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

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Understand traffic violations, using different Perfect Modals.

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

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
could have
might have

Exercises
1) I can't believe she made that U-turn! / be pulled over by a police officer
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
Modal Auxiliaries (such as can, could, may, might, should, had better, must, will, or would) are helping verbs that express a wide range of meanings. The Modal Auxiliaries are usually used with another verb to express ideas such as ability, permission, possibility, necessity, etc. Most of the modals have more than one meaning.

Perfect Modals are Modal Auxiliaries following by the verb have forming the perfect tense (Form: Modal + Have (Infinitive) + Past Participle).

The primary perfect modals used in English are Should have, Could have (or Might have), and Must have. Should have is used for advice given after the event happened. Express the idea of advisability. Could have and Might have are used to express an event that could have occurred but didn't. Express the idea of possibility. Must have is used for making conclusions not for stating past necessity. Express the idea of certainty.

Should Have
You should have done better than that.
You really shouldn't have gone though 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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