6.3 Past Possibility—May/Might/Could + Have

3. A: Did you vote in the last election? I know you’re a U.S. citizen now.

B: I forgot about it. But I really don’t like what some politicians are doing now.

A: Then you should . You’re giving me your opinion now. You should

your opinion on election day, too.

4. A: I gave a long speech in my English class, and everyone started to yawn. I should

it.

B: You’re right. It’s best to shorten a speech as much as possible.

A: You should me. You’re good at giving speeches.

B: I didn’t have time to help you. I had to prepare my own speech.

5. A: Slavery was a terrible thing. Farmers shouldn’t slaves to do their work.

B: I agree. It’s an awful thing to use people that way.

A: They should workers to do the work.

B: They didn’t want to pay workers. They wanted to make a lot of money for themselves.

ABOUT YOU Think of any regrets you have had about the following topics. Write your regret and what you now believe you should have done. Share your answers with your class. Example: (a classmate)

I told my classmate that her essay was terrible. I should’ve told her something nice about it and given her advice to make it better.

1. (a friend or family member)

2. (a goal you had)

3. (money)

EXAMPLES Why didn’t the audience react after Lincoln’s speech? They could have been surprised. They may have expected him to speak more. They might have thought that he wasn't finished. Everett’s speech may not have been very interesting. Lincoln might not have realized how good his speech was.

EXPLANATION We use may/might/could + have + the past participle to express a possibility about the past. It is not used to say something that was known to be true.

To show negative possibility, we use may not have and might not have. We don’t use could not have because it has a different meaning. (See Chart 6.7)

1. John Booth was a better actor than his brother.

2. John Booth was familiar/known to people at the Ford Theater.

3. Edwin Booth saved the life of Lincoln’s brother.

EXERCISE 4 Use past possibility to complete the text. Then listen again and check. 6.3

You may have learned

1. maybe you learned about Abraham Lincoln in school, but here’s something you might

2. maybe you didn’t hear . John Wilkes Booth, the man who assassinated Abraham Lincoln,

was a famous actor. His brother, Edwin, was also an actor. John may

3. maybe John was not as good an actor as his brother, but he was very popular, especially with women. This could

4. maybe this was because he was very handsome. John Booth hated the president and was in

favor of slavery. Edwin was on Lincoln’s side. John and Edwin argued so much about Lincoln and slavery

that Edwin finally refused to have John in his house. John was planning to harm the president. At first, he

might

5. maybe he didn’t plan to kill the president, but later he decided to assassinate him.

In a hotel in Pennsylvania, where John Booth often stayed, someone had written these words near a window:

“Abe Lincoln Departed This Life August 13th, 1864 By The Effects of Poison.” After the death of Lincoln, people

thought that John Booth may

6. maybe John Booth wrote these words. But this is not certain. There were many

people who hated Lincoln, and someone else could

7. maybe someone else wrote that sentence.

In 1865, Lincoln was attending a play at the Ford Theater in Washington, DC. Booth was not an actor

in that play, but because he had acted there before, no one thought anything of his presence at the theater.

While Lincoln was sitting with his wife watching the play, Booth entered the president’s box and shot him.

At first, it was thought that he may

8. maybe he stabbed Lincoln Booth had shot him. The next morning, Lincoln died. Lincoln, but it was soon evident that

There’s another interesting story about the Booth brothers. A few months before the assassination, Robert,

Lincoln’s son, was standing on a train platform. Just as the train was arriving, Robert fell on the tracks. It could

9. maybe it was because of the crowds pushing. A stranger reached out and pulled Robert to

safety just before the train arrived. This stranger was Edwin Booth, John Wilkes Booth’s brother.

GRAMMAR IN USE We use should have + the past participle when we give advice about the past. Parents often do this with their children, and friends often do this with each other.

You should’ve worn a hat today. It’s freezing! You shouldn’t have said that her essay was bad.