Grammar for CAE and Proficiency by Martin Hewings

Chapter 4: Modals 2

B Grammar

1 may / might / could + have + past participle

may / might / could + be + present participle
START POINT
But of course he might be Iying. (not But of course, he can be lying) (= now: it's possible he's lying)
They could have got in through window up on the fourth floor. (in the past: it's possible they got in)

With a future time reference we can use may / might / could + be + present participle and may / might /
could + have + past participle to say it is possible that something Will happen in the future:

Ray's flight was cancelled, so he may / might / could be arriving much later than expected.
The thieves may / might / could have left the country by the time we get to the airport.

We can also use might / could + have + past participle (not may) to criticise someone because they didn't
do something we think they should have:

A: I told the head cleaner he could go home.

B: You might have asked me first. I wanted to ask him a few questions.

2 may/ might / could + have been + present participle

We can use may / might / could + have been + present participle to talk about situations or activities that
were possibly happening at a particular past time:

Do you think he might have been expecting them?

3 would / Will + have + past participle

We use would have + past participle to talk about an imaginary past situation:

People would have seen them from the street below.

 To show that we think a past situation actually happened, we use wilt have + past participle:
If they smashed a window to get in, people living nearby will certainly have heard something.

We can use would have been able to to talk about a possible past ability:

You don't think they would have been able to jump from the block across the road, do you?
4 should / ought to + have + past participle
We use should / ought to + have + past participle to talk about something that didn't happen in the past,
particularly when we want to imply some regret or criticism:

He must know that he ought to have called the police as soon as he found the door open.
We should have been contacted earlier. (passive)

We can also use should / ought to + have + past participle to talk about an expectation that something
happened, has happened, or Will happen:

The forensic team should have finished examining the building by now.

5 must / can't / couldn't + have + past participle

START POINT
So someone else must have opened the door from the inside. (active)
It must have been opened from the inside, (passive)
We can use must have + past participle to draw a conclusion about something in the past.

To draw a conclusion about a past event, saying that it was not possible, we use can't have + past participle
or couldn't have + past participle:
One man alone couldn't have carried all those paintings. (not … mustn’t have carried)

To draw a conclusion about something happening at a particular past time, saying that it was likely or
certain, we use must have been + present participle:

The driver must have been waiting nearby.

6 must have (had) to

We can use must have to to say that we draw a conclusion based on what we know about a present
situation:
He must have to know the entry code, too.

and must have had to to conclude something about a past situation:

The robbers must have had to bring a van around to the front of the building.

7 must be + present participle

We can use must be + present participle to draw a conclusion about something happening around the time
of speaking. We can use must be + present participle or must be going to to draw a conclusion about
something likely to happen in the future:
I’ll speak to the curator of the museum later. She must be feeling devastated.

They're taking the head cleaner to the police car. They must be going to arrest him. or

They must be arresting him.

8 dare and need
START POINT
He gets annoyed easily, so I daren't criticise him. / A good car needn't cost a lot.
She dared me to jump across, / We need to talk to them.
Dare and need can be used either as modal verbs (+ bare infinitive) or ordinary verbs (+ to-infinitive).

As modals, dare and need are mostly used in negative contexts. If not doesn't follow the verb, dare can be
used either with or without to:

But no one would have dared (to) climb up the outside of the building.

 We can't include to after needn't:

We needn't interview everyone in the block. (not ... We needn’t to interview…)

9 had better
We can use had better instead of should / ought to, especially in spoken English, to say that we think it is a
good idea (or not) to do something:

We'd better find out all we can about that guard as soon as possible.
We'd better not go in until the forensic team has finished.

 We use should or ought to when we talk about the past or make general comments:
I should / ought to have phoned her earlier.

People living around here should / ought to support the police more. (not People living around here had
better…)

10 be allowed to
We can use could or was / were allowed to to say that in the past someone had general permission to do
something:

Only the security guard could / was allowed to stay in the museum after it closed.

To talk about permission on a particular occasion, we use was / were allowed to (not could):

Although he had no ID, the man was allowed to enter the building.

 In negative sentences we can use either could or was / were allowed to when talking about
permission in general or on particular occasions:
They let reporters into the crime scene, hut they couldn't / weren't allowed to take photos.
11 be supposed to
We can use be supposed to to express a less strong obligation than with should or ought to. Using be
supposed to often suggests that events do not happen as expected:

The entry code is supposed to be known only by the security guard. (= suggests that it was in fact known
by Others)

We can use be supposed to to report what people think is true:

The building is supposed to be one of the most secure in the country. (= people say it is.)

(not the building should / ought to be…)

12 Other verbs with modal meanings

A number of other verbs are used with similar meanings to modal verbs:

No one is to enter the building until the police give permission. (= obligation — formal)
Everyone present was required to give a statement to the police. (= obligation)
How did they manage to get in? (= ability)
We have succeeded in narrowing down the list of suspects. (= ability)
He might be prepared to tell us more. (= willingness)
The suspects have refused to co-operate. (= unwillingness)
From the evidence we have found, it follows that it was a carefully planned operation. (= conclusion —
formal)
We can conclude that the paintings were stolen by professionals. (= conclusion)