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Qingqing Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

Something about the structure"mustn't have done"

0I think there is no such structure "mustn't have done", is there?02br
02br
00But I have found a sentence in a big dictionary "Mr Green mustn't have received my letter, otherwise he would have replied before now".02br
02br
00Does the structure exist? It should be "Mr Green can't/couldn't have received my letter...", right?0-
  

Top answer

12br 12br 10Does the structure exist? 12br 12br 12blockquote 10This sturcture is correct. We use this type of structure in situations where you are expecting something to have happened.

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3 Answers
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Qingqing12cite10I think there is no such structure "mustn't have done", is there?12br
12br
10But I have found a sentence in a big dictionary "Mr Green mustn't have received my letter, otherwise he would have replied before now".12br
12br
10Does the structure exist? It should be "Mr Green c
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0
0 01blockquote
01cite10Qingqing12cite10I think there is no such structure "mustn't have done", is there?12br
12br
10But I have found a sentence in a big dictionary "Mr Green mustn't have received my letter, otherwise he would have replied before now".12br
12br
10Does the structure exist? It should be "Mr Green c
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0 It's true that we often use "can't" or "couldn't" in that pattern and with that meaning, but "mustn't" is really correct as an alternate.02br
02br
00 With "can't" we are saying that it is not possible that he has received the letter.02br
00 With "mustn't" we are saying that it has to be so that he has not received the letter.02br
02br
00
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