Unit 4
Modal Verbs of Probability and Deduction

Modal verbs have functions of certainty, probability, and deduction.

Deduction means making a guess about the facts using available information, depending on which we might be more certain that the conclusion is true, or less certain and we use different modal verbs to indicate the degree of certainty.

While making deductions about the present, we use must if we are sure something is true and can’t if we are sure that something is impossible. Kudjo can’t be at home now. He must be somewhere else.

When we consider some evidence and draw a certain conclusion about what happened in the past, we use must have + V3 and can’t have + V3.

Kudjo must have got lost in the forest. Kudjo couldn’t have vanished into thin air.

EXERCISE 1

Complete the dogs’ speculations about Kit with must, must have, can’t, can’t have and correct form of the verb:

1 He /get/ out of the bag. He swore not to do it.

2 He /run/ away because we had been too tough on him.

3 He /run/ to the forest. He is afraid of wild animals.

4 He /be/ in a hidey-hole somewhere nearby, looking at us.

5 Somebody /steal/ the backpack with him.

6 He /run/ very far. He was here several minutes ago.

7 He /get/ huffy. He knows how much we love him.

8 He /decide/ to look for Kudjo on his own.

POSSIBILITY

Present/Future Possibility

We can use may, might and could to talk about things that are possible in the present and future.

The dogs believe Kit might come back very soon.

Some people say that might is less certain than may, but in spoken English there is really no effective difference. The word may is less common, and we can only use could in the positive form, not the negative form while talking about possibility. He might not find Kudjo.

Past Possibility

When talking about past possibilities, we can use

might have / may have / could have + V3 (for positive possibilities) and might not have / may not have + V3 (for negative possibilities).

Kudjo might not have seen any opportunity to keep in touch with his friends.

EXERCISE 2

Rewrite the sentences using the modal verbs of present or past possibility:

1 Perhaps evil ghosts captured Kudjo.

2 Maybe Kudjo hid somewhere from those ghosts.

3 Maybe Kudjo hasn’t found the way home yet.

4 Perhaps Kudjo has decided to solve the mystery on his own.

5 Perhaps Kudjo followed the blue light ball and it took him very far from home.

6 Perhaps Kudjo got into the abandoned camp and disappeared together with it.

7 Perhaps Kudjo will never be able to find the way home.

8 Maybe Kudjo is somewhere with other dogs having new adventures.

If we need to speculate about the action in progress at the moment of speaking, we use modal verb + be + Ving

Kudjo might be trying to get home now.

If we need to speculate about the action in progress in the past, we use modal verb + have been + Ving

The blue light must have been helping Kudjo all this time.

EXERCISE 3

Answer the questions using modal verbs of deduction:

For example,

What has Kit found in the pit? – He might have found a lot of bones.

1 What is Kit doing in the pit now?

2 Who made this pit and what for?

3 Where is the blue light and why isn’t it helping Kit?

4 What are the dogs arguing about?

5 Who have they decided to look for first? Kudjo or Kit?

6 Where did the abandoned camp disappear?

7 What has happened to Kudjo?

8 Why is Luna whining?

EXERCISE 4

Look at the picture and continue the sentences with your ideas:

For example,

Chilly and Cuba must be …. – Chilly and Cuba must be trying to trace Kit.

1 They are looking down because they must be…

2 They can’t have been ….

3 They look unhappy and frustrated so they might not have ….

4 Chilly is going first because he must ….

5 You can’t see Luna with them because she could be ….

6 The dogs are not talking to each other because they might not ….

7 They are going at a snail’s pace because they must be ….

8 Chilly arched his back because he might have ….

EXERCISE 5

Make a speculation about every situation using modal verbs of deduction:

For example,

Chilly has just found Luna’s backpack but it is empty. – The kitten can’t have escaped in it.

1 While sitting and crying at the bottom of the pit, Kit suddenly heard somebody come up to it.

2 Luna stopped suddenly and raised her head, listening to some sounds very carefully.

3 Chilly stumbled over the tree root and nearly fell down in a deep hole. It was very dark in the hole but he was sure he could see somebody moving at the bottom.

4 Chilly told Cuba about it but she didn’t answer. He turned his head in surprise and didn’t see her anywhere.

5 After several minutes Chilly found her stuck in a thick clump of wait-a-bit. Cuba refused to explain how she had got there.

6 They both returned to the pit and peered out into the gloom. The dogs didn’t see anything but could hear someone snoring at the bottom.

