Modal Perfect

Read the following dialogue!

Agha    : I didn't see Maya in the farewell party last night.

Naufal  : Really? She might have gone to Surabaya.

Agha    : Why was she in a hurry?

Naufal  : She has to join the university entrance test soon.

The word 'might have' is a modal perfect. A modal perfect is always followed by past participle.

Study the functions of modal perfect and their examples below.

1.  Should have

    Function : to express the belief that an event or situation was right and desirable. However, the  event didn't happen.

     Example : I've got flu. I should not have played football in the rain.

2. Could have

   Function : to show that the subject had the capability or opportunity of doing something, but for some reason he/she didn't do it.

    Example : You could have asked Anton to pick you up at the bus station.

3. Must have

    Function : to express a conclusion about a past situation.

   Example : Yesterday I passed your house, but it seemed that nobody was at home. You and your family must have gone out.

4. Might have

    Function : to express a possibility in the past.

    Example :  I didn't meet Anggito in the meeting. He might have been absent.