Modal verbs and the past

These are the sentences we created in class. Why did we spend so long talking about why Majed didn't kiss Ran?

1. If you weren’t able to see the board, you should have tried borrowing Mohammed’s glasses. (ABILITY)

2. Eman can’t have been 30 years old when that picture was taken! She looks so young! (LIKELIHOOD)

3. I was allowed to borrow Nada’s money because she didn’t need it. (PERMISSION)

4. – Who was that outside the room yesterday?
- It won’t have been Chris or Liz. They were both on holiday. (LIKELIHOOD)

5. Hani asked Bandar if he would help him because he couldn’t lift the table by himself. (VOLITION and ABILITY)

6. Su was so shy that she simply wouldn’t sing in class. (VOLITION)

7. – What was that strange noise last night?
- Don’t worry. It will have been Ahmed snoring. (LIKELIHOOD)

8. I think that Mark would have been 24 last year. (LIKELIHOOD)

9. Majed wasn’t allowed to kiss Ran = permission.

Majed couldn’t have kissed Ran because she was having dinner with Su last night. = likelihood
Majed wasn’t able to kiss Ran last night because he has just had lip surgery. = ability
Majed shouldn’t have kissed Ran because she’s got swine flu. = obligation
Majed wouldn’t kiss Ran yesterday because he wasn’t in the mood. = volition
Majed refused to kiss Ran yesterday because he wasn’t in the mood. = volition

10. Majed thought that West Brom might have won the FA Cup last year. (LIKELIHOOD)

11. Azhar might have given you money if you had smiled and asked nicely. (LIKELIHOOD)

12. You shouldn’t have spoken to Abdullah yesterday. He’s a bad influence.
(OBLIGATION)

13. Ahmed and Majed were both so stylish and handsome when they were younger. They must have had lots of girlfriends. (LIKELIHOOD)

14. Eman should have driven more slowly last night. She’s a very dangerous driver. (OBLIGATION)

15. English grammar could be difficult when I was at high school. / English grammar sometimes used to be difficult… (LIKELIHOOD)

16. The class should have had no trouble getting all these questions right. (LIKELIHOOD)