4-5 Talking About Possibility

We use modal verbs to talk about how certain something is. For present tenses, the modals go from less certain to more certain like this:

	Positive	Negative	Example
Less certain More certain	could, might	might not	Jenny could be at home, or she might not be at home.
	may	may not	Jenny may not be at home because she sometimes has basketball practice.
	should	shouldn't	Jenny should be at home. I saw her go home an hour ago.
	must have to have got to	must not can't couldn't	Jenny must be home. I can hear her talking. Jenny couldn't be at home. I saw her go out a few minutes ago.

For future tenses, modals work very similarly, but there are a few differences on the more certain end of the chart.

	Positive	Negative	Example
Less certain More certain	could, might	might not	The package might arrive this week, or it could take until next month.
	may	may not	The package may not get here in time for her birthday.
	should	shouldn't	The package should arrive by next Tuesday.
	will	won't	The package will arrive tomorrow.

Modals are very important because they completely change the meaning of sentences. So choose your modals carefully.

I could eat the chocolate.

I shouldn't eat the chocolate.

I might eat the chocolate...

I will eat the chocolate!

Open the exercise to begin the activity. Follow the instructions in the document.

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