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Modals for Certainty and Possibility

The document discusses English modal verbs used for deduction. It explains that must, might, and can't are used to indicate different levels of certainty based on known facts. Must indicates certainty that something is true, might suggests something is possible but not certain, and can't means something is impossible or untrue. Examples are provided to illustrate the usage of each modal verb in the context of making deductions.

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Abdul Lateef Tahir
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89 views12 pages

Modals for Certainty and Possibility

The document discusses English modal verbs used for deduction. It explains that must, might, and can't are used to indicate different levels of certainty based on known facts. Must indicates certainty that something is true, might suggests something is possible but not certain, and can't means something is impossible or untrue. Examples are provided to illustrate the usage of each modal verb in the context of making deductions.

Uploaded by

Abdul Lateef Tahir
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Modals of Deduction

Abdul Lateef Tahir


Deduce (verb)
to reach an answer or a decision by
thinking carefully about the known facts:

There wasn’t enough evidence for the


detectives to deduce the identity of the killer.
Deduction (noun)
the process of reaching a decision or
answer by thinking about the known
facts, or the decision that is reached:

Through a process of deduction, the


detectives discovered the identity of the
killer.
We often use might, can’t or
must to say how sure or certain
we are about something.
(based on the information we have)
In this context,
the opposite of
must is can’t. (= I’m sure the neighbors are out.)

(= I’m sure the neighbors are not out.)


WHEN YOU ARE SURE
SOMETHING IS TRUE..

Your friend must be rich if he


drives around a Porsche.
MUST
WHEN YOU ARE SURE
SOMETHING IS IMPOSSIBLE
OR NOT TRUE..

That can’t be my mother. She wasn’t


CAN’T
wearing a gray scarf in the morning!
WHEN YOU THINK
SOMETHING IS
POSSIBLY TRUE..

My laptop might not have a virus,


MIGHT
it might have a bigger problem.
WE CAN USE MAY INSTEAD OF MIGHT AND
WE CAN USE COULD IN POSITIVE SENTENCES.
We often use be + gerund with them.
The students must be enjoying their holidays.
(= I’m sure that the students are enjoying their holidays because they didn’t
even ask me if we had any homework.)

My neighbours might be moving this week.


(= It is possible that my neighbours will move this week because I’ve been
hearing them pack all night.)

He can’t be travelling next week! We have exams!


(= It is impossible for him to travel next week because we have exams.)
READY FOR
SOME PRACTICE?
MATCH THE SENTENCES
HAPPY LEARNING!

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