7 They were standing at the edge of the pit when they felt somebody standing behind their backs breathing heavily.

8 Cuba got scared stiff but Chilly immediately growled, jumped and bit in the intruder’s throat.

EXERCISE 6

Choose the correct alternative:

1 Caught unawares, Chilly can’t /must have realised he was biting Luna.

2 Having an acute sense of smell, Luna must / can’t have found the friends easily.

3 Luckily, she can’t / might have been hurt badly because Chilly recognised her just in time.

4 The dogs heard miserable meowing coming from the pit. It sounded so familiar that the dogs hardly had any doubts it was Kit who must sit / be sitting in the pit.

5 Poor Kit must be spending/ have spent so long there that he stopped hoping to be rescued.

6 He must /can’t have tried to escape from this trap but he was too little and too weak to do it on his own.

7 When Kit heard the dogs talking above him, he could hardly believe his ears, thinking he must suffer / be suffering from auditory hallucination.

8 The kitten didn’t know how long he had been sitting in the trap but he had a feeling that he must have been / be there for ages.

EXERCISE 7

Fill the gaps in the story with missing words:

As the pit was absolutely *****, it must have been dug to trap huge animals. At the mere thought of having such monsters around the ***** were terribly screwed up and immediately started ***** Kit out of the pit. They used all their bags to make one long ***** but it wasn’t enough to get Kit out of the *****. Luna tied herself to one ***** of this rope and jumped to the trap to rescue her unfortunate *****. Chilly and Cuba had to try their best and worst to get the both friends up. The fear of being attacked by giant wild ***** made them far stronger and Kit was finally free and *****. He looked so ashamed of himself that the dogs didn’t ***** him. This adventure must have taught the kitten a *****, which he’ll remember for a long time.

EXERCISE 8

Find and correct 9 mistakes in the sentences:

1 The dogs were so happy to find Kit that they can’t have forgotten about the danger.

2 They were standing around the pit discussing where to go next when they heard spine chilling howls. Some wild animals must been approaching.

3 The friends looked around trying to find a kind of shelter to hide but they can hardly see anything suitable.

4 The sound of howling was getting louder and louder, which meant the monster must has been coming nearer and nearer.

5 Suddenly the beast stopped howling but it can’t go away because the dogs could hear it snapping branches to crush everything crossing its path.

6 Chilly suggested to trap the beast into the pit and the dogs rushed to cover it with big sticks for camouflage.

7 The girls with the kitten hid behind a big spruce while Chilly kept to stand near the edge of the trap to provoke the animal to jump.

8 Chilly must wish he hidden too but he had to be a tease to attract the monster.

EXERCISE 9

Choose the correct option:

1 A huge lynx appeared out of the forest and stopped to smell the air suspiciously. It ***** the dogs.

a must detect

b can’t be detecting

c must have detected

2 When the lynx saw Chilly, it growled and moved slowly towards him. Chilly ***** scared stiff but didn’t run away.

a can’t have got

b must have got

c must get

3 The lynx and Chilly ***** at the opposite edges of the trap for a long time but suddenly Kit jumped out from behind the spruce and hissed furiously.

a could have been standing

b can’t have been standing

c could stand

4 It ***** the lynx jump forward and fall right into the trap.

a must made

b can’t have made

c must have made

5 When the lynx realised what had happened, it started dancing up and down with rage and fear. It ***** helpless and yelled.

a must be feeling

b can’t have felt

c must have felt

6 The lynx yelled like a child and the dogs wished they ***** it.

a hadn’t trapped

b wouldn’t trap

c didn’t trap

7 Who knows what ***** if they hadn’t done it.

a might happen

b can have happened

c might have happened

8 The lynx suddenly fell silent and the dogs worried that it *****.

a can’t have died

b might have died

c may die

EXERCISE 10

Translate the story:

Чилли осторожно подошел к самому краю и заглянул в яму. На дне лежала рысь, свернувшись клубочком. Даже сейчас она казалась огромной и пугающей. Должно быть, она устала метаться, лишилась последних сил и заснула. Чилли гавкнул, но рысь даже не пошевелилась. Собаки растерялись. Они не могли оставить живое существо, пусть даже и такое страшное, умирать в этой яме. Более того, если есть такая ловушка, значит, есть и те, кто охотится на огромных животных и значит, рано или поздно они явятся за своей добычей.

Рысь немного пошевелилась и подняла голову. Она уже не казалась такой страшной. Большая, красивая кошка с печальными глазами. Она посмотрела вверх на собак и вдруг мяукнула, как обычная домашняя кошечка. Рысь попробовала встать, но не смогла. Возможно, она поранила лапу при падении или возможно, просто чувствовала себя совершенно обессиленной. Надо было торопиться и помочь ей выбраться наружу.

