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To say what you think has happened in a situation, use must have or the contraction must've.
Form it like this:
must have ( or must've) + verb in the past participle
The past participle of regular verbs usually ends in -ed. It is the same as the verb in the past tense.
Examples: visited, looked, entered, wanted. Irregular verbs have various endings in the past participle. Most end in one of these:
-d (heard, held, paid, read, stood, understood)
-n (eaten, forgotten, given, gotten, known, taken, spoken)
-t (brought, caught, cost, left, slept, spent, thought)
Examples:
▶ I can't find my passport. I must've* left it at the hotel. ( = I think I left it at the hotel).
▶ You don't have your book? You must have forgotten it in my car.
▶ The movie is over already? I must've fallen asleep.
▶ I can't find my laptop. Someone must've moved it.
▶ Linda called you from her car saying she was lost? She must've left the directions at home.
▶ My stomach is killing me. I must've overeaten!
▶ My iPad is gone from my hotel room. Someone must've stolen it!
▶ There are no more cookies left? Kate must've eaten the last one.
* Note: must've can be pronounced either mustof or, more informally, musta.
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