Indicating likelihood
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Using modal verbs to indicate likelihood | page 3 of 7 |
Indicating high likelihood (certainty)
Note that different modals are typically used to indicate varying degrees of likelihood. The modals in the following examples indicate high likelihood or certainty:
It creates the kind of experience which can't fail to remind you of the film.
(Bank of English)She's worked hard to get to where she is, and tells me she couldn't have done it without my financial support in the beginning. (Bank of English)
Well, I know you had trouble, but I'm sure there will be places in Birmingham because it's much bigger. (Bank of English)
The Commons just risen had developed the air of a long-stay, low-security mental asylum. Here, someone would be shouting at a tree; there, another would be weeping quietly alone on a bench. (Bank of English)
We wouldn't be here unless you had given us that help. (Bank of English)
Of course the season must be nearly starting now, isn't it? (Bank of English)
If that someone is an actress (for it just had to be a "she" - Fiona Shaw), then the work collapses in a heap. (Bank of English)
Come on, you've got to be joking! (Bank of English)
I'm outraged. I shall write to my MP immediately. (Bank of English)
Introduction
Indicating high likelihood
