“Where’s Jack?” – “He _ be in his office”.ĭon’t make too much noise. Have you seen him?” – “He _ be in the canteen”.Ĥ. Police think the suspect may have left the country using a fake passport.ĭEDUCTIONS ABOUT PRESENT AND PAST ACTIONSĬomplete the sentences by putting in must, may or might.Į.g. I think I might have left the air conditioning on.
We can use might have or may have + past participle when we think it’s possible that something happened. The door was locked and nothing was broken. Who told the newspapers about the prime minister’s plans? It must have been someone close to him. We use must have + past participle when we feel sure about what happened. The modal verb we choose shows how certain we are about the possibility. For example, "You could try calling him to see if he's available.We can use modal verbs for deduction – guessing if something is true using the available information. In some cases, they may be used to express a suggestion or a recommendation. Note that these modal verbs can have other uses too.
It can't have been the fish that made him sick. He can't have heard the phone otherwise he'd have answered it. We use CAN'T (CANNOT) when we have strong evidence and we are certain that something is NOT true. She may not have finished work yet.Īnd we use COULD when we're a bit less certain. Where are my keys? You might have left them in the shop. That may be the phone call I'm expecting. She might be interested in this job offer. Note that the possibility can also be negative - might not, may not. We use MIGHT/MAY when we have some evidence and we think something is possible but we’re not certain. You must be tired after such a long drive. We use MUST when we have strong evidence and we are certain that something is true. The basic structure for deduction about the past is: subject The basic structure for deduction about the present is: subject It can't be going to snow (because it never snows in Thailand). It might/may/could be going to rain (because there is a large grey cloud in the sky). He must be a policeman (because he's wearing a police uniform). Modal verbs of deduction express certainty like this: modal verb of deduction The usual modal verbs that express deduction are:ĭeduction has degrees of certainty, say from 99% to 30%. To make a deduction, we need facts and evidence (the uniform, the cloud). If we see a large grey cloud in the sky, a possible guess is that it is going to rain-maybe. 
If we see a man in police uniform, a reasonable deduction is that he is a policeman. Deduction (noun): guess reaching a conclusion by reasoning and logic, based on evidence
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