Asked by goon monster

Select the best explanation for the bolded modal verb in the sentence below:
Someone must have fed the cats because they're not bothering me anymore.


A.
necessity

B.
near certainty

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
B. "Must have" here expresses an epistemic inference — the speaker is making a near‑certain deduction (someone fed the cats), not stating an obligation.