Speculation and deduction

modal verbs: must, may, might, can’t, could, should, ought

That must be an electric car it isn’t making any noise at all. You must have seen him he was standing right in front of you!
They can’t be playing very well-they’re losing 3-0. You can’t/couldn’t have spent very long on this essay you’ve only written 100 words.
I haven’t seen the Sales Manager today. He may/might/could be off sick. The keys of the store cupboard have disappeared. Do you think someone may/might/could have taken them? He may / might not have heard the message | left.
If I post the letter today, it should / ought to arrive on Friday. I posted the letter a week ago, it should/ ought to have arrived by now.

1 As well as using must for obligation, we also use must + infinitive to say that we are almost sure something is true about the present and must have + past participle to say that we are almost sure something was true or happened in the past.

2 We use can't + infinitive to say that we are almost sure that something isn’t true in the present and can't have / couldn't have + past participle to say that we are almost sure that something wasn’t true / didn’t happen in the past.

We don’t use mustn't/ mustn't have with this meaning.

3 We use may / might / could + infinitive and may have / might have / could have + past participle to say that we think it’s possible that something is true in the present, or was true / happened in the past. We only use may not or might not to talk about a negative possibility. NOT couldn’t

4 We use should/ ought to + infinitive to describe a situation we expect to happen. We use should have / ought to have + past participle to describe a situation we would expect to have happened in the past.

Infinitive or continuous infinitive after modals?

He must work really hard. He never gets home before 9.00 p.m. (= deduction about a habitual action) There’s a light on in his office. He must still be working. (= deduction about an action in progress at the moment of speaking)

Adjectives and adverbs for speculation

1 He’s bound / sure to be here in a minute. He left an hour ago. She’s bound/sure to know. She’s an expert on the subject. Bound and sure are adjectives. We use be bound or be sure + to + infinitive to say that we think something is certain to be true or to happen.

2 I think she’s likely / unlikely to agree to our proposal. It is likely / unlikely that the government will raise interest rates this year.

Likely / unlikely are also adjectives (not adverbs). We can use subject + be likely / unlikely + to + infinitive, or it is likely / unlikely + that + clause.

3 She’ll definitely pass the exam. She’s worked really hard. She definitely won't pass the exam. She hasn’t done any work at all. He’ll probably be here around 8.00. He usually leaves work at 7.30. He probably won't be here until about 8.15. He’s stuck in a traffic jam.

`Definitely` and `probably` are adverbs. They *go before a main verb* and *after the auxiliary* if there is one in + sentences and before the auxiliary in sentences.
With `be` they go after the `verb in + sentences` and before the verb sentences, e.g. He's probably British. The painting definitely isn't genuine.

Predictions are in the future

likely is not and adv is an adj

It’s likely that barsa wil win the match Barsa is likely to win the match

The likely development of this story (provably) “it’s provably that…”

Shares are sure to go up Shares will surely go up

It is provably that you are the boss (wrong Provable) provable / likely

I dont care to come here -> im not interested I dont mind comming here _> I can do ImageTrack. is possible

100% Must Migth (provable) 0% cant