Modal verbs: possibility, certainty & obligation
Possibility and certainty- prawdopodobieństwo i pewność
A: Whose bag is that?
B: I don’t know. It may belong to Maria’s friend.
C: It might be a bomb. It could explode at any moment.
(‘may’, ‘might’- coś jest możliwe/prawdopodobne; ‘could’- coś jest możliwe)
It may/might/could rain later.
That man may/might be watching us. (=Perhaps he’s watching us.)
I’m not sure where Mike is. He could be playing tennis. (Possibly he’s playing tennis.)
Daniel may not get the job.
Tom might not be in.
(something negative is possible)
I couldn’t run a marathon.
(something is impossible)
She isn’t answering the phone. She must be out.
Andrew is not here. He must be working in the library.
(‘must’- jesteśmy czegoś pewni)
You can’t be hungry. You’ve just had lunch.
Nick can’t be visiting England. I saw him this morning.
(‘can’t’- uważamy coś za niemożliwe)
A: Where’s Bill?
B: He may have got lost.
C: He could have forgotten about our meeting.
D: He can’t have forgotten. We were talking about it this morning.
E: So, something must have delayed him.
You might have left your keys at work.
(‘may’/’might’/’could’/’must’/’can’t’ + have + trzecia forma czasownika- tak wyrażamy prawdopodobieństwo lub pewnosć dotyczące przeszłych wydarzeń)
We could have gone somewhere, but we were too tired.
You were very lucky. You could have had a terrible accident.
(‘could’- niewykorzystane okazje lub uniknięte konsekwencje)
It must have been love.
It can’t have been love.
(‘must’ and “can’t’ are opposites)
I may/might not have locked the door. (= Perhaps I didn’t lock it.)
Daniel couldn’t have caught the bus. It doesn’t run on Sundays. (= It is impossible for him to have caught the bus.)
(‘may not’/’might not’- prawdopodobnie coś się nie wydarzyło; ‘could not’- niemożliwe, żeby coś się wydarzyło)
Necessity- konieczność
I must give up smoking.
You must think about your future.
(‘must’- osoba wypowiadająca zdanie widzi konieczność zrobienia czegoś)
I have to wear a uniform at my school.
They have to write the report for Monday.
(‘have to’- trzeba coś zrobić, bo taka jest panująca zasada lub nakaz z zewnątrz)
Emma had to go to the dentist yesterday.
(‘had to’- czas przeszły dla ‘must’ i ‘have to’)
We will have to paint our house soon.
I don’t want to have to wait in a queue.
Mark has had to drive all the way to London.
(with modal verbs, to-infinitive, the Present Perfect we don’t use ‘must’ but only ‘have to’)
You needn’t wash those glasses. They are clean
He doesn’t need to get up early today. It’s Saturday.
You don’t have to finish this report today. You can do it tomorrow.
(something is not necessary)
The food was free. We didn’t have / didn’t need to pay for it.
(something was not necessary)
I didn’t need to get up early yesterday. It was Sunday. (= it was unnecessary)
I needn’t have got up early yesterday. It was Sunday. (= it was unnecessary, but I did it)
You needn’t have bought the tickets. I bought them last week.
(Niepotrzebnie kupiłeś bilety.)
You should see a doctor.
(advice, suggestion)
I ought to write to my parents.
(the right thing to do)
People shouldn’t lie.
You oughtn’t todrink so much.
(a wrong thing to do)
We didn’t play very well. We should have played better.
She was devastated. You shouldn’t have told her the truth.
(coś powinno/nie powinno było się wydarzyć)
It’s cold. The children had better wear their coats.
My wife is waiting for me. I’d better not be late.
(‘had better’= the best thing to do in a situation)
The guests are supposed to buy flowers for the hostess.
You are not supposed to talk to the bus driver.
It’s ten o’clock. You were supposed to be here at nine thirty.
