Native speakers often do not pronounce their past tense modals as clearly as Tiffany. The singer is thinking about past possibilities with her lost love. Listen to this song by 1980s teen pop star Tiffany. I could have gone directly to college, but I decided to travel for a year. ![]() Could have means that something was possible in the past, but it did not happen. We’ll look at each of them using examples from movies and popular songs. He should have told the truth about what he saw.Įach of these modals has a slightly different meaning. I would have gone to the party, but I was tired. She could have gone to any college she wanted to. Use have for all pronouns never use has or had to form a past modal. ![]() To form these past modals, use could, would, or should followed by have, followed by a past participle verb. Past modals tell what could have, would have, and should have happened. The simple past just tells what happened. These past tense modals are useful for expressing your present feelings about a past decision (or other action).Ĭould have, would have, and should have are sometimes called “modals of lost opportunities.” They work like a grammatical time machine. Today we will take a look at the modal verbs could have, would have and should have. ![]() From VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar.
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