Dear friend,
I am glad you have joined our Course of English. I am hopeful it will enable you to make good
progress. Good luck!
Занятие 1
Modal Verbs
The modal verbs are: can, could may, might, must, ought to, will, would, shall, should, have
to, need. They take no –s in the third person singular except for have to and need. They come
before the subject in questions and take “not” after them in negations. Except for ought to and
have to, modal verbs are followed by an infinitive without “to”. Eg. Sorry, I can’t come. I have
to meet Pam.
Modals are used to express: ability, possibility, probability, logical assumptions, permission,
requests, offers, suggestions, advice, criticism, obligation, prohibition or necessity.
1. Ability.
Can/be able to (ability in the present or future). “Can” is more usual and less formal than “be
able to” when talking about the present or future.
Ann can run fast.
I can pay you next week. (usual)
I will be able to pay you next week. (less usual)
Was able to (= managed to- ability in the past) is used for either repeated or single actions.
I was able to go on a trip round the city last week. (single action)
Could (ability in the past). “Could” is more usual than “was able to”. It is used in statements for
repeated actions. However, with the verbs see, hear, smell, understand etc, we normally use
“could” for single actions.
She could/was able to play the violin when she was six. (repeated action)
I could smell something burning. (single action)
(not I was able to smell…)
Could/was able to can both be used in negations and questions for either repeated or single
actions.
She couldn’t/wasn’t able to pass her driving test.(single action)
Were you able to/Could you get to work yesterday? (single action)
Can is the Present Simple and could is the Past Simple. Can borrows the rest of its tenses from
be able to. eg. He hasn’t been able to call them yet but he can call them tomorrow.
2. Possibility.
May/might/could+ present infinitive (perhaps, it’s possible that something will happen in the
future or perhaps it is true at the moment)
May/might/could+ perfect infinitive (perhaps something happened in the past)
Could + perfect infinitive is also used for something which was possible but didn’t actually
happen
Sam may/might/could pass his test this time (It’s possible that he will pass his test)
Where’s Jean? She could be at school.
She looks miserable. She may/might/could have lost her job. (Perhaps she has lost her job.)
Don’t drive so fast! You could have killed that boy. (Luckily, you didn’t kill the boy.)
3. Probability.
Ought to/should + present infinitive show that something is probable now or in the future.
Ought to/should + perfect infinitive show that we expected something to happen but we don’t
know if it happened or not.
Tom ought to/should pass his exams. (He will probably pass.)
Has Nancy phoned yet? She ought to/should have phoned an hour ago. (We don’t know whether
she phoned or not.)
4. Speculations (logical assumptions).
Can’t/couldn’t + present infinitive ( I don’t think so, it’s logically improbable)
Must+ present infinitive ( I think, I’m fairly sure, it’s logically probable)
Can’t is the opposite of must
Can’t/couldn’t + perfect infinitive ( It’s impossible that something happened in the past.)
Must + perfect infinitive (It’s very probable that something happened in the past.)
She can’t be rich. Her house is too small. (I don’t think she is rich.)
His face is red. He must be very angry. (I think he is very angry.)
It can’t be true. It must be a lie.
She can’t/couldn’t have lost her way; she must have missed the train. (= I don’t think she has
lost her way; I think she has missed the train.)
To express possibility in questions we don’t use “may”. We use: Can he? Could he? Is he likely
to? Is it likely that? Might he?
Can he succeed?
Could he succeed?
Is he likely to succeed?
Is it likely that he will succeed?
Can/could he have finished? (=Is it possible that he has finished?)
Might he succeed?
Task 1
Fill in ‘can’ or ‘be able’ in the appropriate tense form.
1. I’ve been looking for your glasses but I ………………find them yet.
2. By the time Phillis was ten, she ………………...speak the languages.
3. If you don’t tell me what your problem is, I ………………help you.
4. I got home early last night, so I ……watch my favourite programme.
5. I ……..eat anything when I was younger, but now I’m more careful.
6. He ……………………...pass the exam because he had studied hard.
Task 2
Complete the sentences with “can”, “could”, “be able to”. Sometimes more than one answer is
possible.
1. Oh dear, I (not) … remember her address.
2. I used to … wiggle my ears but I can’t any more.
3. Where are the keys? I (not) …find them last night.
4. She’s moved to York so she will … see her parents more often.
5. The theatre seats were awful. We (not) … see the stage.
6. The show is very popular but luckily I … get two seats for Saturday.
7. My car broke down and I haven’t …drive it for a week.
8. The exam was easy. I …do all the questions.
9. It’s nice … sleep late on Sundays.
10. My sister (not) … swim until she was eleven.
11. After the accident he (not) … smell or taste anything.
12. I lost all my money but fortunately I … borrow some from friends.
Task 3
Fill in: can’t, might, must, could.
I wonder where Paul is. He 1) … be at work because he never works on a Sunday. He 2) … be at
Sally’s, but I doubt it because they haven’t been speaking lately. I wonder if he 3) … be at his
cottage in the country. No, he 4) … be because he told me they have rented it to someone else
for the summer. He 5) …have gone bowling, but I’m almost sure he told me he’d got tired of it. I
know! He 6) … have gone swimming, because I remember him asking me if I wanted to go with
him.
Task 4
Express the same idea in other words.
1. You may be wrong.
2. It’s likely that she will lend you the money.
3. I’m sure they have invited her too.
4. I don’t think he will forget your birthday.
5. They may have hurt her feelings.
Task 5
Say why one should take certain things on a walking trip. Use the words and word combinations
from the two wordboxes.
Eg: You should take a sweater because you might get cold.
1. a sweater
2. a compass
3. a bar of chocolate
get lost
get hungry
need to light a fire
4. a pair of binoculars
5. a camera
6. some matches
want to do some birdwatching
want to take some photos
get cold
Task 6
Read the text an look carefully at each line. Some of the lines are correct (OK) and some have a
word that shouldn’t be there. The first two lines are given as examples.
0 By the time you will get this letter I expect you will
will
00 have been in Calcutta for a week or so. You will
1 .have been and able to settle in a bit and get used to the
2 place. It must can have been an exhausting journey.
3 It can’t have been being much fun flying non-stop for
nearly
4 twenty-four hours. I must to say I admire your decision
5 to go and work in Calcutta. I know the poverty is
6 depressing but the job at least should to be quite
worthwhile.
I expect the task to be done and sent over by 31.10.12
Best wishes,
olga-medwedew@yandex.ru
OK