Lingoda Group Class Notes 4

My first grammar class with Lingoda.

Topic: Past modals of deduction Relatedskill: Grammar
Date: 17 May 2024 Teacher: Ali (UK)Classmates:
- 1 from French

What I've learned

Idioms

to bet your bottom dollar - Meaning: to say you are certain about something - Example: You can bet your bottom dolar it was Jask who arrived last.

Grammar

Past modals(情态动词) of deduction(推论)

We can use modal verbs to makedeductions about actions or happenings in the past. Wecan also call them modals of past probability.

• Positive

  Past models	Meaning	Notes
  must have	Feel certain(确信) to happen
  might have	Feel possible to happen	The least formal way
  may have	Feel possible to happen	The most formal way
  could have	Feel possible to happen

• Negative

  Past models	Meaning
  may not have	Feel possible to happen
  might not have	Feel possible to happen
  can't have	Feel impossible to happen
  couldn't have	Feel impossible to happen

Must have

We use must have + past participle when we feel certain about what happened

• He must have misunderstood my directions. Why else would he be late?
• I must have written the number down incorrectly. That number doesn't exist.

Might or may have

• We use might have or may have + past participle when we think it’s possible that something happened.
• The negative forms are might not have or may not have.

• They may have been at the restaurant yesterday, but I didn't see them.
• She might have gone out to buy a coffee.

Could have

We also use could have + past participle to mean something was possible

• She could have gone out to buy a coffee.
• He could have been asleep.

Can't & couldn't have

• We use can’t have + past participle when we feel something wasn’t possible.
• We use couldn’t have + past participle in the same way.

• She can't have gone to the beach. She hates sand!
• I couldn’t have been at the office that day.

Review

4.5/5

The content of this class is a little bit hard for me, because I am really bad at grammar. Ali's teaching style is slightly different from that of my previous teachers. He teaches every part on the learning materials but slightly changed the context of the exercises, which allows us to answer the questions more creatively. It's interesting and gives us more practice.

Resources

• Learning materials