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I know the must have/must had thing has been asked before but I have yet to see it in the context of this question.

Does "have" make grammatical sense in the following? It sounds like it conflicts with the "at that point in time."

"I remember clearly my seventh birthday (and my subsequent trip to the hospital). At that point in time, I must have been told a thousand times not to stick things in the toaster."

The main problem I'm having in my head is that if you take out the "must" then it would be grammatically correct to say "At that point in time, I had been told a thousand times..." Yet once you put the "must" in, it seems incorrect to use "had." This is my main question.

Matt
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  • Right, but the way the above sentence has it is that it's a specific point in time, not just general past tense. – Matt Jan 14 '14 at 16:49
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    I admit I don't actually understand your problem with the usage (so I suppose you could say I must have not read it very carefully! :) But it seems like pretty basic English to me, so I think if there's anything not clear to you, perhaps it should be asked on English Language Learners – FumbleFingers Jan 14 '14 at 16:54
  • ... note that the "at that point in time" business has nothing to do with the use of "must have". You're simply mixing up the meaning of *by then* (which includes all *earlier* times) with plain *then* (at that particular time, not earlier or later). – FumbleFingers Jan 14 '14 at 17:00
  • The main problem I was having in my head was that if you took out the "must" then it would be grammatically correct to say "At that point in time, I had been told a thousand times," correct? I'm just not really sure why the must complicates the issue. – Matt Jan 14 '14 at 17:53
  • When I was a child I stuck my finger in the toaster and was badly burned. I must have been* aged about seven then [at that point in time]. I think that probably represents the same usage you are asking about, but it has the advantage of not distracting us with irrelevant issues concerning the difference between by then* and then (obviously you weren't told anything a thousand times on the day of your birthday). – FumbleFingers Jan 14 '14 at 18:06
  • As regards "must", if you can't figure out what's going on by looking at the earlier question Is “must” ever grammatical as a past tense verb?, you should probably be asking on ELL. – FumbleFingers Jan 14 '14 at 18:10

1 Answers1

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There is no conflict, because must is not marked for tense.

Barrie England
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