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Look at these examples to see how must, might, may, could, can't and couldn't are used in the past.

An earthquake? That must have been terrifying!
We don't know for sure that Alex broke the coffee table. It might have been the dog.
How did she fail that exam? She can't have studied very much.

Try this exercise to test your grammar.

Read the explanation to learn more.

Grammar explanation

We can use modal verbs for deduction - guessing if something is true using the available information. The modal verb we choose shows how certain we are about the possibility. This page focuses on making deductions about the past.

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

Who told the newspapers about the prime minister's plans? It must have been someone close to him.
The thief must have had a key. The door was locked and nothing was broken.
Oh, good! We've got milk. Mo must have bought some yesterday.

We can use might have or may have + past participle when we think it's possible that something happened.

I think I might have left the air conditioning on. Please can you check?
Police think the suspect may have left the country using a fake passport.

May have is more formal than might have. Could have is also possible in this context but less common.

We use can't have and couldn't have + past participle when we think it's not possible that something happened.

She can't have driven there. Her car keys are still here.
I thought I saw Adnan this morning but it couldn't have been him - he's in Greece this week.

Do this exercise to test your grammar again.

Language level

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Do you know how to use modal verbs to show how certain you are about past events? Test what you know with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.

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1) They might have been made by humans as a hoax.

2) They may have been messages for aliens.

3) They might have been made by an animal.

4) They may have been attacked or kidnapped.

5) They could have been dropped by birds carrying food.

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1. No idea

2. The Nazca people might have been able to see their display from somewhere high.

3. A cat might have causet this.

4. The workers might have had an accident and died. After that, the waves could have carried their corpses away.

5. A cargo plane carrying hazelnuts may have blown up and caused the nut rain.

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1-It could have been just bored farmer.

2-it might have been good artwork from ancient times.

3-it could have been a normal bird.

4-they may have escaped on another ship before they arived.

5-they might have droped off extra crops by plane.