LEARN ENGLISH MODALS with Sherlock Holmes

Hello, I am Sherlock Emma, and today we are

going to solve the mystery of English grammar.

So specifically, I will teach you about modals, past modals in English.

I'll tell you what a modal is, and then we will look at the modals "may have", "might

have", "could have", and "must have".

This is a book.

This book is titled The Complete Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.

I love Sherlock Holmes.

Sherlock Holmes is a character in a book.

He is a detective, and he solves different mysteries and crimes.

So, when I was reading this book, I was inspired.

I thought, "Sherlock Holmes uses some really

good English that we use a lot today."

Specifically, Sherlock Holmes uses a type of grammar called modals.

We all use modals.

You probably know a few modals right now.

So, today's lesson has been inspired by Sherlock Holmes.

We're going to learn about modals.

What is a modal?

Well, there are different types of modals.

Let me give you some examples.

Sherlock Holmes can't be Canadian because he is from England.

"Can't" is a modal.

"Can't" is a modal.

Many of you will already know the word "can't".

Enola Holmes must be Sherlock Holmes' sister.

"Must" is another example of a modal.

So, this one you may or may not know, but it's a common modal in English.

Watson may be the best partner in the whole world.

That's what I think.

Watson is Sherlock Holmes' partner in the book.

"May" is another example of a modal.

People will read Sherlock Holmes 100 years from now.

It's that good of a series and that good of a book.

I think 100 years from now, people will read Sherlock Holmes.

Do you agree?

Well, I'll tell you this, "will" is another example of a modal.

"Will" is one of the modals learners of English first learn.

So, these are some modals you might already know.

Now we're going to learn some modals we can

use in the past tense, the modals that people

like Sherlock Holmes use frequently.

Okay, so let's solve this English grammar Mr. E of modals.

These modals all take place in the past.

So, they are modals of the past.

Let's look at some examples, and then we'll talk about what each of these mean.

"Watson must have gone to the store."

"Professor Moriarty might have lied."

"Irene Adler may have escaped."

"Sherlock Holmes couldn't have been a bad guy."

So, what do you notice about all of these sentences?

Well, first of all, they all have a modal word.

We have "must", "might", "may", and "couldn't".

These are all modals.

We also have the word "have" with each of them.

"Must have", "might have", "may have", "couldn't have".

And, finally, with all of these sentences, we also have the third form of the verb.

"Gone", which is the third verb form of "go".

"Lied", that's the third form of "lie".

"Escaped", this is the third verb form of "escape".

And, "been", which is the third verb form of "be".

So, we'll talk about each of these in a moment, but what does this all mean?

Well, we use modals, past modals, in different ways.

These past modals are all examples of certainty, how certain we are of something.

So, for example, "Watson must have gone to the store."

Where do we think Watson is?

Well, I think he's at the store.

How confident am I he's at the store?

How certain am I?

Well, because I used the word "must", I'm very certain, maybe 99% sure.

Maybe Watson wrote a note, "I'm going to the store."

So, I'm very certain.

What about the next sentence?

"Professor Moriarty might have lied."

When I use the word "might", I'm not so certain.

Maybe it's possible he lied, there's a possibility, but I'm not 100% sure.

I don't know, maybe.

So, "might" is like the "maybe" in this situation.

"Irene Adler may have escaped."

How sure or how certain am I this is true?

I don't know if this is true, that's why I use the word "may".

So, again, it's possible it's true, but I don't know.

What about the last one?

"Sherlock Holmes couldn't have been a bad guy."

He couldn't have been.

This shows more that it's looking close to impossible or unlikely.

So, what we're going to do is we're going to look at each of

these, "must have", "might have", "may have", "couldn't have",

and we're going to see more examples of how to use them and what they mean.

Let's start with "must have".

So, when we have "must have" and our verb in the past

participle form, which we will talk about in a minute,

it means we are talking about the past, so

"must have" means we're talking about the past,

and we are talking about a situation we are

pretty sure, we're pretty certain it happened.

