(we draw the conclusion that she did not do it) Here’s an example that illustrates the difference between must not have and couldn’t have: But Eric couldn’t have reached the cookies on the top shelf he must have asked his older brother to get them.Ĭan’t have is also possible, but it is much less common than couldn’t have.
Martha couldn’t have takenyour notebook she wasn’t even in class yesterday.When we are certain that something was IMPOSSIBLE When we draw the conclusion that something did NOT happen There was one banana left, but now it’s gone.She must have spent a lot of time in the sun lately. When we draw the conclusion that something DID happen When we consider some present evidence and draw a reasonably certain conclusion about what happened in the past, we use must have and couldn’t have plus the past participle of the verb. For each one, fill in the blank with must (if you think it is true) or can’t (if you think it’s not possible). You’ll see five pictures accompanied by sentences.
(we are very certain he is NOT a policeman)Ĭarla works every day from 9 AM to 5 PM. (we are very certain, because of his uniform and what he is doing) For example, if you see this guy, you can say:
