Infinitive forms after modal verbs

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Modals of deduction

Modal verbs

Meanings

Translation

Lexical equivalents

Examples

may, might

light supposition

(uncertainty)

возможно; может быть

Perhaps, maybe, possibly

She may come any minute.

must

strong supposition

(not used in negative s. and in s. referring to the future)

должно быть; вероятно; скорее всего

to be (not) likely, to be sure, evidently, surely, obviously, no doubt, apparently, certainly

He's a bank manager, so he must be well-paid.

could

Possibility, uncertainty

возможно; мог; может быть

Perhaps, possibly

It could be hard to convince him

Can? Could?

can’t, couldn’t

Deduction, disbelief, surprise, doubt (not used in affirmative s.)

Неужели?

не может быть, чтобы

impossible, unlikely, improbable, incredible, doubtful, is it possible? I don’t believe it, I greatly doubt

Can it be true?

It can’t be true.

Can he be over forty?

Can Peter be telling lies?

Примечание 1:

Can may express only general possibility: Winters in Minnesota can be really cold.

Примечание 2:

To express negative strong supposition, instead of must use:

1) lexical equivalents of must:

□ Evidently, she didn’t know my address.

2) the verb ‘to fail’:

□ Он, наверняка, ничего не выяснил – He must have failed to find out something.

□ Она, должно быть не совладала со своими чувствами – She must have failed to control her feelings.

3) negative prefixes or words with the opposite meaning:

□ Он, должно быть, меня не понял – He must have misinterpreted my words.

□ Должно быть, он не чувствовал себя в безопасности. – He must have felt insecure.

□ He must have been unaware of what opportunity he was losing.

4) pronoun ‘no’: 

□ Они наверняка не доверяют нашей компании – They must have no confidence in our company.

Примечание 3:

To express strong supposition with reference to the future, instead of must use: to be likely, to be sure, probably, etc.

□He is likely/sure to come tonight.

□ She will probably come tomorrow.

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