Grammar for advanced learners: Modal verbs (3) - Thấm Tâm Vy

Nội dung text: Grammar for advanced learners: Modal verbs (3) - Thấm Tâm Vy

1. GRAMMAR FOR ADVANCED LEARNERS - We sent the invitations by second class post. We mustn’t have reeeived them yet. MODAL VERBS (3) => We sent the invitations by second-class post. They can't have received them yet. WILL, WOULD, SHALL Learners of English often think of will as a way of expressing the future and of would CHARACTERISTICS, HABITS AND ROUTINES as a word which is used mainly in conditional sentences G', Unit l0), but we use both of A. We often use will/won'f to talk about actions that have become so routine that they these modal verbs to express a number of other meanings. This unit also looks at shali are Present predictable: which, although it is the least-used modal in English, we can use to express a variety of - Every lesson is the same: he'll sit down, get his books out and then he'll start giving us meanings. instructions. He won't greet us or show ang interest in us. PREDICTION AND CERTAINTY We can extend this use of will to talk about habits and characteristics: A. Predictions about the future - The public will always side with the nurses in any dispute. We use will / won't to make predictions about the future: - The dominant male of the group will not tolerate the presence of other males. - He's been found guilty of murder. He'll be in prison for a long time. We can also use the present simple to describe characteristics and habits: - You must work hard for this exam. It won't be easy. - The public always sides with the nurses in anydispute. B. Sometimes we wish to express a prediction about the future that someone made in - The dominant male of the group does not tolerate the presence of other males. the past. For this we often use would / wouldn't (would is the past form of will): We often use will when talking about the characteristics of capacity or ability: - We had to hurry to get him to the hospital. We knew it would be too late otherwise. - The Olgmpic stadium in Sydney will hold 110,000 people. This use of would is related to the use of would in reported speech: - This model will do 0 to 100 kilometres per hour in eight seconds. - I'm sure the Lions will win the rugby series this year. It is also possible to use can and the present simple for these last two uses with no - She was sure the Lions would win the rugby series. change in meaning: C. We make confident ‘predictions’ about the present based on our knowledge or - The Olgmpic stadium in Sydney can hold / holds 110,000 people. previous experience (or on current expectations) with will / won't: - This model can do / does 0 to 100 kilometres per hour in eight seconds. - 'Rochel's in Turkey at the moment.' ~ 'I hope she's taken some winter clothes because We use will (not the present simple) to describe an annoying habit or to make a it won't be warm at this time of year.' criticism: Compare this use of will and the present simple. We use the present simple to state a - We enjoy going out with Frank and Corol. fact without expressing an opinion as to the certainty or otherwise of the event:  We do not contract will when we use it to describe an annoying habit - we stress it: - Janet isn't here at the moment. She's in France. (Fact - the speaker knows it's true.) - Geoff-ILleaveaheligthts-oft when+e1 last-oat of-the-o#iee, To say that we believe something is certain, we use will / won't: but theg will argue in public! - It's five o'cloch. Janet'll be in Paris now. (Certainty - the speaker believes it's true.) - Geoff will leave the lights on when he's last out of the office. To express a certainty about something ongoing (i.e. where we would use the present We often use will / won't to criticise inanimate objects in this way: continuous for a fact), we use will/won't + be + -ing form: - Whatever I do, my car won't start first time on cold mornings. - Jason is sgmpathetic because he knows his successor will be having a hard time at To state a simple fact with no (or little) annoyance, we use the present simple: the moment. - My car doesn't start / never starts first time on cold mornings. D. To refer to something which we feel certain has happened (but do not actually B. We use wouldlwouldn'f to talk about habits in the past (t' 2'58): know), we use will have + past participle: Past Everg lesson was the same: he'd sit down and get his boolss out, then he'd start - We sent the invitations on Monday, so they will have received them by now. Why giving us instructions. He wouldn't greet us or show ang interest in us. We can use hasn't anyone replied? wouldlwouldn't to criticise or talk about annoying habits in the past: This is similar to must have + past participle - I miss Dad, even though he would always tell me how to run my life. - We sent the invitations on Monday, so they must have received them by now.  We do not usually contract would to 'd when we use it in this way; we stress it: We use won't have + past participle to refer to something which we feel certain has - When Alan was a toddler he would cling on to me whenever a stranger came in. not happened: However, we do not always stress would when it is followed by an adverb: - We sent the invitations by second-class post. They won't have received them yet. - My boss was awful: he'd invariably find something for me to do at five o'clock.  We do not use mustn't have + past participle in this way , but we can use can't We can use would / wouldn't to talk about inanimate objects: have: - The car would never start on winter mornings when we were in Sweden. TQT GRAMMAR NOTES FOR ADVANCED LEARNERS
