4. (Were you able to/Could you) vote in the last election? 5. My mother has been a U.S. citizen for the last five years. She (could vote/could have voted) in the last election, but she’s not interested in politics. 6. A round the time of the 2008 election in the United States, many people (were able to use/could have used) social media to get information. 7. You say President Kennedy was killed in a plane crash in 1999. That (couldn’t happen/ couldn’t have happened). He was assassinated in 1963. You’re probably thinking of his son. 8. John McCain (couldn’t/wasn’t able to) use social media in 2008. 9. I (couldn’t/wasn’t able to) vote in the last election because I was out of the country. 10. My mother uses social media now. But she (couldn’t use/couldn’t have used) it five years ago. I had to show her how. 11. Lincoln (could be/could have been) a farmer like his father, but he was more interested in politics. 12. Lincoln’s father (couldn’t read/couldn’t have read). 13. Lincoln (was able to teach/could have taught) himself law.
6.8 Modals in the Past: Continuous Forms EXAMPLE
EXPLANATION
John Wilkes Booth must have been planning the assassination of Lincoln for a long time.
To give a continuous meaning to a past modal, we use modal + have been + the present participle.
EXERCISE 11 Fill in the blanks with one of the verbs from the box. Use the continuous form. have
plan
protect
1. Farmers shouldn’t
think
use
have been using
watch people as slaves.
2. W hat was Lincoln thinking after his speech? He might the audience reaction. 3. Lincoln must 4. Booth must 5. Booth might
about
doubts about his speech. the assassination for months. Lincoln for a long time.
6. Lincoln didn’t have good protection. Someone should
him better.
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