DEDUCTION MUST - MAY - MIGHT - CAN´T

MUST: When you are absolutely sure something is true My mum has been cooking all morning. She must be tired. That watch must be very expensive. It has diamonds! Your friend´s restaurant must be really good. It´s always full of customers. She must be over 40. She has some wrinkles on her face.

MAY / MIGHT: When you think something is possibly true, that something is a possibility A. What song is that? B. I´m not sure but it might / may be one of Mika´s last album. A.Where´s John? B. I don´t know exactly. He might / may be in his classroom. (Perhaps he is in his classroom) A. Where are you going for your summer holidays? B. I´m not sure. I might / may go to Dublin.

CAN´T: When you are sure something is impossible: I believe it is impossible How can she say such a nonsense? She can´t be serious. The teacher can´t be away. Her car is outside the office. The new footballer looks very young. He can´t be over 17.

Must – May / Might - Can´t 1.They _________ be very happy -they´ve just got married. 2.He _______ be the new Major -he´s too young, only 21! 3.That ______ be the same boy -he looks completely different. 4.I don´t know where Jane is. She ______ be at the gym.She sometimes goes there after work. 5.She _________ have five children -she´s only twenty- two! 6.It _________ rain this afternoon. The sky is very dark. 7. My friend has been running for four hours. She _________ be tired!

Must – May / Might - Can´t 1. They must be very happy -they´ve just got married. 2. He can´t be the new Major -he´s too young, only 21! 3. That can´t be the same boy -he looks completely different. 4. I don´t know where Jane is. She might / may be at the gym. She sometimes goes there after work. 5. She can´t have five children -she´s only twenty-two! 6.It might / may rain this afternoon. The sky is very dark. 7. My friend has been running for four hours. She must be tired!

ABILITY can could to be able to

Can-could (Present-Past) I can do something = I know how to do it or it is possible for me to do it. I can speak English but I can´t speak German. Can you ride a horse? Yes, but I´m not a very good jockey. When I was little, I could climb a wall.

Can you…? Could you…? Can I…? Could I…? We use Can you…? or Could you…? when we ask people to do things. Can you open the window, please? Or Could you open the door, please? We use Can I have…? or Could I have…? to ask for something. Can I have this sweater, please? (in a clothes shop)

To be able to In the present tense, be able to is a little more formal and less usual than can. Mary is good at Maths. She can / is able to solve lots of difficult problems. In the past tense, we use could or was / were able to. John could play (or was able to play) the violin when he was five. To say that the ability resulted in a particular action, something that really happened, we use was / were able to but not could. The plane was able to take off at ten, after the fog had lifted.

Could – Was / Were able to Compare the two sentences: The children could swim when they were quite young (a past ability). The children were able to swim across the river (a past action). In negative sentences and questions, we can use either form: It was foggy, so the plane couldn´t / wasn´t able to take off. Could you / Were you able to describe the man to the police?