Modal Verbs of Possibility Exercise 2. And here is the lesson if you would like to review: Modal Verbs of Possibility Lesson. More Grammar Lessons and Tests. Improve your English grammar with more lessons and exercises. Click on the links below to learn and practice. Adjectives; Articles. (Adverb of time) 2. The dog sat lazily in the shade of the tree. (Adverb of manner) 3. The man grumbled loudly while cleaning the table. (Adverb of manner) 4. I often visit my grandparents. (Adverb of frequency) 5. It is extremely hot today. (Adverb of degree) 6. Please wait patiently. (Adverb of manner) 7. The technician fixed the problem. Adverbs of probability include; certainly, definitely, doubtless, maybe, perhaps, possibly, probably etc. For example: We will win the game. = We will certainly win the game. In this sentence certainly shows us the probability.
1.Use of Modal Verbs of Probability
We can use these modal verbs when we want to to say how sure we are that something happened / is happening / will happen. We choose the modal verb depending on how sure we are.
2. Talking about probability in the present:
must / might / could / may / can’t + infinitive
For example:
Sitting at home and the phone rings John guesses:
- That mustbe Susan she said she would call about this time. (I’m fairly certain it is her.)
- It might be a wrong number. (maybe)
- It could be my brother, he hasn’t called in a while. (maybe)
- It maybe my boss. I didn’t go to work today. (maybe)
- That can’tbe Alan he is flying to America at the moment. (It is impossible)
Notice that the opposite of ‘must‘ is ‘can’t in this case.
Will / won’t
We use will and won’t when we are very sure:
- She’llbe at the airport by now.
- He won’tbe here for a few hours, he has called and said he is delayed.
Should / shouldn’t
Should and shouldn’t are used to make an assumption about what is true or will be true in the future, and to show you have reasons for your suggestion:
- It’s nearly six o’clock. They should be here soon.
- The traffic is fine it shouldn’t take more than an hour to get here.
This use of should isn’t usually used for negative events. Instead, it’s a better idea to use will:
- There will be a lot of traffic (not: ‘should be’).
Can
Can is used for something that is generally possible, something we know sometimes happens:
- Itcan be very cold in Scotland in winter.
Can is not used to talk about specific possibilities:
- He could be on the train (not: ‘can be’).
3. Using modal verbs to talk about probability in the past:
must / might / could / may / can’t + have + past participle
- must have + past participle
- might / might not have + past participle
- could / couldn’t have + past participle
- may / may not have + past participle
- can’t have + past participle
For example: Susan didn’t arrive for a meeting last night. John thinks about the possibilities:
- She must have forgotten about our meeting.
- She might have worked late.
- She could have got lost.
- She may have felt ill.
- She can’t have stayed at home, she always goes out on Fridays.
Will / won’t + have + past participle
Will and won’t / will not + have + past participle are used for past certainty (compare with present use of ‘will’ above):
- The plane will have landed by now.
Should + have + past participle
Should + have + past participle can be used to make an assumption about something that has probably happened, if everything is as we expect (compare with present use of ‘should’ above):
Adverb Exercises With Answers
- It’s nearly ten o’clock. They should have arrived by now.
Could
We can use could + infinitive to talk about a general possibility in the past (compare with the use of ‘can’ above):
Types Of Adverbs Exercises
- Life could be hard in the 19th century.
This is not used to talk about specific possibilities in the past (instead we use could + have + past participle):
- She couldhave been waiting for me at the wrong place. (not: ‘could be’. As this is a specific possibility in the present tense)