Part 2: Verbs
Perfect Modals
Examples
I should have known better.
You’re supposed to have finished the job already.
I would not have chosen the buffalo chicken pizza.
Definition
We have said that modal verbs do not technically have tense and are followed by the base form of the verb. For example, there’s no way to inflect “I must go” for past time. However, there is a way in which we mark time with modal verbs, and this by adding perfect aspect to the main verb.
Recall that verb tenses in English comprise time + aspect. The aspects are simple, progressive, and perfect, so we have the present perfect, past progressive, etc. Now we are introducing the idea of modals with perfect aspect. These usually refer to things that would/might/could/should have happened in the past (but didn’t). You may have already seen this form in counterfactual conditional clauses (e.g., if you had not lost your phone, you would have seen my text).
Form
Perfect aspect is always formed using have + past participle (e.g. the present perfect tense is: I have finished my test). A perfect modal is formed using a modal verb (+ not) + have + past participle. For example:
I would have painted the room blue.
You must have left the light on.
The teacher could have given you more time.
I wonder where my friends are. They can’t have forgotten my address again!
The same form works with some phrasal modals, too:
You’re supposed to have finished the job already.
It had to have been something you said.
Function
Perfect modals express unreal meanings. They are mostly used speculate about what might have happened in the past, but didn’t. They answer the question: What if? As such, they are useful in narratives (to express puzzlement or regret) and in social sciences, to consider alternative histories and scenarios, as in the practice exercise, below.
Exercises
Other Resources
Perfect aspect (Learn English)
