Unit 13 ways and means of expressing modality in english

Exercise 41. Determine the meaning of the modal verbs in italics and translate the sentences into Ukrainian.

1. Can he really be ill? 2. Can I ask a question? 3. Can she really have been at home all this time? 4. Can you do this sum in your head? 5. Could I just interrupt a minute? 6. Could it be true? 7. Every day Mr March would meet his brother at the club. 8. He had to give me his telephone number. 9. He looks very ill. He should have stayed at home. 10. He says he’s still reading ‘The Murder in the Hotel’. - He can’t still be reading it. I lent it to him ages ago and it’s quite a short book. 11. He says I’m to leave you alone. 12. He would go through with it. 13. Her father was often to be seen in the hotel bar. 14. How cynical can they allow themselves to be? 15. How dare you say that? 16. How should I know? 17. I dare say he’ll come. 18. I don’t know why he should want to see John. 19. I don’t see any reason why he shouldn’t be happy. 20. I have never been able to understand him. 21. I insisted that Katherine should invite him. 22. I shall always have a slight suspicion that I ran away. 23. I shall marry Francis whatever happens. 24. I was afraid you must have noticed something. 25. I was so angry! I could have killed her. 26. I will see if anything can be done. 27. I won’t have my family dismissed as strangers. 28. I wonder where Emma is. She may be with Nelly, I suppose. 29. I’m hoping that Ann will marry me. 30. If I can get the chance, I’ll talk to him. 31. If I win a scholarship that would help me over the first year. 32. It couldn’t be true. 33. It’s ridiculous that you should think of it. 34. It’s too late to phone him now. He might be sleeping. 35. May I have a cigarette? 36. Members may not bring more than two visitors into the club. 37. Might I take the liberty of pointing out that you are wrong? 38. My father could speak ten languages. 39. My grandmother could be very unpleasant at times. 40. Paul couldn’t have taken a bus yesterday. There aren’t any buses on Sundays. 41. Peter might phone. If he does, could you ask him to ring later? 42. Polly’s very late. – She may have missed the train. 43. Scotland can be very warm in September. 44. Shall I get you some coffee? 45. Shall we tell him?

Exercise 42. Determine the meaning of the modal verbs in italics and translate the sentences into Ukrainian.

1. You shouldn’t have given him the money. 2. You will have heard the news I’m sure. 3. You’ll forgive me, won’t you? 4. You’ve got a lot of time. You needn’t hurry. 5. You shan’t find it easy to accept. 6. She can hardly be expected to perform any serious function. 7. She has been very brave – Oh, she would! 8. She will sit for hours doing nothing. 9. She won’t stop thinking about this affair. 10. Simon was so tired that he couldn’t open the door. 11. Someone could have taken the keys from your bag. 12. The door opened and who should come in but Tom. 13. The film should be very good as it’s starring 1^st class actors. 14. The new hotel ought to be very comfortable. 15. There is a lot of noise from upstairs. It must be Tom. – Why must it be Tom? Other people use that flat. 16. They ought to have taken a taxi. 17. They were never to meet again. 18. This will be the school I believe. 19. We could go climbing this summer, but I doubt if we’ll have time. 20. We should be wearing the seat belts. 21. What do you think that noise was? – It might have been a cat. 22. What shall I say? 23. What would you like to drink? 24. Where is he to be found? 25. Who was to speak at the meeting? 26. Who would that be? 27. Why should I do that? 28. Will you dine with me tomorrow? 29. You can see the forest through the window. 30. You can take my umbrella. 31. You could do so many things. 32. You could have told me. 33. You couldn’t be hungry. You’ve just had dinner. 34. You don’t have to go there. 35. You may order a taxi by phone. 36. You may smoke in here. 37. You must dress suitably for once, I can’t possibly let you off. 38. You must talk to your daughter about her future. 39. You mustn’t leave the room. 40. You mustn’t miss the film. It’s very good. 41. You needn’t be afraid of me. 42. You needn’t do it by hand. I’ll lend you my machine. 43. You needn’t have woken me up: I don’t have to go to work today. 44. You ought to be very pleased, oughtn’t you? 45. You ought to go and see ‘Terminator’ – it’s a great film.

