The Communicative Grammar of English Workbook (2013)

UNIT FIFTEEN. Modality

15.1. Agreement and disagreement

Sections 270–273

It is often a good idea to be polite when agreeing or disagreeing with another person’s opinion.

•When agreeing with an unfavourable opinion, we can qualify the agreement with an expression of regret.

•When we deny or contradict what has been said, we can disagree tactfully by softening the denial or contradiction in some way.

•Sometimes we may only partially agree with what has been said. Then we can qualify our agreement with a statement that suggests another view.

•We can also strengthen our agreement by adding comments which give further support to what has been said.

Task one **

Make a qualified agreement or tactful disagreement with the following unfavourable opinions.

1.I didn’t like that movie at all. It was a very silly story.

2.The management made a big mistake employing that woman.

3.The food in that restaurant is always undercooked.

4.He comes up with some stupid ideas. And the latest is the worst.

5.Fancy painting a door that colour!

6.You really can’t believe everything he says.

7.United played a poor game on Tuesday. They shouldn’t have won.

8.He’s not the man for the job. That’s the problem.

9.The book had some good ideas, but in the end it amounted to nothing.

10.The exam results were very poor this year.

Task two **

Make enthusiastic or emphatic responses to the utterances below.

1.United should have won last Tuesday.

2.The exam results won’t please everybody.

3.I loved that film. I could see it again.

4.What a beautiful picture that is!

5.You can always rely on him to give a good presentation.

6.The trouble is there aren’t any real leaders in politics any more.

7.It was a very good course.

8.I’ve given up the car. On long journeys, the roads get so crowded.

9.I’m not sure John’s going to be very happy working under Alan.

10.Didn’t you enjoy that play!

Task three **

The underlined responses to the utterances below may be thought somewhat “impolite”. Soften them in some way to make the disagreement more tactful.

1.A: I really didn’t like that film. B: It was very good.

2.A: The government must do what the people want. B: Nonsense. The people want so many different things.

3.A: Well done, the Danes. No to the Euro! B: That’s not a very sensible attitude.

4.A: She’s the most stupid person I’ve ever met. B: That’s very unfair.

5.A: They shouldn’t have let him become a member. B: He works very hard for the club.

6.A: He’s not a very good teacher, is he? B: I like him.

7.A: I don’t like any of these paintings. B: Why not? Some are good.

8.A: I didn’t understand anything he was talking about in that lecture.

B: It was very clear to me.

9.A: There’s never been a better time to invest in securities. B: Whatever gave you that idea? I wouldn’t do it.

10.A: He must be the richest man in the country. B: There are a lot of people richer than him.

15.2. Fact, hypothesis and neutrality

Sections 274–282; 416; 493; 589; 609; 706–708

There are many statements where truth or falsehood is assumed rather than directly stated.

Fact is usually expressed by a finite verb or by an -ing clause.

Hypothesis is usually expressed in the past tense in dependent clauses. Here the past tense has nothing to do with past time, but refers to the present or future time. Often this is done with a conditional clause, but there are other expressions that can be used.

Neutrality is often expressed by infinitive clauses or a wh-clause in reported speech.

This can also be expressed with the use of should or the subjunctive.

Should is also used to express factual and hypothetical meaning.

Task one **

Mark each of the underlined dependent clauses in the following sentences as fact (F), hypothesis (H) or neutral (N)

1.I’m glad you decided to come.

2.It’s time you came to visit me.

3.I’m surprised they let you out.

4.The best thing for him is to resign.

5.I wish you had decided to come.

6.If we’d been in Hungary in 1999, we’d have seen the total eclipse.

7.Did you know James was going to marry Emma?

8.If I were you, I’d refuse to do it.

9.If he should postpone the meeting again, we won’t have time to submit the application.

10.I doubt if the application will succeed anyway.

Task two **

Add one of the following initial phrases to the utterances below to make each one fact, hypothesis or neutral as stated.

