Los verbos modales: expresar obligación (must y have to)

Los verbos modales son una marca de la relación que el locutor tiene con lo que está afirmando.
Esta relación puede ser una actitud (por ejemplo expresar una obligación o dar permiso) o bien un
juicio de probabilidad sobre la existencia o no de una situación en concreto.

En inglés los verbos modales pertenecen a la categoría de los verbos auxiliares. Es decir que
tienen ciertas características que los distinguen de los verbos “llenos”. Algunas de estas
características son:

1. Los verbos modales no se combinan con otros auxiliares (do, don’t, does, doesn’t, did, didn’t,
will, won’t, have, has, haven’t, hasn’t).

Modal verbs >> Past probability - must have / can't have / might have / may have

Must / can't / couldn't have - to express probability in the past

Structure: modal + have + past participle

must have been, can't have gone, etc.

We use must have to express that we feel
sure that something was true.
We use can't have / couldn't have to say
that we believe something was impossible.
They must have left early.
He must have already gone.
He can't have escaped through this
window. It is too small.
She can't have said that.
She couldn't have said that.

May / might / could have - to express probability in the past

Structure: modal + have + past participle

may have been, could have gone, might have lost, etc.
We use may / could / might have to say
that it was possible that something He may have missed the bus.
happened in the past (but we are not 100% The road might have been blocked.
sure).
He may not have left yet.
The negatives are may not have and might
The assistant might not have received his
not have.
message.

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must / might / could / may / can't + have + past
participle

 must have + past participle

 might / might not have + past participle
 could / couldn’t have + past participle
 may / may not have + past participle
 can’t have + past participle

For example:

You: Where was Julie last night?

David:

 She must have forgotten about our date.

 She might have worked late.
 She could have taken the wrong bus.
 She may have felt ill.
 She can’t have stayed at home.

Will / won’t + have + past participle

Will and won't / will not + have + past participle are used for past certainty
(compare with present use of 'will' above):

 The parcel will have arrived before now.

Should + have + past participle

Should + have + past participle can be used to make an assumption about something
that has probably happened, if everything is as we expect (compare with present sue of
'should' above):

 The train should have left by now

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Could
We can use could to talk about a general possibility in the past (compare with the use of
'can' above):

 Prices could be high in the sixteenth century.

This is not used to talk about specific possibilites in the past:

 He could have been working late (not: 'could be', which is present)

MODALS OF BELIEF (beliefs about past time)

The choice of modal depends partly on what the speaker or writer believes.

Someone was knocking at the door.

That could have been Fred.

That might have been Fred.

= It’s possible. I’m less than 50% sure.

That may have been Fred.

= It’s possible. I’m less than 60% sure.

That must have been Fred.

That has to have been Fred.
That has got to have been Fred.

= It was probably Fred. I have a good reason to believe it was Fred.

That couldn’t have been Mary.

= It’s impossible. I’m about 99% sure.

That was Fred.

= I know it was Fred. I’m 100% sure.

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PAST TENSE: MUST HAVE / CAN'T HAVE

Para el pasado -y esta es la parte gramatical que más nos interesa en esta explicación-
utilizamos MUST HAVE (DONE) y CAN'T HAVE (DONE).

Analiza cuidadosamente esta situación-ejemplo:

We went to Roy's house last night and rang the doorbell. There was no answer.
He must have gone out (otherwise he would have answered).
(Debió haber salido; de lo contrario, habría contestado).

Más ejemplos:

1) The phone rang, but I didn't hear it. I must have been asleep.
Sonó el teléfono pero no lo oi. Debí haberme quedado dormido.

2) I made a lot of noise when I came home. You must have heard me.
Hice mucho ruido cuando llegué a casa. Debes haberme oído.

3) She passed me on the street without speaking. She can't have seen me.
Ella pasó a mi lado en la calle sin hablarme. No me debe haber visto.

"must" usually becomes "had to" in the past.

INCORRECT: "When I was in high school one of my teachers told me I must write an essay about
weapons". I say "had to".

The verb "must have been" is ok when you are using it from a present point of view ("Did you
see that guy on TV? She must have been out of his mind"), but in Viceidol's example it's used from
a past point of view.

El verbo "must" es también un verbo modal, que tampoco tiene infinitivo (no existe "to must").
Este verbo modal tiene dos acepciones principales. En su primera acepción se utiliza para indicar
que estamos seguro de que algo es cierto.

