must have upset him.
You might have offered me a biscuit! I was starving!
d We use must have + past participle and can’t /
couldn't have + past participle to make logical e We use should have + past participle and was supposed to +
deductions about the past. infinitive to talk about things we expect to have happened.
They can’t have known about the meeting. She left an hour ago, eo she should have reached the airport by now.
They must have misunderstood youremail. She was supposed to take the tickets with her.

5E Unit 3 Customs and culture