Fill in the blank with the most appropriate modal:
Varun ignored his mother’s advice to start early and missed the train. He ______ left home ten minutes earlier.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → should have
Complete sentence: Varun ignored his mother’s advice to start early and missed the train. He should have left home ten minutes earlier. Varun did not start early, and he missed the train. Leaving earlier was the right thing, but he did not do it.
| Option | Meaning and use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| (1) should have (answer) | should have + past participle (V3): the right thing that was not done in the past | Priya should have carried an umbrella, as she got wet in the rain. |
| (2) must have | with V3, a confident guess about the past | Rina is not answering her phone, so she must have gone to bed. |
| (3) may have | with V3, a possible past action when we are not sure | Kunal may have left his umbrella on the bus. |
| (4) needn’t have | with V3, an action that was done but was not necessary | I needn’t have cooked so much rice, as only three guests came. |