Okay, so is this true?

Yes, we're pretty sure it's true.

So, let's look at some examples of this.

"Emma", so that's me, "was born in Toronto."

"Emma must have experienced a cold winter."

We know Canada has cold weather, Toronto is in Canada, so we're pretty certain...

Well, I'm 100% certain, but you might be pretty

certain that I have experienced a cold weather,

or I have experienced cold weather because I am Canadian.

So, this is how you would use this.

"Emma was born in Toronto."

"Toronto's a cold city."

"Emma must have lived and experienced a cold winter."

Let's look at another example.

So, this one I'm thinking about you guys.

I might ask, "Why did you watch this video?"

"Why did you watch this video?"

"You must have wanted to learn English."

So, this is something I'm pretty sure about.

I'm certain that people watching this video want to learn English.

So, because of that, I use "must have", and our...

The third form, or the past participle...

Third form, past participle are the same thing.

So, "wanted" is an example of the past participle of "want".

"You must have wanted to learn English."

So, that's an example of "must have".

Let's look at another one.

"I have a friend.

She is always late."

And the reason she's always late is because she likes to sleep in.

Sometimes she turns off her alarm,

or there's a problem with the volume on her alarm,

so she sleeps in a lot.

She sleeps late.

So, what I could say about this friend is,

"Ugh, she is late again.

Why is she late?"

Well, she must have slept in.

She sleeps in every day.

So, here's another example of "must have".

I'll give you one more.

It's not on the board, but...

"You know I'm a teacher."

So, let's use "must have".

"Do you think I went to school to become a teacher?"

Emma is a teacher.

We know that teachers have to go to school to learn how to teach.

So, what we can say is,

"Emma must have studied teaching at school."

And that's true.

So, this is an example of using "must have".

We're talking about a past situation

that we are certain or pretty certain is true.

Now, let's look at situations where we're not so certain.

There's more of a maybe.

Okay.

So, now we're looking at modals of possibility

where we are not 100% certain.

We're thinking, "Maybe.

Maybe this is true."

So, we're going to look at "might have",

"may have", and "could have".

All of these will then be followed by a past participle,

which I'll show you.

But what all of these mean - they have the same meaning -

they all mean that we are talking about the past

and we are talking about a situation in the past

we think maybe happened.

We're not 100% sure.

We think, "Eh, it's possible."

So, let's look at some examples.

So, "I come home" or "Yesterday I came home

and there was no pizza."

"The pizza was eaten."

"Who ate the pizza yesterday?"

"I don't know. I wasn't at home to see."

But, if I think about it,

I have a dog.

"The dog may have eaten the pizza."

Or maybe, "My brother James

came over when I wasn't home

and maybe my brother James,

he may have eaten the pizza."

"Maybe my sister Audra may have eaten the pizza."

"Oh, but she couldn't have. She lives in the United States."

So, this is how we use "may have".

You'll notice we have "may", "have",

and then our past participle.

What verb is this?

Well, if you said "eat",

you are correct.

"Eat", "ate" is the past tense,

and "eaten" is the past participle of "eat".

Okay, great. So,

"The dog may have eaten the pizza."

Let's look at the next Mr. E.

Oh, this is a big Mr. E.

"Who shot John F. Kennedy?"

Well, let me think.

I don't know.

Maybe

it might have been

the Mafia.

Maybe, oh,

actually, I think it was Lee Harvey Oswald,

but maybe there was a conspiracy.

Maybe it might have been

the Mafia.

So, I'm saying this because I don't know.

I'm not certain.

This is a possibility.

There are many possibilities.

And we're using this because we're talking

about the past.

And again, we have "might".

We could put "may" here.

We put "could".

All of these are possible.

Then we have "have",

and then we have our

past participle,

"been".

"Been" is the past participle

of what verb?

"Be".

So, "be" is the

infinitive. "Been"

is the past participle.

Okay, let's look at another

example. Okay, so

the robber or the thief

left the country.

So, there was a robber.

He robbed a bank.

Where is the robber?