Exercise 43. Identify the meanings of the modal verbs in italics in the sentences below and translate these sentences into Ukrainian.

1. “Because I wouldn’t want to assume that all men are like you. If I did, I know I would give them up Entirely.” “Maybe you should.” “Maybe I will!” 2. “I told everyone what a bad idea that was. Would they listen?” She fumbled with the keys. “Would you?” Brazil demanded. 3. “Most people would say so.” “I daresay they would.” 4. “One of the policemen outside said it is the biggest funeral in New York since Babe Ruth’s,” said Grace. “Poor Billy, wouldn’t he have hated it,” said Cordelia. 5. “Slow down,” he said, looking at the map. “This should be Laurel coming up on our left.” 6. “You are not going to pay it,” she said. It was a trait of hers that she wouldn’t back down, ever. 7. A pickup truck roared past, followed by another caravan of soldiers. Turning around, I began the one-and-a-half-mile stretch back to the Academy, which could have passed for a modern tan brick hotel were it not for its rooftops of antennas and location out in the middle of a wooded nowhere. 8. Babette had become the kind of woman greatly admired by men who would never marry. 9. But here again it appears that poor Michael was, shall we say, not fully briefed. 10. Cars below us glided like bright-eyed waterbugs as the light of civilization flickered like small fires in the trees. The vibrating darkness might have soothed me to sleep were my nerves not running hot. My mind wouldn’t stay still as images clashed and questions screamed. 11. Come on, I’ll walk you out. That will be my exercise for the day. 12. God forbid that I should ever say a good word for you! 13. ‘He did apologize.’ ‘I should hope so, after the way he behaved.’ 14. He felt the urge to get off the bed and get down on his knees to say the prayer, but he thought how extremely foolish he would feel if Ann should happen to walk in the door at that moment, even though he knew it was highly unlikely that Ann would ever leave her ball for any reason. 15. He longed to read his stories to Ruth but he didn’t dare. 16. He shall be told about it. 17. Help him, please. The door will not unlock. 18. I also cannot help but point out that the author makes too many claims, some patently false. 19. I am to have the privilege of sitting next to you. 20. I assume this will somehow be linked to automated fingerprint identification system around the country. 21. I don’t know. How should I? 22. I don’t understand why you should be angry with him. 23. I said you could go, and so you shall. 24. ‘I suppose there’ll be a lot of complaints?’ ‘I should imagine so.’ 25. I want you to do a most terrible favour. Will you? Will you, please? 26. I will not have these repeated scenes within hearing of the servants. 27. I will survive, I will escape, I will not give in. 28. I’m going to tell him he’s not to come to the house any more. 29. If he were to come, he would certainly have arrived already. 30. If the thing was to happen, it was to happen in this way. 30. “Let me peek. Let me peek,” Ann would say playfully, about the easel that faced away from her, but Dali would not.

Exercise 44. Identify the meanings of the modal verbs in italics in the sentences below and translate these sentences into Ukrainian.

1. Poor silly Lottie, who could ever stay angry with her? 2. If you are a poor driver, you oughtn’t to try driving at night. 3. In the afternoon he would go out alone and walk for hours. 4. And someone who relies on charisma wouldn’t have a gun. 5. The man came from the school, and he was very smooth and Lottie signed the papers, I could have cried. 6. It was to be expected. 7. Just at that moment, who should walk in but old Jim himself. 8. She felt through her whole body the imminence of the collapse, and because she could feel it, it was no longer debilitating. 9. And you will be good to your poor old mother for it, won’t you? 10. Shall I tell you how I felt as a mate of my high school students? 11. She’s said to be very beautiful by people who ought to know. 12. She cannot, must not, be put into the hospital in Mineola, where she would be under the jurisdiction of the Nassau County police. 13. ‘She doesn’t like to hear me swearing.’ ‘I should think not.’ 14. She said she thought she might have to dine that evening at “the family’s”, as she referred to evenings at Alice’s, or that Billy might be working late that night. 15. Duty in these circumstances was an article of faith – and a vague conviction that a city ought to be lived in – that helped her resist G’s gentle, persistent drift suburbsward. 16. Shouldn’t we have the chauffeur deliver them to her doorman? That way she won’t have to come back. 17. That needs a bit of thinking. 18. Their eyes met. “Shall I serve?” said Doris. 19. There can have been few scientific disciplines whose leading theoreticians are anarchists. 20. They shall not pass! 21. This may or may not be a historical fact. 22. This will be the place where they reposed. 23. When the telephone rang, Billy thought it would be the mechanic from the hangar. The children thought it would be the riding teacher. And Ann thought it would be the hairdresser. 24. Why need we defend it? 25. Why should anyone want to marry Tony? – Don’t ask me. How should I know? 26. Why should you dislike him so much? 27. You ought to have seen her tie he had on. 28. You shall entertain as much as you please. 29. You shall not catch me again. 30. You shall not have it – not ever. I will take care of that.