Did you know that

Do you know whether

Had you known

I’d be surprised if

I doubt whether

I’m glad

It’s time

Should you get the job,

Suppose

They were surprised

1.would you be willing to move home so that you are not so far from the office? (H)

2.Colin was hurt during the raid? (N)

3.Anna got the job. (H)

4.we had a change of government. (H)

5.NATO had ignored the situation. (H)

6.most of the charity money from the Lottery goes to projects in the capital? (F)

7.Jane’s settled in Barcelona at last. (F)

8.about Ian and Judith, would you still have come on this holiday? (H)

9.when they got the letter confirming the loan. (F)

10.we’ll ever know the whole truth. (N)

Task three **

Compare the pairs of sentences below and give reasons for the use of should.

1.If he comes, give him my apologies for not being here to greet him.

If he should come, give him my apologies for not being here to greet him.

2.It angers me that people are given honours just for doing their job.

It angers me that people should be given honours just for doing their job.

3.He says the race will take place next year.

He says the race should take place next year.

4.I’m surprised he’s invited.

I’m surprised he should be invited.

5.The government has decided to incorporate Human Rights legislation into British law.

The government has decided that Human Rights legislation should be incorporated into British law.

15.3. Degrees of likelihood

Sections 283–292; 461–463; 483; 501; 542

We need not always think in terms of truth or falsehood. There is also a scale of likelihood.

Certainty (or Logical necessity) expressed with must or have to

Ability expressed with can, be able to, be capable of

Predictability expressed with will or must

Probability expressed with should or ought to

Possibility expressed with can, may, could, might

Tentative possibility expressed with could or might

Improbability expressed with shouldn’t, oughtn’t to, it is improbable/unlikely that

Impossibility expressed with can’t, may not, mustn’t

Task one ***

Describe the degrees of likelihood shown in the sentences according to the list below.

Possibility of the fact

Possibility of the idea

Impossibility

Hypothetical possibility

Tentative possibility

Ability

Hypothetical ability

Certainty or logical necessity

Hypothetical necessity

Prediction and predictability

Probability

1.If the people were persuaded that the Chancellor was lying, the government could lose the next election.

2.He might have been lying.

3.You don’t have to be good-looking to be a star, but it helps.

4.Don’t worry. Gerry’s probably on his way by now.

5.You shouldn’t have any trouble with this.

6.I’m sorry. There must have been a fault in the connector.

7.My grandmother must have been having children over a period of almost thirty years.

8.The politician couldn’t give his view on the matter because of forthcoming legal proceedings.

9.There will be fighting in the streets if he claims to have won the election.

10.Do I have to put down every single detail of what I’ve done during the day?

Task two **

Complete the sentences below with a modal verb or phrase showing the degree of likelihood shown in brackets at the end of the sentence.

1.Surely they ………….. have chosen him. He’s such a difficult person.

(Impossibility)

2.There ………….. be someone in this room who saw the accident.

(Logical necessity)

3.There ……(a)…….. be at least forty people at tonight’s meeting, and

there ……(b)…….. be fifty or even sixty. (a) Probability; (b) Possibility

of fact

4.It’s not your fault. Someone ………….. have told him. (Certainty)

5.He’s not up to the job. He ………….. make decisions. (Negative ability)

6.Anything ………….. happen if you drive when you’re tired. (Possibility

of the idea)

7.………….. that the northern ice cap will have melted by the end of

the century. (Possibility of fact)

8.If I ………….. do that, I’d just walk out of the job. (Hypothetical

possibility)

9.………….. she still be the head after all the trouble there’s been?

(Possibility of fact)

10.The train didn’t stop in time. There …………. be something wrong

with the braking system. (Logical necessity)

Task three ***

Rewrite the following sentences replacing the modal verb with a suitable expression reflecting the degree of likelihood shown by the modal verb.

1.Well, she may get the grades she needs for university entrance.

