Page 236 - Grammar_Explorer_3_Amy_Cooper_&_Samuela_Eckstut_Didier1_1 (1)_Neat

LEARN

8.4 Possibility: Past

Modal + (No?) + Have + Past Participle
Charlie may have done the painting, but I’m not sure.
May (Not) Pat may not have gone to bed yet. It’s only 9:30 p.m.

- Pam might have been sick. | know she went home early.
Might (Nof) :
They might not have wanted to go to the party.

Could/ We could have crashed. We were lucky you saw the other car coming.

Couldn't Alex couldn't have stolen the money. He was at work at the time of the robbery.

1. To express possibility in the past, use a
modal + have + the past participle of a verb.
a. Use may (no?) have, might (no?) have, a. He may have gotten lost. Give him a call.
or could have when it’s possible that The mail might not have come yet. I'll
something happened. check.
b. Could have is also used to express b. He could have dropped the class, but he
something that was possible but did not decided not to.
happen.

2.Be careful! Couldn't have is used when the Her computer crashed while she was working,
speaker or writer believes the past action so she couldn't have finished the research.
was not possible. (It was impossible for her to have finished the
research.)

38.Use could have to ask questions about ¥ Could | have signed up for the wrong class?
possibility. May have is not used to ask X May | have signed up for the wrong class?
about possibility. Might have is rarely used.

Complete the exercises.

Complete the conversation about the terra cotta warriors. Use the words in parentheses and
the correct form of the verbs.

Guide: Notice how realistic the faces of the warriors are.
/
Rita: How (1) could the ancient artists have created _ (the ancient artists

could / create) such realistic faces?
Guide: I don’t know, but (2) (they / could / ask) people
to pose for them while they carved the statues, just like artists do today.

Felix: And why is there one soldier with a green face?
Guide: Some experts think (3) (the artist /
could / not do) that on purpose. They think the artist made a mistake.
Felix: (4) (the artist / could / be)
color blind?

Guide: Yes, maybe, but there’s another possible explanation. The color green was a symbol of

youth and energy in ancient China. (5)
(the artist / could / paint) the soldier’s face green to show his bravery.

218 MODALS: PART 2
Copyright 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.