Exercise 45. Interpret the meaning of the modal forms in bold type and suggest their Ukrainian equivalents.

1. In his opinion the two superpowers should have made more progress at the Geneva talks. 2. “You couldn’t have tried so very hard,” said Carrie. 3. But for the sweetness of family gossip, it must indeed have been lonely there. 4. The lamp lit her face and she tended the long pipe, bent above it with the serious attention she might have given to a child. 5. Phuong lit the gas stove and began to boil the water for tea. It might have been six months ago. 6. It was a strange situation, and very different from any romantic picture which his fancy might have painted. 7. “We’ll take it to my den.” – “Why, of course! Might have thought of that before.” 8. Entering the church he looked like a childlike man … His feet scarcely wakened the slightest sound. He might have been trying to steal in unobserved in the middle of a sermon. 9. Physically he looked like his parents – in every other respect, he might have dropped from the moon for all resemblance he had to them. 10. You shall not stay another hour in my house. Get out! 11. You shall pay for this! 12. You should have heard the razzing I got at the Brook Club this noon. 13. You should have seen the look on her face when I told her I’d won first prize. 14. If a letter were there, it could mean only one thing. Amparo must have reached the mailbox by now. Unless she’d met a friend of hers as she went down, unless she … Would it be there? Would it? 15. – Things could be a lot worse. – How? – You might be a loser. Like me. – And I’m a winner instead? You can say that! After you saw me there tonight? 16. After such a picturesque love affair in high society, who shall say that romance is dead?

Exercise 46. Translate the following sentences into Ukrainian taking special care to render the meanings of the modal words.

1. “Apparently” – Ferguson addressed the group – “Mrs Steiner made her bed before the police arrived.” 2. “I wasn’t joking,” he said gently. “I care very much about his feelings and I know you do.” He paused. “In fact, I understand his feelings very well.” 3. “In fact, I can’t say I have ever seen blaze orange duct tape before.” He was looking at me. “I certainly haven’t,” I said. 4. “Obviously, you’ve been here before,” I commented as he held the door for me. 5. “She certainly had motive,” I said, holding my anger in check. 6. Apparently, she’s connected to a spy shop, one of these places that sells high-tech surveillance devices. 7. But there is no doubt that young people are developing habits unfavorable to traditional news suppliers. 8. Dault’s most likely to stay in a place where he has maximum anonymity. 9. Early independence leaders were in truth little better than rebels. 10. Frank Bruno, after only three fights since quitting pantomime, is apparently lined up to fight both champions. 11. I need to track down SIDS that allegedly occurred in California around twelve years ago. Supposedly, the child was a year old when he died. 12. I spent the next several hours on the phone, unsuccessfully trying to reach Dr Jenrette, who apparently had taken the day off to play golf. 13. I’ve worried about your influence in that department, Kay, not that I am judging because certainly your personal life is your own business and some things you can’t help. 14. If conscience can not turn the tide, perhaps it is the panic of self-interest which will finally do the job. 15. If not, there will have been a real loss, which will no doubt add to the rising tide of semi-literacy. 16. In fact, what he told you about following Emily Steiner gives us probable cause to search his house and truck. 17. Not unless all of ‘em want to line up outside my door and let me ask ‘em whatever I want, and that sure isn’t likely to happen. 18. Seen at the level of individual choices there is perhaps nothing remarkable about this shift from fringe to mainstream. 19. She knew that, and Charles knew that, but the public were evidently beginning to think otherwise. 20. She supposedly had headed north to visit a sick sister. 21. She’d apparently been at Quantico and went out to eat and then drove back. 22. The attacking force had evidently been spread very thin since altogether there were fewer than 20 planes reported. 23. The cancer was possibly caused by exposure to asbestos. 24. The soldiers probably assumed I was a female agent or visiting cop, and it disturbed me to imagine my niece running this same route. 25. They may insist on payment by instalments, possibly spread throughout the whole of your notice period. 26. This naturally takes a toll on intellectual honesty. 27. Throwing money at the problem is surely not the way to convince people of sincerity. 28. We are not especially well-treated, certainly not as well as the locals. 29. We must have overlooked it somehow, as it surely couldn’t have been missed out altogether? 30. You should of course keep copies of all your correspondence.