I don't know.

Maybe the robber

could have

flown away. Maybe

the robber could have left Canada

and gone to

Hawaii.

I don't know where the robber is.

So, this again shows a possibility.

Where is the robber?

I don't know. Maybe

he could have

left the country.

So, we have "could",

we have "have", and "left"

is the past participle of

"leave". So, "leave"

is the present tense.

I am leaving. I leave.

"Left" is the

past participle.

So, again, you can change "could", "might",

"may". They all have the same meaning.

That can change, but you need to

keep the "have" and

whatever past participle you

need for your sentence.

Okay, so, now

let's look at "impossibility".

Alright.

So, now we

are going to look at

"couldn't have" and

"can't have".

So, we have "can't have",

"couldn't have". When we

have that with a past participle,

what does this mean?

Well, "can't have"

and "couldn't have" are the modals

we use to talk about

a past

situation we

do not believe is true.

We don't think

it's possible.

So, a past situation

we don't believe is true.

So, let's look at some examples

of this. "Bill

couldn't have

taken

the money."

So, this means I don't think Bill took

the money. So, imagine

we're at school,

the money disappears.

Who took the money?

Well, it can't be Bill.

Why not? Well,

Bill wasn't there that day. Maybe

Bill was sick. So, I can

say, "Bill couldn't

have taken the money

because Bill was sick."

So, here's

an example of a situation that

happened in the past, and I'm saying, "I don't

think Bill did it."

And notice we have

our past participle here,

"taken". So, "taken"

is the past participle

of "take".

"Take", "took", "taken".

Alright, let's look at

another example.

I like this example

because before I

became an English teacher,

I studied

archaeology. So, I love

history, I love ancient

Egypt.

Now, this is something I hear from people.

"Aliens

couldn't have built the pyramids."

I'm happy

when people say this, and I

agree. I don't think

it's possible aliens

built the pyramids. I don't think

aliens built the pyramids.

This is not true.

So, what I can say is

we're talking about the past,

the pyramids were built

a long time ago.

I can say, "Aliens

couldn't

have built the pyramids."

I

think Egyptians,

ancient Egyptians

must have

built the pyramids.

And then, notice

we have the word here "built".

So, we have "couldn't", "have",

and "built".

"Built" is the past participle

of "built".

Okay, let's look at one

last example of this.

"My sister Audra

some

people said Audra was at a

hockey game in Toronto

last night."

Now, I don't believe this is true.

Audra was definitely

not at a hockey game last night.

How do I know?

Well, Audra

can't have been at

a hockey game last night

because she lives in the USA,

and she would have

called me. So, I know Audra was

not in Toronto.

She couldn't have been in Toronto last

night. She lives in the

United States.

So, again,

we're talking about a situation

from the past, a hockey

game last night,

and I'm saying that I don't think

Audra went. This is not true.

Audra did not go to the hockey

game, so I can say Audra

couldn't have,

or Audra can't have gone to the

hockey game last night.

And again, in this case, we're using

"can't". We could have used "couldn't".

"Can't" or "couldn't" are

both possible. We have

"have",

and then we have the past participle

"been".

"Been" is the past participle of

"be".

Okay, great.

So, we've covered a lot today.

Oh,

what's this?

Let me

solve this Mr. E and take a look.

Okay.

It says

www.engvid.com.

Huh.

I wonder who

could have written this.

It must have been

Teacher Emma, which is me.

I must have written

this on the board.

Why did I write this? Hmm.

It may

have been because

I want to invite you to

take our quiz.

At www.engvid.com,

you can find a quiz

on everything you learned here,

and you can practice making

sentences with "must have",

"could have",

"can't have", "may have",

and "might have". Remember,

practice makes perfect.

The best way to learn something is to practice.

So, please take

our quiz, and also subscribe

to my channel. We have a lot of

different videos on

many topics related to English,

including grammar, listening,

pronunciation, vocabulary,

and so much more.

So, until next time,

I hope we will solve

some more mysteries together,

and take care.