Reference · module 30
Working it out
Everything this module explains, on one page.
must be and can't be
Say what you have worked out from the evidence.
- must can mean certainty rather than obligation: He must be tired. You are not ordering him to be tired; you have worked it out.
- The opposite is can't, not mustn't: He can't be tired, he just slept for ten hours. mustn't would be a prohibition and makes no sense here.
- In the middle sits might, may or could: He might be tired. Three words for the same amount of uncertainty.
The mistake you are about to make
He mustn't be tired.
He can't be tired.
The obvious negative of must is mustn't, and it means forbidden. The opposite of a conclusion is can't: he can't be tired.
must have been
Work out what happened in the past.
- Add have and the deduction moves into the past: The road is wet, so it must have rained. You did not see it rain; you can see the road.
- The opposite is can't have: He can't have finished already, he only started an hour ago. Impossible, judged from what you know.
- And the middle is might have: She might have forgotten. Three levels of certainty, and each one takes have plus the third form.
The mistake you are about to make
It must rained.
It must have rained.
Modals have no past form of their own. A conclusion about the past is built with have plus the third form: must have rained.
Speculating out loud
Think through a situation in front of somebody.
- It looks like and It seems that introduce a guess from evidence: It looks like they've gone. Both are softer than must have.
- apparently reports what you have heard: Apparently he's leaving. presumably marks a guess you expect others to share.
- And to doubt something without contradicting anybody: I doubt it, or I'm not so sure. Both leave the other person room to be right.
The mistake you are about to make
Apparently he is leaving. (you can see it yourself)
It looks like he's leaving.
Apparently reports what you were told, not what you can see. Evidence in front of you takes it looks like or it seems.
Softening a claim
Say something strong without overclaiming.
- English hedges constantly: it tends to be expensive, it's a bit difficult, that's not quite right. The hedge is not weakness, it is politeness.
- tend to turns a rule into a tendency: People tend to arrive late. It states a pattern and leaves room for exceptions.
- not quite is the softest disagreement in the language: That's not quite right. It means wrong, and nobody feels attacked by it.
The mistake you are about to make
That's wrong.
That's not quite right.
A flat contradiction is neutral in plenty of languages. In English it reads as an attack, and not quite right says exactly the same thing.