He must have gone. El debe haberse ido (estoy seguro de que él se ha marchado)

You must speak English very well. Tú debes hablar inglés muy bien (estoy seguro de ello)

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La forma pasada se construye "must have + past participle del verbo principal".

El debe haber
He must have finished his work. finalizado su
trabajo

Tú debes haber
You must have won the match.
ganado el partido

Utilizar la estructura must + have + past participle", es decir, "debo +

haber + participio pasado" (debes, deben, etc..+ haber + dicho, visto,
contado...)

Por ejemplo:

Debo haber perdido mis llaves. I must have lost my keys.

Ella debe haber salido a cenar. She must have gone out for dinner.

Ellos deben haber llegado tarde. They must have arrived late.

Cuando se habla esta estructura se contrae así:

I must've lost my keys. [ai mastv lost mai kiis] Por tanto, si no la
conoces no entiendes nada de lo que te están diciendo.

El sonido (algo así, ya sabes que no es exacto)---> [mastv] significa---

> "debo haber"

Must also indicates an assumption or probability.

My watch must be broken.

He must have done that before moving to Spain.

For the past we use must (not) have done.

E.g. We used to live close the freeway. It must have been noisy.

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E.g. Dylan walked straight into a wall. He must not have been
looking where he was going.

Study the structure

been ( tired, hungry, noisy, etc...)

Subject + must (not) have been (doing, coming, looking, etc...)
done (gone, known, had, etc...)
SHOULD HAVE

Analiza cuidadosamente esta situación-ejemplo para expresar "sugerencia o consejo":

Why did you leave that message on Monica's answering machine? Shenever checks
her messages. You should have talked to her instead.
(Deberías haber hablado personalmente con ella en lugar de dejarle un mensaje.
Mónica jamás revisa los mensajes de su contestador telefónico).

En el pasado se utiliza la forma should + have + participio del verbo principal

para indicar lo que se debería haber hecho y no se hizo:
You should have called me > Me deberías haber llamado

Should combines with the perfect infinitive to form should have + past participle when
we want to talk about past events that did not happen, but should have happened. We
are talking about an expectation and referring back to past time. Compare the
following:

Before Tom leaves for work, his wife advises him:

You should take your umbrella. It might rain. ~ No, I'll be all right. I shan't
need it.

But it did rain. When he arrives back home, his wife says:

What did I tell you? You should have taken your umbrella. Then you wouldn't have got
wet.

Reference to the present and future:

You should try and smoke less, Henry. Your health isn't very good and it's getting
worse.

Reference to the past:

I should have given up smoking years ago, Mary. If I had, I wouldn't be in such bad
shape now.

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Con la fórmula: Sujeto + should + have+ past participle. Es exactamente igual que lo
que hemos hecho con "must" y "could".

Veamos ejemplos:

- I should have done it. Yo debería haberlo hecho.

- He should have come. Él debería haber venido.
- They should have told you. Deberían habértelo dicho/contado.
- We should have studied more. Deberíamos haber estudiado más.

Recuerda, al hablar, "should + have" se contrae así:

I should've [ai shudv..] La "v" suena como una "f" sin "e

You should have done something = you didn't do it, but it would have been the right thing to do:

 It was a great party last night. You should have come. Why didn't you?

 (= you didn't come, but it would have been good to come)

 I feel sick. I shouldn't have eaten so much chocolate. (= I ate too much chocolate)

 I wonder why they're so late. They should have been here an hour ago.

 She shouldn't have been listening to our conversation. It was private.

Compare should (do) and should have (done):

should have followed by a past participle can be used for referring to actions that did not happen
or for actions that have probably happened: I should have brought an umbrella (=I did not bring
one). ♦ The meeting should have finished by now (=it is likely it has ended).

should have (done something):

They should have got home by now.

That was disappointing – we should have won that game easily.

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COULD HAVE

La estructura en inglés es: Sujeto + could + have+ past particle.

Ejemplos:

- I could have done it. Yo podría haberlo hecho.

- He could have come. Él podría haber venido.
- They could have told you. Podrían habértelo dicho/contado.
- We could have studied more. Podríamos haber estudiado más.

Recuerda: Al hablar estas frase se contraen así:

I could've done it.[ai kudv donIt]--la "v" suena casi como "f" sin "e".
He could've come. [he kudv kam]

Could have (done) = would have been able to (do):

E.g. Why didn't Liz apply for the job? She could have gotten it.

E.g. We could have taken a trip if we would had enough money.

