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ESL forum >
Message board > Help with modals.
Help with modals.
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eng789
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Help with modals.
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What would be the correct answer for this question?
Take an umbrella. It _____________ rain later. I think it should be "might"
the possibilities were: can, could, may, might,
Should I accept something other than "might"?
Thanking you in advance. Barbara
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6 Nov 2009
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Mishuna
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I think thay it depends on the context..."may" is factual possibility, "might" is less posibble, "can" is theoretical possibility (of course it can rain because it is possible, but are there any black clouds?)
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6 Nov 2009
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eng789
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So, you are saying that I have to accept all the answers because the sentence is on it �s own and not in context. |
6 Nov 2009
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Spagman63
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I would say all but "can". Can means capability but the others mean possibility.
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6 Nov 2009
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hippy76
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I would say �may � thinking about the clouds:) |
6 Nov 2009
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maoopa
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I agree with mishuna, the sentence is very open to many of possible answers.
Could: to express present possibility.
Take an umbrella. It could rain later. There is nothing wrong with this one.
Might: to express tentative possibility.
Take an umbrella. It might rain later. Would be correct too.
May: to express possibility, usually more certain than might.
Take an umbrella. It may rain later. It �s perfectly OK.
And could keep going. I could even say that going to is a very likely answer.
I think that �s the problem woith some gramar exercises, they are out of context and may easily be confusing and misleading.
Mauro
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6 Nov 2009
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organlady
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Any but can would be perfectly correct. Modals are generally interchangable, depending on the context, of course. "Can" is not correct because it infers that you are giving the sky permission to rain in this context and so unless God is answering this sentence, this wouldn �t be correct. :)
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6 Nov 2009
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Mishuna
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According to Michael Swan:
Could is also used to talk about the chances that something will happen, or is happening. Can is not used in this way:
It could rain this afternoon. (NOT It can rain this afternoon)
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6 Nov 2009
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eng789
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So I should accept - could, may or might?
edit- I have some more examples if anyone is interested. |
6 Nov 2009
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foreign
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Accept all three of them. |
6 Nov 2009
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