Question

Complete the sentence using an appropriate option:

A: I had a very boring evening at home yesterday.
B: Why did you stay at home? You ______ to the cinema.

• A. can have gone
  
• B. could have gone
  
• C. will have gone
  
• D. must have gone
  

Answer 1

The correct option is B could have gone

Option B: 'Could' expresses possibility. 'Could' is the past tense of 'can' and refers to the past event, i.e., 'yesterday'.

This option is relevant to the given sentence: B presents to A the possibility of having gone to the cinema the day before.

Hence option B is correct.

Option A: 'Can have gone' is grammatically incorrect. 'Can' presents a possibility in the present or future tense, and 'have gone' refers to an action that began in the past. Hence both verbs do not complement one another.

Option C: 'Will' is a future tense verb. It presents an action that has not yet happened. A's sentence states an action in the past.

Option D: 'Must have gone' means 'we believe the action must have definitely happened'.

As it's already been mentioned that the action 'to go to the cinema' didn't happen:

'had a boring evening at home',

the option contradicts sentence A.

Hence options A, C and D are incorrect.