(‘be supposed to’= the normal or correct way of doing things)
Now, do the test below.
TEST
A: Whose bag is that?
B: I don’t know. It may belong to Maria’s friend.
C: It might be a bomb. It could explode at any moment.
(‘may’, ‘might’- coś jest możliwe/prawdopodobne; ‘could’- coś jest możliwe)
It may/might/could rain later.
That man may/might be watching us. (=Perhaps he’s watching us.)
I’m not sure where Mike is. He could be playing tennis. (Possibly he’s playing tennis.)
Daniel may not get the job.
Tom might not be in.
(something negative is possible)
I couldn’t run a marathon.
(something is impossible)
She isn’t answering the phone. She must be out.
Andrew is not here. He must be working in the library.
(‘must’- jesteśmy czegoś pewni)
You can’t be hungry. You’ve just had lunch.
Nick can’t be visiting England. I saw him this morning.
(‘can’t’- uważamy coś za niemożliwe)
A: Where’s Bill?
B: He may have got lost.
C: He could have forgotten about our meeting.
D: He can’t have forgotten. We were talking about it this morning.
E: So, something must have delayed him.
You might have left your keys at work.
(‘may’/’might’/’could’/’must’/’can’t’ + have + trzecia forma czasownika- tak wyrażamy prawdopodobieństwo lub pewnosć dotyczące przeszłych wydarzeń)
We could have gone somewhere, but we were too tired.
You were very lucky. You could have had a terrible accident.
(‘could’- niewykorzystane okazje lub uniknięte konsekwencje)
It must have been love.
It can’t have been love.
(‘must’ and “can’t’ are opposites)
I may/might not have locked the door. (= Perhaps I didn’t lock it.)
Daniel couldn’t have caught the bus. It doesn’t run on Sundays. (= It is impossible for him to have caught the bus.)
(‘may not’/’might not’- prawdopodobnie coś się nie wydarzyło; ‘could not’- niemożliwe, żeby coś się wydarzyło)
Necessity- konieczność
I must give up smoking.
You must think about your future.
(‘must’- osoba wypowiadająca zdanie widzi konieczność zrobienia czegoś)
I have to wear a uniform at my school.
They have to write the report for Monday.
(‘have to’- trzeba coś zrobić, bo taka jest panująca zasada lub nakaz z zewnątrz)
Emma had to go to the dentist yesterday.
(‘had to’- czas przeszły dla ‘must’ i ‘have to’)
We will have to paint our house soon.
I don’t want to have to wait in a queue.
Mark has had to drive all the way to London.
(with modal verbs, to-infinitive, the Present Perfect we don’t use ‘must’ but only ‘have to’)
You needn’t wash those glasses. They are clean
He doesn’t need to get up early today. It’s Saturday.
You don’t have to finish this report today. You can do it tomorrow.
(something is not necessary)
The food was free. We didn’t have / didn’t need to pay for it.
(something was not necessary)
I didn’t need to get up early yesterday. It was Sunday. (= it was unnecessary)
I needn’t have got up early yesterday. It was Sunday. (= it was unnecessary, but I did it)
You needn’t have bought the tickets. I bought them last week.
(Niepotrzebnie kupiłeś bilety.)
You should see a doctor.
(advice, suggestion)
I ought to write to my parents.
(the right thing to do)
People shouldn’t lie.
You oughtn’t todrink so much.
(a wrong thing to do)
We didn’t play very well. We should have played better.
She was devastated. You shouldn’t have told her the truth.
(coś powinno/nie powinno było się wydarzyć)
It’s cold. The children had better wear their coats.
My wife is waiting for me. I’d better not be late.
(‘had better’= the best thing to do in a situation)
The guests are supposed to buy flowers for the hostess.
You are not supposed to talk to the bus driver.
It’s ten o’clock. You were supposed to be here at nine thirty.
(‘be supposed to’= the normal or correct way of doing things)
Now, do the test below.
TEST
