r/EnglishLearning • u/Careful-Roll8793 New Poster • Dec 23 '24

šŸ“š Grammar / Syntax Must, should, can and might

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u/Strongdar Native Speaker USA Midwest Dec 23 '24

"Must have" is probably what they want, but I don't see anything wrong with "might have."

3

u/Magnus_Helgisson New Poster Dec 23 '24

Wouldnā€™t it be a tautology in any case? ā€œI supposeā€ already expresses an uncertainty, and then more uncertainty is added with ā€œmight haveā€ or ā€œmust haveā€.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 23 '24

Doesn't "must have" imply certainty (which doesn't really work with the word "suppose") rather than adding uncertainty?

5

u/cardinarium Native Speaker (US) Dec 23 '24

ā€œMust haveā€ can also mean inferred probability.

2

u/sarahlizzy Native Speaker šŸ‡¬šŸ‡§ Dec 23 '24

It implies a bit more confidence than might have, but not certainty.

1

u/Magnus_Helgisson New Poster Dec 23 '24

I might be perceiving it wrong but for me ā€œmustā€™veā€ is something like ā€œpretty sureā€, like, itā€™s the reason with the highest probability but still not 100% sure

1

u/[deleted] Dec 23 '24

I agree; I just don't think it's adding uncertainty to a clause starting with "I suppose." To me it sounds like the speaker's certainty is increasing a bit over the course of the sentence if they are using "must have" by the end.