(продолжение следует)

Unit 5
Adjectives

Adjectives are words that describe nouns and we use them before nouns, or following linking verbs such as appear, be, become, get, feel, look, seem:

The huge lynx looked miserable.

Some adjectives are never used before the noun; they are only used after the linking verb: ashamed Kit

Kit was ashamed.

These include a number of “a” words like afraid, alike, alive, alone, ashamed, asleep, awake, and aware.

One exception to the “adjectives before nouns” rule is that adjectives come after words like something, anybody, nothing:

The dogs wish they were somewhere safe.

The adjectives chief, elder, eldest, former, indoor, inner, main, only, outdoor, outer, principal, upper can only be used before nouns.

Kit turned out to be the eldest kitten in his family.

And a few adjectives ending in -able/-ible can also be used before or after nouns:

They are ready for any imaginable situation. They are ready for any situation imaginable.

EXERCISE 1

Find the proper adjective and put it into the correct place in the sentence (before or after words in bold type): alike, alone, alive, mere, afraid of, quiet, imaginable, possible, living, prone to, sheer, frightening

1 Chilly wasn’t the lynx at all.

2 Kit and the lynx are in many ways.

3 Kudjo is in the middle of nowhere now.

4 Kit is trouble. After all, he is a kid.

5 It was luck to find Kit in that pit.

6 There’s nothing in the forest anymore.

7 The lynx told the friends about crazy scientists doing experiments on animals that are.

8 After hearing it, everybody wanted to escape somewhere.

9 It was the only solution.

WORD ORDER OF ADJECTIVES

In general, the correct order of adjectives in English is this:

Opinion (nice, ugly, lovely)

Size / Weight (small, large, heavy)

Age (old, new, ancient)

Shape (round, rectangular, square)

Colour (red, dark-blue, turquoise)

Origin /Nationality (Japanese, Russian, English)

Material (stone, fur, paper)

Purpose/Type (hiking, writing, summer)

It’s rare to use more than 3 adjectives. But the adjectives you do use should follow this order, at least, approximately.

When there are two or more colour adjectives, use and: yellow and orange fur.

We usually don’t use and with other adjectives if they are before a noun: a huge brown lynx

However, we can use and with other adjectives if they are after the noun: The lynx was huge and brown.

When there are two or more adjectives of the same category, the more general adjective goes before the more specific one: a nice friendly lynx

EXERCISE 2

Put the adjectives in the correct order (use commas or and if necessary):

1 Luna has a /denim/ big/ shabby/ old/ backpack.

2 The lynx’s tail is /strong/ beautiful/.

3 They looked into the /trap/ deep/ scary/ hole.

4 The dogs found a /leather/ red/ stylish/ brick/ collar and immediately recognised it.

5 There was /plastic/ square/ lunch/ one/ old/ box with a /beef/ tiny/ sausage in it.

6 The lynx led them to a /enormous/ frightening/ cold/ cave covered with /mossy/ big/ brown/ old/ green/ branches.

7 The night was so /hot/ humid/ that the dogs were happy to relax in the coolness of the cave.

8 They were /sleepy/ exhausted/ depressed/.

9 Kit saw /white/ several/ big/ clean/ bones and shrank back from the sight of them.

EXERCISE 3

Describe the following using at least 3 adjectives in the correct order:

1 your favourite bag

2 an item of the clothes you are wearing now

3 your phone

4 your bedroom

5 your pen

6 your today’s breakfast

7 your town

8 your favourite cup

9 Kit

COMPOUND ADJECTIVES

Some adjectives have more than one word. For example: a blue-eyed lynx

They are called compound adjectives. Compound adjectives often include participles: a smart-looking dog, a much-hated scientist.

When they are before a noun, we use a hyphen – but when they are after a noun and the verb «to be» or another linking verb, we do not:

Akita-Inu is a long-legged dog. Akita-Inu is long legged.

The exception is with adverbs ending in —LY. These do not require a hyphen: This evil scientist is widely known all over the forest.

There is an additional detail with compound adjectives involving numbers – when they are before the noun, we do not include —s:

The lynx has a ten-month-old kitten. Her kitten is ten months old.

EXERCISE 4

Make compound adjectives to describe the following:

For example,

a dog who loves having fun – a fun-loving dog

1 a pit which is monitored closely —

2 a trip of two days —

3 a knife that cuts sharply —