2.Jobs have got to go. The company has to restructure itself.

3.Don’t worry. They will give in in the end.

4.The play should have started by now.

5.John could make that business work if he wanted to.

6.There might have been an accident. You don’t know.

7.After all these years, she can’t still be living in Brook Street.

8.There should be a bus home after the concert. After all, the concert finishes at 9.30.

9.She may not be the best 400-metre runner in the world, but she deserves a place in the team.

10.I must be dreaming. It can’t be you after all these years.

Task four **

Rewrite the sentences below, replacing the phrase underlined with a modal verb where possible.

1.It was necessary for someone to tell him to stop; otherwise we’d have had a lot of trouble from the management.

2.Right from the beginning, it was very unlikely that they would have selected her for the team.

3.It is possible that by mid-century people will be taking holidays on the moon.

4.It is almost certain that the financial director was in deep trouble and has chosen to disappear.

5.It’s not necessary to finish the project by the end of the week. The boss told you he doesn’t want the results until the end of the month.

6.It’s a pity for the old people, but, unavoidably, the bus service will be cancelled. Hardly anybody uses it.

7.Do you know how to increase the fonts available on this computer?

8.It’s possible for them to order a review of the way the money was spent.

9.They are bound to have questioned her about the missing documents.

10.If it were necessary to choose, would you want to do research or to teach?

15.4. Attitudes to truth

Sections 293–297; 508; 587; 733

To express attitudes to the truth, we often use: a that-clause; a wh-clause; an adverbial or a comment clause.

We express such attitudes as certainty; doubt or uncertainty; belief or opinion; assumption; appearance

Task one **

Look at the examples below and then describe ways of showing attitudes to the truth and what each one of the examples expresses.

1.I just know that he won’t be here on time.

2.There’s no doubt that, by expressing her disapproval of the plan in such a manner, she upset all her colleagues and lost the argument.

3.You did take down all his details, I presume.

4.Obviously he was going to tell us.

5.It’s unlikely that she will be willing to take on that job.

Task two **

Complete the statements below with a suitable word or phrase which reflects the attitude shown in brackets after the statement. Avoid using a word similar to the one in brackets – e.g. for item 1, avoid using the verb ‘assume’.

1.I …………. you’ve made all your travel arrangements. (assumption)

2.…………. nobody bothered to check if the customer had been properly informed. (appearance)

3.…… my ……., the case should never have gone to court. (opinion)

4.It’s my …………. she actually arranged for books to arrive too late. Then she could have the test delayed. (belief)

5.Everyone has …………. been told that they will have to come in to work on Sunday. (assumption)

6.It …………. to me that we’re all to blame for the accident. (appearance)

7.David really …………. he could persuade the company to give him special leave. (belief)

8.Pete was rather naïve to believe that story, ………….? (opinion)

9.The chairman …………. that everyone will make special arrangements to be able to attend the meeting. (assumption)

10.I …… (not) ……. we should ever have gone to war over such a minor issue and one that didn’t concern us. (opinion)

Task three **

Rewrite the statements below replacing the phrase underlined and state whether your rewritten phrase shows a) a belief or opinion; b) an assumption; c) an appearance; d) certainty; e) doubt or uncertainty.

1.I think the newspaper report suggested she had committed suicide.

2.He really believes the world revolves around him.

3.It appears that she never had the ring in the first place.

4.I assumed you knew exactly what the results of such an action would be.

5.In my opinion, we should give in now and take what we have.

6.It looks as if he’s not coming.

7.It is my belief that during this century overhead cables will disappear and all telecommunication and electricity supplies will come via satellite.

8.You do know, I presume, that this work must be completed within two weeks.

9.You did behave rather stupidly, didn’t you? Telling him he’d made a fatal error of judgement.

10.I suppose he’s got there by now.

15.5. Volition

Sections 319–324

We distinguish four types of volition. These are listed in order of increasing strength.

