Ingles Interactive

  | Recently my wife and I had a cross-cultural experience that taught us about some things we[should have done] differently. We were invited for dinner at the home of my Japanese co-worker. We were honored to be invited, and the food was delicious, but we felt a bit uncomfortable about the evening. I asked my friend Junichi about it. He's lived both in Japan and the United States, so he knowsthe differences between the two cultures. He gave me a lot of pointers. Now we know what we [should] and [shouldn't have done]. |

  | The first tip was about taking off our shoes. We knew that [you're supposed to remove] your shoes when you enter a Japanese home, so we did. We didn't know we[were supposed to arrange] them so they'd be pointing toward the door when we left so that we'd be able toput them on without needing to turn around. |

  | The second tip was about gifts. We'd brought our hosts a CD in a plastic bag. Junichi said, "Well, you [should have wrapped] the CD. It's OK to bring it in a plastic bag, but the gift itself [has to be wrapped]. And you [mustn't say] anything about the gift. Just give it to your hosts. |


Sentences containing a simple modal:
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You should wrap your gift.
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And you mustn't say anything about the gift.
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Or you could have taken some flowers.
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  | Sentences containing a perfect modal:
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Recently my wife and I had a cross-cultural experience that taught us about some things that we should have done differently.
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Or you could have taken some flowers.
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Yes, you ought to do that.
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  | Sentences dealing with strong necessity:
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The gift itself has to be wrapped.
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You mean you've got to eat everything that's offered to you?
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I asked what he thought we might do to rectify the situation.
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  | Sentences dealing with lack of necessity:
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And you mustn't sayanything about the gift.
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You don't have to.
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We didn't have to accept the offer of a drink.
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  | Sentences dealing with advice:
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Well, what should we have taken?
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But if you take something, you must finish it.
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Yes, you ought to do that.
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  | Sentences dealing with expectation:
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We weresupposed to arrange them so they'd be pointing toward the door.
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Junichi says you're not to do this in Japan.
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We'd better get going, or we won't be able to get up in the morning. |

Necessity (Must/Have to) |
| | You must tell  them about it. (present) |

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| | You mustn't tell  them about it. (present, necessity not to) |

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| | You don't have totell  them about it. (present, no necessity to) |

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| | You had to tell  them about it. (past) |

Advice (Should) |
| | You should tell  them about it. (present) |

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| | You shouldn't tell  them about it. (present, negative) |

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| | You should have told  them about it. (perfect) |

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| | You shouldn't have told  them about it. (perfect, negative) |Expectation (Be supposed to) |
| | You 're supposed to tell  them about it. (present) |

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| | You aren't supposed to tell OR 're not supposed to tell  them about it. (present, negative) |

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| | You were supposed to tell  them about it. (past) |

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| | You weren't supposed to tell  them about it. (past, negative) |

Suggestion (Could / Might) |
| | You could tell them about it. (present -- could) |

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| | You might tell  them about it. (present -- might) |

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| | You could have told  them about it. (perfect --could) |

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| | You might have told  them about it. (perfect --might) |


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| | | You don't have to  -select-  bring anything to the picnic. It's really not necessary.You weren't supposed to  -select-  tell...