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Question about past modal verbs?
About past modal verbs - can't/must/musn't/could/couldn't/may/should/shouldn't have + (verb). About these verbs can we say they do not have real tenses but refer to the past in a way like the present perfect? That they have a past meaning but a result in the present? Please explain it to me simply. Thanks for your answers.
1 Answer
- RoseLv 71 decade agoFavorite Answer
I'd like to look at 'have +(verb)' on your first line.
We can say....I must have money....We must have fun........We might all have a fight.
"money'' 'fun' and 'fight' are not verbs. They are nouns.
A modal verb only has one form. It has no infinitive and no participles.
As far as I can see it is always in the present. should go. should come. might fly.
When you write ''should have come' You can also write 'should have gone'. This makes 'come' the verb and 'should have' puts it into the perfect tense imperative.
So 'should ' is not a modal verb in this instance.......I think anyhow.
I am sorry I can not be clearer. Hope that it helps a bit.