Exercise 47. Translate the following sentences into Ukrainian taking special care to render the meanings of the modal words.

1. The workers demand a radical change in foreign policy, and this demand they address not only to their MP’s, but above all to the British government. 2. The British realities put the problem of foreign policy before the British people, and the working class above all, in a sharper way than ever before. 3. In telling what I saw and heard on this trip I’ll let as many Soviet people speak for themselves. And above all, in this series of articles the facts will speak for themselves. 4. When Italy invaded and annexed Ethiopia she was not checked by the League of Nations. In fact, England gave us a reason for refusing to act in behalf of Ethiopia that it was not “sufficiently advanced to enter the League”. 5. Just over a year before a boycott of public transport in Barcelona hit the world’s headlines as indeed it would, showing that the Spanish people are prepared to act in defence of their rights. 6. This Tory in fact proposed that England should make plans for either eventuality – for the defeat of the USSR and for the Soviet victory over Hitler. 7. That democracy will eventually grow far beyond its present limitations – indeed, that men will one day look back on this era and wonder how we could even think we had democracy – is, I think, certain. 8. George looked delighted. Of all his relations it was this little toad alone whom he at all tolerated. Indeed, he made a favourite of him. 9. I want to remind you of our curious – indeed our precarious – position. 10. The President had allegedly done his best to get the treaty signed. 11. Latin America, in fact, is a veritable laboratory of anti-corruption experiments. 12. Perhaps, in the end, the only universal cure for corruption is to quietnature democracy. (Nsw.) 13. “Maybe they won’t come? Maybe it was all a lie?” “Maybe.” (Steinbeck) 14. “Oh, I feel some concern for my future all right. Sure. Sure. I do.” 15. “I thought about it for a minute.” “But not too much, I guess.” (Salinger) 16. She was apparently indifferent to her two daughters. (Fitzgerald) 17. The young fellow was obviously anxious to be well with him. (Cary) 18. “Really,” she thought, «I should come out more of ten, really it is very pleasant here in summer.” 19. “The sand isn’t so soft here.” “Of course, of course.” 20. She was very quiet for some moments, as if, perhaps, shy of being alone with him. (Bates) 21. “Yes, indeed, he’s such a good watch-dog.” 22. “You did not approve of paying such a sum, naturally.” 23. “I wanted to bring the crab.” “All right, darling, all right.” 24. “I think I got a good picture of Heidi.” “Indeed. Indeed.” (Bates) 25. “And today, most fortunately, is a Thursday.” 26. “After all, three hundred pounds is three hundred pounds.” “Certainly it is.” 27. “Unfortunately, when you opened it contained only blank sheets of paper.” 28. The builders’ letter he kept to the last. Some bill, probably. 29. “I couldn’t care less, frankly.” 30. “They can’t possibly do it any more than they can prove, it won you.” (Hailey) 31. “No doubt, if you were a good detective, you’d be able to make it much clearer to me than it is.” (Salinger) 32. “An unpleasant and dangerous looking young man”, he thought, “and not impossibly a murderer.” (Christie)