2. - Let's decide what to do this evening. Should we go bowling? WILLINGNESS AND REFUSAL  We use shall in question tags after ‘let’s’. A. We use will to express willingness to do something: - Let's forget about it now and talk about something else, shall we? - The doctor will act as a witness to your signature. She doesn't mind doing that sort of  We use would in suggestions or responding to invitations if we want to be more thing. tentative or distant: We can use it to express be willing to. In this sense, we can use will / won't in the if - It would be a good idea to get together one evening. clause of a first conditional. - 'Come to dinner on Sunday.' ~ 'That would be nice. I'll let you know.' - If you'll take a seat for a moment, Mr Franks will be with you soon. (= If you are C. We often make requests with will. These requests are informal and we usually use willing to take a seat for a moment, ) them only with people we know quite well: We use won't / shan't to express unwillingness or refusal to do something: - Will you give me a call when you get to the hotel? - The PA won't book my flights. She says it isn't in her job description. We use would to make requests more tentative or polite, or to request things of people - 'Go and buy some millk, will you, love?' ~ 'No, I shan't. I'm busy.' we do not know so well: B. We use would / wouldn't to show willingness or refusal in the past. We use would - Would you lend me the car tomorrow night, Dad? in the affirmative only to refer to general willingness (i.e. a habit): - Would you fill in this form, please, sir? - Dad would alwags help us with our maths homework. We can make a request more insistent by using will you as a question tag:  We do not use would in the affirmative to express willingness to do something on a - Come and look at this, will you? single occasion in the past: If we make a request in this way, we do not expect the answer to be 'no': - The tour guide was very helpful. She would contact the Consulate for me when I lost - Pick up my suit from the cleaner's when you're out, will you? my passpott. D. We use will and shall for orders and formal instructions. We use shall for more => The tour guide was very helpful. She contacted / offered to contact the Consulate formal instructions, especially in official documents: for me when I lost my passport. - You will / shall all stay behind for thirty minutes and clean this room. We can use would not for refusal on a single occasion in the past: - The secretary shall minute the proceedings of each meeting. - The shop assistant wouldn't change this jumper for me, even though I hadn't worn it. We also use shall / will for rules, for example of examinations and competitions: - The judge's decision shall be final. OTHER USES OF WILL / SHALL / WOIILD We can use would / wouldn't to show disagreement in a polite way: A. We can use both will and shall to make offers. We use will in the affirmative, both to - I wouldn't say that. - I wouldn't go that far. make offers to do something ourselves and on behalf of other people: We often use would with verbs of liking and preference (like, love, prefer, etc.) to - Sit down. I'll wash up this evening. express desires and preferences which we think we can realise: - Your car sounds a bit rough. Harry will take a quick look at it, if you like. - We'd love to come to your wedding on 6th September. Thank you for the invitation. We use shall in questions to make more tentative offers than with will in the - I'd prefer to lose weight by a tried and tested method than by a new trendy diet. affirmative: We can use would with rather to express a preference. - Shall I wosh up this evening? - Our detegates would rather not stay at the conference centre We use will to make promises:  Note that we can use an object with these forms: - My government will turn round the economy and reduce unemployment. - I would like you to listen to me when I'm talking. We can use would,will or won't when we offer something to another person: - Would you hav / like some more of the pie? (neutral) HYPOTHETICAL WOULD - Will you have some more of the pie? (neutral) A. We use would with be or verbs of liking and wishing to express a desire for the - Won't you have some more of the pie? (more encouraging) present or future. Fulfilment of the desire is impossible or improbable: B. We use shall in questions with we to make suggestions: - It would be so nice to live by the sea. (The speaker doesn't live by the sea.) - Shall we go out for a curry tonight? (= Why don't we ?/How about ?) - I would prefer to be a man. (The speaker is a woman.) To ask for suggestions or advice, we can use shall with a question word: To state a simple fact, we use the present simple: - What shall we do obout Tom if he doesn't get into a university? - It is nice to live by the sea. US English uses should in preference to shall for suggestions: We can use the present simple (like) to talk about something we currently like and do, TQT GRAMMAR NOTES FOR ADVANCED LEARNERS
