2020-03-05 Grammar: speculation about the past

Greg Malivuk
gmalivuk@staffordhouse.com
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk - Notes from all classes
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Homework: finish this exercise (4, 5, 6, 7)
4 a must
  b may/might/could
  c may/might/could
  d couldn’t/can’t
  e must not
5 a must
  b couldn’t
  c should
  d may/might/could
6 a must not
  b must
7 a should (“I know he’ll find a good position” = I don’t expect him to have trouble)
  b may/might/could
  c must not
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To make speculation and inferences about the past, use the perfect form after the modal:
	He has a wet umbrella, so it must be raining outside. (present)
	He had a wet umbrella, so it must have been raining outside. (past)
	I don’t know why she’s absent. She might be sick today. (present)
	I don’t know why she was absent. She might have been sick yesterday. (past)
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p. 265 exercise 8 - Complete these with appropriate modals for past speculation
1 a can’t have been / couldn’t have been (He doesn’t have a phone, so this is impossible.)
  b may/might/could have been (This is a possibility, but the speaker thinks it’s unlikely.)
  c must have been
4 a couldn’t have disappeared
  b should have been
  c may/might/could have been
  d must have left (This is the final conclusion, so it’s what we’re most sure about.)
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Old Things handout - With your group, speculate about what each object might have been used for. Use correct modals for past speculation. Try to agree on an answer for each one.
1 This was a pillow.
2 It could have been to arrest people.
  It might have been a bracelet.
  It may have been a stirrup for riding a horse.
	It was a brooch or clasp to hold clothes together.
3 These could have been fans.
  They might have been for shaving.
  They could have been a mirror.
	The one on the left was a razor and the one on the right was a mirror.
4 They could have been masks.
  They might have been used to hold knives.
	They were snow goggles.
5 It was a map.