Degrees of certainty about past events
Objective: Express strong conclusions, impossibility and uncertainty about events in the past.
Explanation
Use must have for a strong logical conclusion, cannot or could not have for an impossible conclusion, and may, might or could have for an uncertain possibility.
Examples
- They must have misunderstood the instructions.
- The document might have been deleted accidentally.
Practice
Choose the correct answer.
The lights are off and the car is gone. They ___ already.
Practice
Choose the correct answer.
He knew nothing about the change, so he ___ the email.
Practice
Choose the correct answer.
The taxi arrived late because it ___ in traffic.