where we use could have
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These past modal verbs are all used hypothetically, to talk about things that didn't really happen in the past.
Could have + past participle
1: Could have + past participle means that something was possible in the past, or you had the ability to do something in the past, but that you didn't do it. (See also modals of ability.)I could have stayed up late, but I decided to go to bed early.They could have won the race, but they didn't try hard enough.Julie could have bought the book, but she borrowed it from the library instead.He could have studied harder, but he was too lazy and that's why he failed the exam.Couldn't have + past participle means that something wasn't possible in the past, even if you had wanted to do it.I couldn't have arrived any earlier. There was a terrible traffic jam (= it was impossible for me to have arrived any earlier).He couldn't have passed the exam, even if he had studied harder. It's a really, really difficult exam.2: We use could have + past participlewhen we want to make a guess about something that happened in the past. (See also modals of probability.) In this case, we don't know if what we're saying is true or not true. We're just talking about our opinion of what maybe happened.
Why is John late?He could have got stuck in traffic.He could have forgotten that we were meeting today.He could have overslept.We can also choose to use might have + past participle to mean the same thing:He might have got stuck in traffic.He might have forgotten that we were meeting today.He might have got stuck in tr
Could have + past participle
1: Could have + past participle means that something was possible in the past, or you had the ability to do something in the past, but that you didn't do it. (See also modals of ability.)I could have stayed up late, but I decided to go to bed early.They could have won the race, but they didn't try hard enough.Julie could have bought the book, but she borrowed it from the library instead.He could have studied harder, but he was too lazy and that's why he failed the exam.Couldn't have + past participle means that something wasn't possible in the past, even if you had wanted to do it.I couldn't have arrived any earlier. There was a terrible traffic jam (= it was impossible for me to have arrived any earlier).He couldn't have passed the exam, even if he had studied harder. It's a really, really difficult exam.2: We use could have + past participlewhen we want to make a guess about something that happened in the past. (See also modals of probability.) In this case, we don't know if what we're saying is true or not true. We're just talking about our opinion of what maybe happened.
Why is John late?He could have got stuck in traffic.He could have forgotten that we were meeting today.He could have overslept.We can also choose to use might have + past participle to mean the same thing:He might have got stuck in traffic.He might have forgotten that we were meeting today.He might have got stuck in tr
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