Rules and Regulations at School > You Could Have Gotten a Ticket

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Understand traffic violations, using Perfect Modals.

You're a passenger in a car. The driver just did something he or she shouldn't have done.

You Could Have Gotten a Ticket

I can't believe he went through that red light! / get a ticket

Dialog
A: You know... I hate to be a "back-seat driver", but you really shouldn't have gone through that red light.
B: Oh?
A: Yes, You could have (1) gotten a ticket!
B: Hmm. You're right. I guess I just went through that red light without thinking. I must have had my mind on something else.

Functions
(1) Possibility
might have

Exercises
1) I can't believe she made that U-turn! / be pulled over by a police office.
2) I can't believe he passed that car on the right-hand side! / cause an accident
3) I can't believe she cut in front of that big truck! / be hit
4) I can't believe he sped through that school zone! / hit somebody
5) I can't believe she drove through that intersection so fast! / get us killed

Grammar
Perfect Modals: Should Have / Could Have / Might Have / Must Have
Perfect Modals are helping verbs in Present Perfect Tense that express a wide range of meanings (ability, permission, possiblity, necessity, etc.). The Perfect Modals express an event that could have occurred but didn't.

Should Have
I should have done better than that.
You really shouldn't have gone through that red light.

Could Have
You could have gotten a ticket.

Might Have
You might have gotten a ticket.

Must Have
I must have had my mind on something else.

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