Ingles

Homework 1
Fourth Semester
Modal verbs
Put ‘certain’, ‘almost certain’, ‘fairly certain’ or ‘very uncertain’ beside these sentences.
1. The phone’s ringing. It’s Roland. Certain_________
2.The phone’s ringing. It might be Roland. __________________________
3. A car is parking outside our house. That must be the Smiths. _____________________
4. From you description, the person you metcan’t be my cousin, Jeff. _________________
5. Are you saying it might not be possible for me to get a visa to visit USA? ____________
6. If he spent five years in America, he must speak English,I suppose. ________________
7. It could be John who is knocking on the door. ____________Information about modal verbs:
COULD HAVE | SHOULD HAVE |
OPTIONS OR OPPORTUNITIES NOT TAKEN | IMPORTANT OPTIONS OR ADVICE NOT TAKEN |
"Could have" is used for non-essential advice.There are many things that could have been done. Maybe, they would have made a difference, maybe not. | "Should have" is used for more urgent advice. These are the key, most important, things thatwould have made a difference. (After the Titanic Inquiry, they became recommendations for changes in maritime rules.) |
Passengers could have taken other smaller trans-atlantic ships. | The ownersshould have supplied enough lifeboats for everyone. |
The captain could have chosen a more southern | The captain should have insisted on better |

'Might' suggests a smaller possibility than'may', there is in fact little difference. We express the greatest uncertainty with might; the greatest certainty with must/can’t.
 He might be right. He might know the answer. (very uncertain)
He could be right. He would know the answer. (fairly certain)
 He must be right. He must know the answer. (almost certain)
 He can’t be right. He can‟t know the answer. (almost certain)...