Modal verbsofdeduction

cancan’t

will / won’t

shall may must

could would should might -

Is Sally at home now?

we use indicative tensesto say what we know

Sally is at home now.

I know

we use modals when wesuppose, deduce, imagine

Sally must be at home now.

I suppose

the choice of modal verb says how certain we are

Sally

mustwillmay

mightwon’tcan’t

be at home now.

Sally

mustwillmay

mightwon’tcan’t

be at home now.

I’m convinced (even if I don’t

know)

Sally

mustwillmay

mightwon’tcan’t

be at home now.

I suppose

Sally

mustwillmay

mightwon’tcan’t

be at home now.

it’s possible

Sally

mustwillmay

mightwon’tcan’t

be at home now.

c.f. modal verbs of possibility

Sally

mustwillmay

mightwon’tcan’t

be at home now.

I suppose she isn’t

Sally

mustwillmay

mightwon’tcan’t

be at home now.

I’m sure she isn’t(even if I don’t

know)

notice the opposites

Sally must be at home now.Sally can’t be at home now.

Sally will be at home now.Sally won’t be at home now.

modal verbs of deductionhave a continuous form

Something

mustwillmay

mightwon’tcan’t

be working.

use the continuous infinitive after the modal

continuous infinitivebe working

be speakingbe thinking

etc.

N.B.

other meanings of the modals don’t use the continuous

infinitive

e.g.

He can’t speak French.He can’t be speaking in French.

e.g.

He can’t speak French.He can’t be speaking in French.

he doesn’t know how

e.g.

He can’t speak French.He can’t be speaking in French.

I don’t believe he’s doing it

modal verbs of deductionhave a past form

Something

mustwillmay

mightwon’tcan’t

have worked.

use the perfect infinitiveafter the modal

perfect infinitivehave workedhave spokenhave thought

etc.

N.B.

other meanings of the modals don’t use the perfect infinitive

e.g.

He couldn’t speak French.He can’t have spoken in French.

e.g.

He couldn’t speak French.He can’t have spoken in French.

he didn’t know howwhen he was

younger

e.g.

He couldn’t speak French.He can’t have spoken in French.

I don’t believe he spoke in French

exercise

convert continuous modalsto perfect

and perfect modalsto continuous

continuous modal perfect modal

She might be calling.

They can’t have studied.

He must be going by bus.

She won’t have cooked dinner.

He will be wearing the jacket.

They won’t have taken their exams.

I must be dreaming it.

They may have argued.

He can’t be choosing.

You must have paid a lot.

She will be enjoying her holiday.

continuous modal perfect modal

She might be calling. She might have called.

They can’t be studying. They can’t have studied.

He must be going by bus. He must have gone by bus.

She won’t be cooking dinner. She won’t have cooked dinner.

He will be wearing the jacket. He will have worn the jacket.

They won’t be taking their exams. They won’t have taken their exams.

I must be dreaming it. I must have dreamt it.

They may be arguing. They may have argued.

He can’t be choosing. He can’t have chosen.

You must be paying a lot. You must have paid a lot.

She will be enjoying her holiday. She will have enjoyed her holiday.

may have donevs.

might have done

1. when we don’t know

Theymay

mighthave lost my letter.

Theymay

mighthave lost my letter.

it’s possible that they have lost my

letter

Theymay

mighthave lost my letter.

‘may’ and ‘might’ mean the same

2. result that didn’t happen

You might have killed yourself.

You might have killed yourself.

you didn’t kill yourself, but you

did risk it

You might have killed yourself.

only ‘might’ is possible

I might not have married her.

I might not have married her.

I married her but if…

homework

module 7, parts 12, 13, 14

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