Could indicates possibility or ability in the past:

I could have told you that.

It could have been a disaster.

Modals + Have EXAMPLES

What (could/should/...) have happened? - ¿Qué (podría/debería/...) haber pasado?

I (could/should/...) have worked - (podría/debería/...) haber trabajado

Fred made a lot of noise when he came home. You must have heard him.

Fred hizo mucho ruido cuando llegó anoche. Debiste haberlo oído.

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 The news was awful. You should have said something about it.

La noticia era espantosa. Deberías haber dicho algo al respecto.

That was a terrible accident! The driver must have hurt himself.

¡Ese fue un accidente terrible! El conductor debió haberse lastimado.

Pam had a toothache. She should have visited the dentist.

A Pam le dolía un diente. Debería haber visitado al dentista.

There was a flying saucer in the sky last night. You must have seen it.

Había un plato volador en el cielo anoche. Debiste haberlo visto.

Nick's dog ran away. It must have been scared of the thunderstorm.

El perro de Nick se escapó. Debió haberse asustado de la tormenta eléctrica.

You should have seen Jen in her wedding dress.

Deberías haberla visto a Jen en su vestido de novia.

The maid should not have frozen the vegetables.

La mucama no debería haber congelado los vegetales.

Sarah failed the exam. She must not have studied enough.

Sara no pasó el examen. No debe haber estudiado lo suficiente.

Mr. Benson should not have accepted Dr. Harrison's proposal.

El Sr. Benson no debería haber aceptado la propuesta del Dr. Harrison.

Should mom have woken you up at 7:00?

¿Mamá debería haberte despertado a las 7:00?

Should they have left earlier?

¿Deberían haber partido más temprano?

Could I have applied for a sick leave?

¿Podría haber solicitado una licencia por enfermedad?

should have / could have / wouldn't have

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Note the way in which all three of these modals are combined in these exchanges which refer to a
meeting that has just taken place:

Why did you come to the meeting? It didn't need both of us. You should have known that I would
be there. ~ How could I have known you'd be there? I haven't spoken to you for a fortnight! ~ If
I'd known you were intending to go, I certainly wouldn't have gone!

You will sometimes see would have written

as would've, shouldhave as should've and could have as could've.

Past Positive Negative

had to / didn’t obligation in the past no obligation in the past

have to
I had to go to wear a school uniform We didn’t have to go to school on
when I was a child. Saturdays.

must* changes to 'had to' -

should have + pp a past action which didn’t happen: the
/ shouldn’t have + advice / regret is too late
pp
You should have gone to bed earlier,
now you have missed the train.
a past action which didn’t happen: the
advice / regret is too late
You shouldn’t have taken that job., it
was a bad idea.

* Remember ‘must have done’ is a modal verb of deduction or speculation, not obligation in the
past. For example: Julie must have left. Her coat’s not here

Tiempos verbales

Ejemplo con there

present There is a party. (Hay una fiesta)
past There was a party (Había una fiesta)
present perfect There has been a party. (Ha habido una fiesta)
past perfect There had been a party. (Había habido una fiesta)
future There will be a party. (Habrá una fiesta)
future perfect There will have been a party. (Habrá habido una fiesta)
Going to There is going to be a party. (Va a haber una fiesta)

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Going to II There was going to be a party. (Iba a haber una fiesta)
Conditional I There would be a party. (Habría una fiesta)
Conditional II There would have been a party. (Habría habido una fiesta)
Modal Can There can be a party. (Puede haber una fiesta)
Modal Could There could be a party. (Podría haber una fiesta)
Modal May There may be a party. (Puede haber una fiesta)
Modal Might There might be a party. (Podría haber una fiesta)
Modal Should There should be a party. (Debería haber una fieista)
Modal Must There must be a party. (Debe haber una fiesta)
Modal Have to There has to be a party. (Tiene que haber una fiesta)
Modal Had to There had to be a party. (Tenía que haber una fiesta)
Modal Could II There could have been a party. (Pudo haber habido una fiesta)
Modal Might II There might have been a party. (Podría haber habido una fiesta)
Modal Should II There should have been a party. (Debería haber habido una fiesta)
Modal Must II There must have been a party. (Debe haber habido una fiesta)
Modal Have II There has to have been a party. (Tiene que haber habido una fiesta)
Modal Had II There had to have been a party. (Tenía que haber habido una fiesta)

“NO PAIN, NO GAIN” Si no hay dolor, no hay ganancia

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