Grammar point Modal Verbs Expressing Supposition

May, might, and could followed by the bare infinitive (active or passive) express supposition referring to the future. There is no much difference in the meaning between them, e.g.:

He is in the accounting department now. He may (might, could) come soon. (Perhaps he will come soon.)

May in the meaning of supposition referring to the present or future is used when there are two or more options. It is followed by the continuous infinitive except with the verbs which do not have the continuous form, e.g.:

I can't send a fax to our rep. He may be having prob­lems with the fax machine. (Perhaps he is having, but there may be other reasons.)

Mark may know the address of the firm because he corresponded with them last year. (Perhaps he knows, but may be not.)

Might and could expressing supposition can be followed both by the indefinite and the "continuous infinitive. Might implies more uncertainty than both may and could; may is a bit more formal, e.g.:

You might be wrong that the matter is unimportant.

You may (could) be wrong that the matter is unimportant

Must is found only in affirmative sentences in the meaning of strong probability. It is used when there are no other options and it is followed by the continuous infinitive except with the verbs which do not admit the continuous form, e.g.:

Where is our computer operator? - He must be studying now. Thursday is an in-service training day.

He must be very busy. There are a lot of visitors in his reception

Can't, couldn't followed by the continuous infinitive is used to express negative supposition - doubt in present. With verbs which are not used in countinuous tenses both forms take the present infinitive, e.g.:

He can't (couldn't) be reading a report still. I gave it to him a week ago. I don't believe he is dismissed. It can't/couldn't be true.

Exercise 1. Underline the predicates with modal verbs expressing supposition, translate them into Russian.

1. The nation's largest banks may be stronger than the study suggests. 2. What we really need is about 40 or 50 deputies in the new parliament, then we might see some changes soon. 3. In my experience, 10 per cent of assets may be a good working number. 4. We could provide our customers with credit at 12 per cent and still make money. 5. We believe the negative effect on the economy might not be as great as some bankers say. 6. They are risking the fact that they could be without a job or without money. 7. We realized there was no way we could go. 8. They are not sure that they could save this money, so they try to spend. 9. What the social worker does not know are western techniques that could help them to design and manage social programmes. 10. Lewis couldn't be promoted to the Purchasing Manager, Mr. McClay has not retired yet.

Exercise 2. Complete the sentences with the modal verbs may, might, could, must, can't, couldn't expressing supposition.

1. Diana ________ be very rich. She earns more than $800, and she has a company car. 2. I ________ be late for this morning's seminar. It's ten o'clock already. 3. Where is the applicant? – He ________ be waiting in the hall. 4. The weather is nasty. My flight to new York ________ be delayed. 5. I've almost ran out of paper. – There ________ be some more in the office manager's desk. 6. I think we'd better read it again. There ________ be mistakes somewhere. 7. ________ the bank make a mistake? 8. If you go to the Enquiry Desk the clerk ________ help you. 9. That ________ be Ms Tannen at the reception. She's in Gon Kong now. 10. I suppose you want my resignation. – You ________ be joking. We've spent $50 thousand on your education! 11. New windows? Oh, yes, my wife was showing me something about that. It ________ be your brochure. 12. If this TV were the same price as our competitor's, would you buy it then? — Well, well, yes, I suppose I ________.

Exercise 3. Order the sentenses according to the degree of certainty expressing by the modal verbs; translate them into Russian.

very certain (можливо )

pretty certain (напевно, ймовірно)

not very certain (малоймовірно, навряд чи)

impossible (не може бути)

1. Did you get a chance to see the sights? - Not yet. I may get it during the future trips.

2. Where is the Chief Executive? - He could be in his office.

3. Other company's activities might include R&D and purchas­ing.

4. He can't be working so late. Everybody's gone.

5. This is one of the first rating that could tell something about banks.

6. The figures may be accurate.

7. I still owe the bank $500. I'm not sure whether I might pay it back the next month.

8. Our sales in Argentina may remain static.

9. She couldn't be the person we're looking for. She is much younger.

10. If it's midday in London, it must be seven a.m. in New York.

May (might), must, can't (couldn't) expressing supposition referring to the past are followed by the perfect infinitive or the perfect continuous infinitive, e.g.:

He must have made a lot of money recently. (I am sure.)

She is not in the office. She may (might) have been delayed at the conference. (Perhaps she was delayed.)

You can't (couldn't) have seen her in the office because she is at the conference now. (It's impossible.)

Could and might combined with the perfect infinitive indicate that the action was not carried out in the past, e.g.:

He might have found the job he liked. (And probably he did.)

He could have found the job he likes. (But he didn't.)

Exercise 4. Complete the sentences with the modal verbs may, might, must, can't, couldn't expressing supposition referring to the past.

1. Under normal circumstances, I ________ have been aware of such a deal. 2. I ________ have done it for free though my salary was $10 per day. 3. Thanks for the perfume, Tom. It ________ have cost you a fortune. 4. You ________ have seen the report yesterday. It has been printed just now. 5. If our factory was paid half a million dollars to take care of nuclear waste, I ________ have gotten my salary over the last two years. 6. Our competitor's products disappeared from the market. They ________ have concentrated on another market segment. 7. You ________ have taken the Circle Line. It doesn't go through St. Paul. You ________ have taken the Central Line train. 8. I'm not sure these figures are accurate. There ________ have been a kind of mistake. 9. Sales in New Zealand ________ have been worse than they are now. It's our best market. 10. Our driver wasn't hurt in the car accident. He ________ have been wearing his seat belt.

Exercise 5. Transform the sentences by means of the modal verbs expressing supposition according to the model.

M o d e l: Certainly, she knew that something was wrong. She must have known that something was wrong.

1. Probably, he recognized you by your photo.

2. He is sure to be at his office at that time.

3. Of course, she is trying to help you.

4. She is certain to be waiting for you in the reception.

5. I haven't seen him around. Probably, he has already gone.

6. There is little doubt that the negotiations failed.

7. No doubt, she knew how to handle the correspondence.

8. They are sure to have taken the wrong tactics.

9. I am sure she didn't forget.

10. Certainly, they had different points of view.