3. but we use would tihe to talk about an unfulfilled desire: JAKE: Alice, how nice to hear from you! - I like to stay in five-star hotels. (I do stay in five-star hotels and enjoy it.) Alice: Actually, Jake, l'm phoning to ask you for some advice. - I would like to stay in five-star hotels. (I don't stay in them, but it's my desire.) JAKE: (0) I'm willing to help you if I can, of course. wish + would expresses a desire for another person (not) to do something: ALICE: Your mother receives help from the Council, doesn't she? - I wish you wouldn't talk with your mouth full! Can you tell me what (1) they agree to do and what (2) they don't agree to do for older If we want to comment on a hypothetical situation in the past, we use would / wouldn't people? + have + past participle: JAKE: Yes, of course. Mum has a home help. She comes three times a week. (5) She's - It would have been a good idea to notify us in advance of your intentions. perfectly happy to do light cleaning and (4) she's willing to get the shopping, but (5) she (= The person did not notify anyone in advance ) refuses to do anything heavy.  British English often uses the perfect infinitive here: ALICE: That's fair enough. What about cooking? - It woutd have been a good idea to have notified us in advance. JAKE: Well, when she first started (6) she was happy to prepare supper when she came, but she stopped that after a few weeks PRACTICE ALICE: Why was that? I. Complete these dialogues with will, won't, would, wouldn't, + have if necessary, JAKE: You know my mum. (7) She insists on saying exactly what she thinks. and a form of the verbs in the box. The first one is given as an example (0). Apparently the home help used to make ltalian food and Mum didn't like it. (8) She argue be come have hold prepare say start stop watch work refused to eat it. Why are you asking, anyway? ALICE: It's Dad. He can't move around very easily now. The neighbours are great, they 0. 'Sue says she's enjoying the job but she's putting on weight.' (9) make a habit of popping in now and again but (10) he's unwilling to ask them for ~ 'Yes, that will be because of all those long business lunches.' help if he's in trouble. 1. 'Are you having problems with your new camera?' JAKE: Mmm. You can understand that. 'Yes, the flash in semi-darkness, only when it's fully dark.' ALICE: Oh, but he's so impatient. ltake him to the shops once a week, but yesterday 2. 'Shop assistants used to be more polite, didn't they?' (11) the car refused to start and I wasabout half an hour late. (12) Was he willing to wait 'Yes, a few years ago they always "please" and "thank you" and smile.' for me? No, (13) he insists on trying to cope by himself! He went to the shops and 3. 'Surely there are too many people here to get on one plane?' collapsed on the way there. 'No, a lumbo jet easily over 300 people.' JAKE: Oh, dear. It's a worry, isn't it? Look, (14) if you don't mind waiting for a few 4. 'I hope Josh is OK at that summer camp. He might be homesick.' minutes, I'll look out the phone number for the right person at social services. 'Don't worry about him. He a great time!' III. Read the article and then decide which word or phrase A, B or C below best 5. 'Do you think that the jury will acquit Nick?' fills each space. Circle the letter you choose for each question. The exercise begins 'l hope so. l'm sure that his lawyer a solid defence.' with an example (0). 6. 'I don't think this new secretary is as good as Janice was.' 'I don't know. Janice always whenever you pointed out errors in her typing.' WORDS' WNRDS' WNRDS 7. 'The new horse at the riding stables seems to be working out very well.' The words that caught the mood of the decade are all there in a book published 'Quite well, but he and eat whenever he gets the opportunity!' yesterday - clone, concentration camp, gene, depression - except that the decade was 8. 'Oh no, I've just noticed a mistake in the headline for the front page article!' not the 199os these words (0) current in the 1900s. 'Phone the printers. They printing it yet - they don't print until early morning.' The Guinness Book of the Twentieth Century cites lists of buzz words for each decade 9. 'What happened after the car broke down?' of the last century. At the outset of the 20th century, few people would have guessed that 'Well, we knew that traffic along that road so late, so we slept in the car.' it (1) more language change than ever before, of course, before the days of the 10. 'Why are you and Jack arguing so much these days?' communications’ revotution language evolved much mores lowly. Many peopte today 'He takes me for granted. He TV every evening and ignore me completely.' (2) language not to change at all, but that is an unrealistic dream in the age of the II. Rewrite the underlined parts of this phone conversation, using will, won't, global village. would and wouldn't. Words you(3) everyday, such as chatline and trainers, (4) only thirty years JANE: 020 7543 9216 ago. And a word as universal as teenager gained common currency only in the l940s. ALICE: Hi, Jake. It's Alice here. Words change in meaning too: a scieniist in ilre 1960s (5) clone to refer only to TQT GRAMMAR NOTES FOR ADVANCED LEARNERS
