Modal Verbs of Deduction Exercise at Auto-English
Check through the different uses.
| TYPE | USE | MODAL VERBS | EXAMPLE |
| 1 | to express possibilities for the future | MAY, MIGHT, COULD | It may rain tomorrow. |
| 2 | to express certainty | CAN'T, COULDN'T, MUST | She can't be Irish. |
| 3 | for possible explanations | MAY, MIGHT, COULD | She could be Scottish. |
Look at the following phrases and write in which type you think they are. Then use one of the modal verbs in brackets to fill the gaps.
| TYPE | ||
| 1 | _______ | They (may/must)________________ be away for the weekend but I'm not sure. |
| 2 | _______ | He (can/could)________________ be French, judging by his accent. |
| 3 | _______ | They (can't/may)________________ still be out! |
| 4 | _______ | With luck, tomorrow (can't/could)________________ be a sunny day. |
| 5 | _______ | You (can/might)________________ be right but I'm going to check anyway. |
| 6 | _______ | The exam (can't/might)________________ be easy. You never know. |
| 7 | _______ | It (may/can't)________________ be true about a sauropod dinosaur living in Lake Telé in the Congo. It's impossible. |
| 8 | _______ | Dave reckons she's from The States but I think she (can't/might)________________ be from Scandinavia. |
| 9 | _______ | I (can't/might)________________ go to the party but I'm not sure yet. |
| 10 | _______ | This (must/could)________________ be the right answer but we'll have to check with your teacher to make sure. |
| 11 | _______ | She (can't/could)________________ steal things from shops. She's rich and famous. |
| 12 | _______ | I really think Real Madrid (can't/could)________________ lose the final of the King's Cup. |
| 13 | _______ | She's been revising 10 hours a day for 3 weeks. She (could/must)________________ be exhausted. |
| 14 | _______ | Nobody's answering. They (can't/must)________________ be out. |
| 15 | _______ | He (can't/may)________________ be from the USA. He doesn't speak English. |
|
||||||