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KeunChulLee Posted 6 years ago
Grammar

May/Can/Must Have Left Yesterday

a. He may / cannot / will have come by now.

b. He may / cannot / will have come yesterday.

c. He may / cannot / will have come by then.

d. The lights have gone out. A fuse must have blown.


e. *You may / can / must have left yesterday.

Would you tell me why e is ungrammatical?

  

Top answer

KeunChulLee e. *You may / can / must have left yesterday. Would you tell me why e is ungrammatical?

— GPY

  • KeunChulLee e.
  • *You may / can / must have left yesterday.
  • Would you tell me why e is ungrammatical?
  • "You may have left yesterday" is grammatical, but the meaning is unusual because the person being addressed presumably already knows what he or she did yesterday.
  • " He may have left yesterday" would be fine.
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1 Answers
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KeunChulLeee. *You may / can / must have left yesterday.
Would you tell me why e is ungrammatical?

"You may have left yesterday" is grammatical, but the meaning is unusual because the person being addressed presumably already knows what he or she did yesterday. "He may have left yesterday" would be fine.

"You must have left yesterday" is OK

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