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Evka
Joined: 08 Nov 2005
Posts: 1
Location: Slovakia
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 Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 11:56 am Post subject: Modal vebs |
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Hello I have a problem. I am teaching modal verbs - degrees of certainty. I found out that I can say:
He couldn't/can't be hungry. (if I am 99% sure and I believe that it is impossible that he is hungry)
Or...
He must not be hungry. (if I am 95% sure - this expresses a logical conclusion or a best guess)
Now I am confused what to use. It sounds better to me to say: He couldn't/can't be hungry.
Is there any difference between these two sentences?
I also found that the sentence: He must not be hungry is typical for American English. So, what is correct?
Thank you very much. |
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iitimone7
Joined: 09 Aug 2005
Posts: 400
Location: Indiana, USA
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| Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 6:01 am Post subject: modal verbs |
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i found a great website with charts and examples that you can use to teach in your classroom, evka!
www.englishpage.com |
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bud
Joined: 09 Mar 2003
Posts: 2111
Location: New Jersey, US
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| Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 11:12 am Post subject: |
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| Evka, as a native-speaker I see no difference between the three versions (must not/can't/couldn't). To me, they all express my disbelief that he would be hungry. As an American, I'd say that the version with "can't" is the most natural way to express the thought. |
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