8. must
You have been practising all day,
you must be exhausted!
Infinitive = present
speculation
9. must
Sean and Jennie must be going out again. I’ve seen
them holding hands today.
10. Infinitive + gerund (continuous) = in
progress at the time of speaking
must
Sean and Jennie must be going out again. I’ve seen
them talking very lovey-dovey, you know.
12. Can’t
What you say about Claire and Jake can’t be true!They’re so
good together it’s impossible they’re going to break up.
13. Can’t
▪ Can’t is used in negations and express negative logical
assumptions.That is to say, you use them when you’re certain that
something is not true or real.
Monsters can’t be real!
14. Can’t
▪ Can’t is the opposite of must. So we don’t say:
Monsters mustn’t be real!
but:
Monsters can’t be real!
15. Modal verbs and different tenses
We can use modal
verbs with different
combinations of
verbs to change the
time of the actions.
16. Can’t
What you say about Claire and Jake can’t be true!They’re so
good together it’s impossible they’re going to break up.
17. Infinitive = speculation about
the present
Can’t
What you say about Claire and Jake can’t be true!They’re so
good together it’s impossible they’re going to break up.
19. The children can’t be studying. I can hear them
gossiping.
Can’t
Infinitive + gerund = speculation
about an action in progress at the
time of speaking
23. We use may and might when we think it’s possible that
something’s happened or is true.
May and might
We’re not 100% sure!
24. Modal verbs and different tenses
We can use modal
verbs with different
combinations of
verbs to change the
time of the actions.
25. Laura might not like that skirt. It’s not really her style.
May and might
26. Laura might not like that skirt. It’s not really her style.
May and might
Infinitive = speculation about
the present
27. John hasn’t arrived yet. He might be driving around
looking for our house.
May and might
28. John hasn’t arrived yet. He might be driving around
looking for our house.
May and might
Infinitive + gerund = speculation
about an action in progress at the
time of speaking
29. He hasn’t arrived yet:
He might be lost.
He might be looking for the right directions.
May and might
Different tenses can be used
after the modal verb:
+ infinitive present
+ be + -ing action in
progress