Task one ***

Rewrite these examples avoiding will/would or shall and using another verb construction to convey nearly the same meaning. If there are any noticeable differences of meaning, say what they are.

1.The government will press ahead with the new security bill in spite of strong opposition.

2.Shall we work together on this new project?

3.She wouldn’t spend time watching programmes like Coronation Street. She considers them to be trivial and no more than a fantasy world.

4.The chairman won’t postpone the shareholders’ meeting just because the venue is considered to be too small.

5.They will help you in the garden. They enjoy doing that.

6.I would put money into it if they could guarantee a minimum return for the investment.

7.Would you like to be rich and famous like Cliff Richard?

8.I’d like her to succeed. She’s worked very hard.

9.The minister won’t admit he was wrong about the Sports stadium.

10.Ivan would like Tim to teach with him in Hungary.

Task two **

Complete the sentences with an appropriate verb or phrase.

1.I ………….. help you with your luggage, sir.

2.He’s very rich and he loves the old art gallery. He ………….. leave a lot of his money to look after the building.

3.I ………….. this work finished by the week-end.

4.I ………….. to thank all of you for the contribution you have all made to our success this year.

5.They ………….. they’d bought the house now, instead of renting.

6.………….. you’d told me about the problem.

7.The room’s too small and too noisy. I ………….. another one. There must be somewhere in this hotel where I can rest comfortably.

8.………….. I get the tickets?

9.They ………….. stay until the end of the performance, although it doesn’t finish until after midnight.

10.He’s like that. He ……(always)…….. do everything himself. He never asks for help.

15.6. Permission and obligation

Sections 325–329; 483

The tasks below examine ways of expressing:

Permission

Obligation

Exemption

Prohibition

Task one **

Identify the meanings expressed in the following sentences by completing the chart below.

1.If you were a member, you could get in free.

2.Could I take my holiday at the end of August?

3.You must return those books by the end of the week.

4.Children under fourteen should have parental permission to see this film.

5.If he’s the leader, he should know the way.

6.You mustn’t walk on the grass.

7.You can’t park there.

8.Can I stay overnight? It’s too late to drive back now and I’ve drunk too much.

9.If you have a season ticket, you don’t need to book a seat in advance.

10.But you can’t go that day. It’s Joan’s 60th birthday party.

Task two **

Below are the rules for a Karate Club. Show what meaning is expressed in each rule with the appropriate letter.

A Permission, B Hypothetical permission, C Obligation, D Hypothetical obligation, E Exemption, F Prohibition

This club is dedicated to the high performance of karate

1.All members must regularly satisfy the committee that they have maintained the standard they achieved at the previous supervision.

2.Any member failing to do so will not be allowed to continue without further training.

3.Members who agree to a prolonged period of supervision will not need to undergo further training, unless there is sign of improvement.

4.Members may decide what they prefer to do.

5.The annual two supervisions must be completed within twelve months of the second supervision in the previous year.

6.If the member of the committee is deemed to be unsympathetic, members do not have to submit themselves for supervision at that time.

7.Such a refusal must be submitted in writing one week before the supervision.

8.Members can appeal against the result of supervision.

9.Members don’t have to undergo periods of supervision, if they are seeking advice from a personal trainer.

10.Members must not challenge other members who have not reached the same standard.

11.Each member will carry at all times the card showing the standard he/she has achieved.

12.This card must be seen by an opponent before a challenge is accepted.

Task three **

You are writing to a friend who is looking for a job as an assistant teacher in Britain. Tell him/her how to do it and how to get the best out of his/her time here. Use the sentence topics in the function boxes below and find an appropriate modal verb to express the function required. Pay attention to the construction of the whole sentence.

Example: in my opinion – spend some time in Britain – improve your English (obligation)

Answer: In my opinion, you must spend some time if Britain if you want to improve your English.

