Lesson 18: Modal Verbs with Perfect Infinitive

About this lesson

In this lesson, we dive deep into the world of modal verbs combined with the perfect infinitive. You will learn how to express assumptions about past events, voice criticism, and talk about missed opportunities. Through practice in a variety of contexts, you will sharpen your grammatical accuracy and enhance your ability to express yourself in English.

40 minutes

What you'll learn

• Understand the function and meaning of modal verbs with the perfect infinitive.
• Correctly use 'must have done' to express a strong deduction about the past.
• Use 'should have done' to express regret or criticism about a past action.
• Use 'could have done' to express a missed opportunity in the past.
• Express various shades of probability and possibility relating to past events.

Lesson vocabulary

• speculate — предполагам We can only speculate about what happened.
• regret — съжалявам I profoundly regret my decision to leave.
• opportunity — възможност This is a great opportunity for growth.
• criticize — критикувам It's easy to criticize others.
• definitely — определено She is definitely coming to the party.
• uncertainty — несигурност There is a lot of uncertainty about the future.
• outcome — резултат, изход The outcome of the experiments was surprising.
• obligation — задължение You have an obligation to help.
• ability — способност His ability to learn quickly is impressive.
• probability — вероятност There's a high probability of rain tomorrow.
• reproach — упрек His words were full of reproach.
• alternative — алтернатива Is there an alternative solution?

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