CONTENTS |
Degrees of certainty: present time Degrees of certainty; present time negative Degrees of certainty: past time Degrees of certainty: future time Progressive forms of modals Ability: can and could, Using would to express a repeated action in the past Expressing preference: would rather, combining modals with phrasal modals Summary chart of modals and similar expresions. |
| Degrees of certainty: present time | |
--- Why isn't Pat in class? 100% sure: She is sick 95% sure: She must be sick---- less than 50% sure: She may be sick, She might be sick, She could be sick. | "Grados de certeza" se refiere a que tan seguros estamos - que pensamos de las oportunidades que hay - de que algo sea cierto. Si nosotros estamos seguros de que algo es verdadero en el presente, no se necesita usar un modal. Por ejemplo, si yo digo "Pat is sick", /Pat esta enferma, estoy segura, se que es un hecho y estoy segura que es verdad, mi grado de certeza es del 100% |
--- Why isn't Pat in class? * She must be sick. (usually she is in class every day, but when I saw her last night , she wasn't feeling good. So my best guess is that she is sick today. I can't think of another possibility.) | "Must" expresa un grado más fuerte de certeza acerca de la presente situación, pero el grado de certeza es todavia menor al 100%. * El que habla esta diciendo, "probablemente Pat esta enferma. Yo tengo evidencia que me hace creer que esta enferma. Esa es mi conclusión lógica, pero no lo se con certeza." |
---- Why isn't Pat in class? She may be sick. She might be sick, She could be sick. (I don't really know. She may be at home watching TV. He might be at the library. She could be out of town. | May, might, y could, expresan un débil grado de certeza. ** El que habla esta diciendo, "perhaps, maybe, + Possibly Pat is sick. Quiza, tal vez, es posible que Pat este enferma. Yo solo estoy adivinando. Yo puedo pensar otras posibilidades." |
DEGREES OF CERTAINTY: PRESENT TIME NEGATIVE 100 % sure: Pat isn't hungry 99% sure: Pat couldn't be hungry. Pat can't be hungry. 95 % sure: Pat must not be hungry. Less than 50% sure: Pat may not be hungry. Pat might not be hungry. |
Pat doesn´t want anything to eat. She isn't hungry. She told me her stomach is full. I heard say that she isn´t hungry. I believe her. | Quien habla esta seguro de que Pat no tiene hambre. |
Pat couldn't / can´t be hungry! That's imposible ! I just so her eat a huge meal. She has already eaten enough to fill to fill two grown men. Did she really say she'd like something to eat? I don't believe it. | Quien habla cree que no hay posibilidad que Pat tenga hambre (pero no esta 100 % seguro) cuándo usamos el negativo para mostrar grados de certeza, couldn't y can't forzosamente expresa la idea de que quien habla cree que algo es imposible. |
Pat isn't eating her food. She may not/might not be hungry right now. Or maybe she doesn´t feel well. Or perhaps she ate just before she got here. Who knows. | Quien habla usa may not / might not para mencionar una posibilidad. |
DEGREES OF CERTAINTY: PRESENT TIME NEGATIVE 100 % sure: Pat isn't hungry 99% sure: Pat couldn't be hungry. Pat can't be hungry. 95 % sure: Pat must not be hungry. Less than 50% sure: Pat may not be hungry. Pat might not be hungry. |
Pat doesn´t want anything to eat. She isn't hungry. She told me her stomach is full. I heard say that she isn´t hungry. I believe her. | Quien habla esta seguro de que Pat no tiene hambre. |
Pat couldn't / can´t be hungry! That's imposible ! I just so her eat a huge meal. She has already eaten enough to fill to fill two grown men. Did she really say she'd like something to eat? I don't believe it. | Quien habla cree que no hay posibilidad que Pat tenga hambre (pero no esta 100 % seguro) cuándo usamos el negativo para mostrar grados de certeza, couldn't y can't forzosamente expresa la idea de que quien habla cree que algo es imposible. |
Pat isn't eating her food. She may not/might not be hungry right now. Or maybe she doesn´t feel well. Or perhaps she ate just before she got here. Who knows. | Quien habla usa may not / might not para mencionar una posibilidad. |
DEGREES OF CERTAINTY: PAST TIME | |
Past time: affirmative ---Why wasn't Pat in class? 100% : She was sick. * 95% : She must have been sick.** Less than 50% : She may have been sick.She might have been sick. She could have been sick. ***
| * quien habla esta seguro, ** Quien habla esta haciendo una conclusión lógica, e.g., "I saw Pat yesterday and found out that she was sick./Ví a Pat ayer y encontré que estaba enferma. Se asume que es la razón por la cuál esta ausente. I can't think of any other good reason."/No puedo pensar en alguna otra buena razón. *** Quien habla, esta mencionando una posibilidad. |
Past time: Negative--- Why didn't Ralph eat? 100% : Ralph wasn´t hungry .* 99% : Ralph couldn't have been hungry. Ralph can't have been hungry.*** 95% : Ralph must not have been hungry. ** * less than 50 % : Ralph may not have been hungry. Ralph might not have been hungry. | * Quien habla esta seguro. ** quien habla cree que es imposible para Ralph haber tenido hambre.***Quien habla esta haciendo una conclusión lógica, **** Quien habla esta mencionando una posibilidad. |
DEGREES OF CERTAINTY: FUTURE TIME | |
100% sure: Pat will do well on the test. --- quien habla se siente seguro. 90% sure: Pat should do well on the test , Pat ought to do well on the test -- quien habla esta casi seguro less than 50% sure: She may do well on the test. She might do well on the test. She could do well on the test. - Quien habla esta suponiendo (adivinando) | |
Pat has been studying hard. She should do / ought to do well on the test tomorrow. | Should / ought to puede ser usada para expresar expectaciones acerca de eventos futuros. Quien habla esta diciendo, "Pat will probably do well on the test. I expect her to do well. that is what I think will happen/Pat probablemente pasara bien el examen./espero que ella lo haga bien, espero que eso pase." |
I wonder why Pat hasn´t written us. We should have heard/ought to have heard from her last week. | La forma pasada de should/ought to se usa para significar que quien habla esta esperando algo que no paso. |
PROGRESSIVE FORMS OF MODALS | |
Let´s just knock on the door lightly. Ralph may be sleeping (right now) All the lights in Pat´s room are turned off. She must be sleeping. (right now) | Progressive form, present time: modal + be + ing.Significa que esta en progreso ahora mismo. |
| Pat wasn´t at home last night when we went to visit her. She might have been studying at the library.Ralph wasn´t at home last night: he has a lot of exams coming up soon, and he is also working on a term paper. He must have been studying at the library. | Progressive form, past time: modal +have been + ing. Significa: que estuvo en progreso en algún tiempo en el pasado. |