1.write to head teacher of a school at once. (obligation)

2.pay your travelling costs to Britain. (obligation)

3.register with the police. (exemption)

4.take no disciplinary action yourself – unruly pupils. (prohibition)

5.take your car to Britain if you want. (permission)

6.contact anyone you know who has done this before. (permission)

7.arrive in Britain at least three weeks before the beginning of the term. (obligation)

8.live more than four miles from the school. (prohibition)

9.attend any special induction courses. (exemption)

10.take pupils out of school without special permission. (prohibition)

15.7. Influencing People 1

Sections 330–335 & 339; 417

The tasks below examine ways of expressing:

Commands

Requests

Advice

Suggestions

Warnings

Promises

Threats

Task one **

1.Choose what kind of communication the following utterances are.

a) command; b) request; c) advice; d) suggestion; e) warning; f) promise; g) threat; h) invitation

2.Indicate where the important stress is.

1.I wonder if I could join you for lunch.

2.Please stop doing that.

3.Won’t you sit down?

4.You stay at home and do your homework.

5.You ought to get out more.

6.How about going to see the new exhibition at the Royal Academy?

7.Careful!

8.I’ll be sure to put it in the post for you tomorrow morning.

9.You come here again and you’ll regret it.

10.Hands up or I shoot!

Task two **

Complete the utterances below by adding a word sequence to make each the form of communication shown at the end of the item.

1.…………………… It’s a very slippery surface. (warning)

2.I want the money by Thursday …………………… (threat)

3.…………………… let me have a small advance until the end of the month. (polite request)

4.…………………… be back here by eight o’clock. (command)

5.…………………… possibly postpone the meeting until early in the New Year. (request)

6.…………………… It’s a very popular play. (advice)

7.I’ll be there. …………………… (promise)

8.…………………… on Monday instead of tonight? (suggestion)

9.…………………… a good holiday. (advice)

10.…………………… me for a good night out. (invitation)

Task three **

Complete the dialogues in the situations below with the various forms of communication stated.

SITUATION ONE

B wants A to leave. Write

SITUATION TWO

A doesn’t want B to testify. Write

SITUATION THREE

The mother tells the child to be careful. Write

SITUATION FOUR

A is discussing plans to build a double garage with his next-door neighbour.

A insists B accepts some of the bricks. Write

15.8. Influencing People 2

Sections 336–338 & 340; 608; 730

The tasks below examine ways of expressing:

Commands

Requests

Advice

Suggestions

Prohibitions

Refusals

Warnings

Promises

Threats

… in reported statements.

Task one *

Match the direct statements in A with the indirect statements in B.

Task two **

Write the original statements. There could be several possibilities for each item.

1.John suggested that he and Mary invested in the new company.

2.Mrs McNorton warned her son not to go near the station after dark.

3.They asked her to stand for President of the society.

4.The doctor told her to do more exercise.

5.The politician refused to support his government on the matter of lowering taxes.

6.They threatened to sue the newspaper if it didn’t publish an apology.

7.He promised to give back all the money he’d borrowed by March.

8.He was prohibited from going into the club until he had paid his debts.

9.It was recommended that they should spend at least four weeks travelling round Australia.

10.Customers were told flights would be delayed because of a strike in France.

Task three ***

Write the reported statements for the statements below, using an appropriate verb according to the description in brackets at the end.

1.Management: There will have to be some redundancies. (warning)

2.Boss: You’re definitely being considered for promotion. (promise)

3.Rob to Don: Let’s finish the work tonight, so we can have a free day tomorrow. (suggestion)

4.Shirley to Mary: You couldn’t lend me £50, could you? (request)

5.I wouldn’t invest in a dot com company, if I were you. (advice)

6.You must finish this by nine o’clock. (command)

7.You finish this quickly or we stay here all night. (threat)

8.Club rules: No member can introduce a person under eighteen years old into the club. (prohibition)

9.Secretary to Manager: The report will be on your desk tomorrow morning. (promise)

10.Will you get the tickets for me. (request)