4. plants. And anyone who asks, (6) we watch the soap tonight?' would have 6. I didn't go to school. My family couldn't afford to send me. So now I can only get a encountered total incomprehension before the Second World War. (Soap was what you badly-paid job. It's such a pity, because I enjoy learning new things. (been good) washed with.) Maria thinks it There is a more worrying side to this, if you consider that new coinage reflects the VI. There are nine (9) more mistakes in this text connected with the language in society it comes from. Only twenty years go few, people (7) stalking, ethnic this lesson. Underline the mistakes and correct them. cleansing or road rage – concepts that the world (8) perhaps be better without. It (9) 1. I'll never forget the day my life changed. lt was a normal day - in those days I nice to think that the 21st century (10) us happier words, but don't hold your 2. shall do my homework straight after school so that lcould go and listen to pop breath! 3. music at Janice's after dinner. So I was sitting in front of the fire, trying to keep 0. A. would have been B. would be C. will have been 4. warm. Mum was ironing. I looked at the clock. 1. A. will bring B. brought C. would bring 5. Dad's late,' I remarked to Mum. 2. A. would rather B. would prefer C. will prefer 6. It's Thursday. He'd be visiting Granny.' 3. A. will hear B. will be hearing C. will have heard 7. My grandmother lived in a cold, draughty cottage on the moors. Mum and 4. A. would not have been recognised B. would not be recognised C. will not recognise 8. Dad wanted her to move in with us, but our house was very small, and she won't 5. A. wouldn't understand B. will be understanding 9. They knew that the cold winter months would have hastened her death - she C. would have understood 10. a ready suffered from chronic bronchitis - but she was a stubborn old woman 6. A. Won't B. Would C. Shall 11. who will insist on her independence. 7. A. shall have understood B. would have understood 12. won't it be nice if we had some money? We could buy a big house and C. will have understood 13. Granny could have a flat of her own in it. I hate being poor. 8. A. would B. will C. shall 14. Oh, pet, I shan't say we're poor. We're not as well olf as some, but we've 9. A. will be B. would be C. would have been 16. got a roof over our heads and food in our bellies.' Mum would always see 10. A. would bring B. would have brought C. will bring 16. the best in every situation. lt really annoyed me! 'Will I make a nice cup of tea? V. Read the statements from people who have or have had a disadvantaged life. 17. Your Dad would be frozen when he gets in. He'll want to save the bus fare so Complete the sentences, expressing the people's desires and regrets about the past. 18. I’m sure he's walked all the way from your grandmother's. Use the word in brackets. 19. At that moment, the door opened and Dad walked in, waving a slip of paper. 0 We don't have running water in our homes. We have to collect water from the stream 20. Forget the tea, Mary. We're going out tonight. First prize in the lottery. or from a pipe in the village. (like) 21. We’re rich! => Aisha would like to have running water in her home. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 1. We live in a wooden shack outside the city. It's very small but eight of us live in it. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. It's my dream to live in a real house. (prefer) 12. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. Pedro 19. 30. 21. 2. In my country we have to pay for medicine and a lot of people can't afford it. The government should provide free medicine. (like) Esther 3. Every day I go into the town and I beg in the streets for money. Obviously I don't like going begging, but we need the money. (rather) Sun-Li 4. I wear the same clothes every day. I look at models in magazines and l'm very envious of their beautiful clothes. (be nice) Hana thinks it 5. I live in a village just outside a big city. The village is OK, but rich people from the city come and dump their rubbish in our village. lt's dreadful! (wishes) Sunil TQT GRAMMAR NOTES FOR ADVANCED LEARNERS
5. ANSWER KEY I. 1. won't work 2. would always say 5. will easily hold 4. will be having 5. will have prepared 6. would always argue 7. will stop 8. won't have started 9. wouldn't come 10. will watch II. 1. they will do 2. they won't do 3. She'll do light cleaning 4. she'll get the shopping 5. she won't do anything heavy 6. she would prepare supper 7. She will say (exactly) what she thinks. 8. She wouldn't eat it. 9. will pop in 10. he won't ask them for help 11. the car wouldn't start 12. Would he wait for me? 13. he will try to cope by himself 14. if you'll wait for a few minutes III. 1C 2B 3A 4A 5C 6C 7B 8A 9B 10C IV. 1. Pedro would prefer to live in a real house. 2. Esther would like the government to provide free medicine. 3. Sun-Li would rather not go begging in the streets. 4. Hana thinks it would be nice to have some beautiful clothes. 5. Sunil wishes that rich people from the city wouldn't dump their rubbish in the village. 6. Maria thinks it would have been good to go to school. V. Line 6. He’d be visiting => He'll be visiting Line 8. she won’t => she wouldn't Line 9. would have hastened => would hasten Line 11. will insist => would insist Line 12. Won't it be => Wouldn't it be Line 14. I shan’t say => I wouldn't say Line 16. Will I make => Shall I make Line 17. would be frozen => will be frozen Line 19. he’s walked => he'll have walked TQT GRAMMAR NOTES FOR ADVANCED LEARNERS