4 Impersonal statements

Use

When we do not know if information is true or do not

want to state where the information came from.

Present situations

* said/believed/known/thought + that clause OR 4- to

+ infinitive

It is said that Italians are very passionate.

Italians are said to be very passionate.

Past situations

*said/believed/known/thought + that clause OR 4- to

+ past infinitive (have + past participle)

It is believed that the ship sank.

The ship is believed to have sunk.

File 17: The causative

*activities we arrange for other people to do for us

I had my hair coloured.

Dad's going to have his car serviced.

I get my hair cut at Tony's salon.

! Get more common in the imperative form.

Get your hair cut!

File 18: Modal verbs 1

1 Ability

*can for present/future ability

Can you swim?

*could/was able to for past ability

1 could play the guitar when I was five years old.

2 Permission

*can and may for requesting permission

May I go out tonight?

*can't, may not, not allowed to for lack of permission

I can't/I'm not allowed to drive a car. I'm only 14.

! May is very formal. In questions, it is polite and is

used quite frequently.

May I help you?

In negatives, may not is rarely used as it sounds

very formal.

3 Advice/criticism *should, ought to for advice

You should/ought to see a doctor. *shouldn't/oughtn't to for criticism of a past action You shouldn't have done that ! Should and ought to have the same meaning, but should is used more frequently.

4 Obligation

*must for strong obligation or necessity

imposed by the speaker

Policeman: You must come to the police

Station.

*mustn't for strong prohibition imposed by

the speaker

You mustn't drink and drive.

*have to, have got to, need to for reporting/

asking about rules/regulations/obligations

Do we need to/have to get visas to go

to the USA?

*had to for past obligation

I had to tidy my room yesterday.

5 Lack of obligation

*don't have to, don't need to and needn't for

lack of obligation in the present/future

We don't have to be home until midnight!

*didn't need to for actions that were not

necessary

We didn't need to wait for the plane as it took

off immediately.

*needn't have + past participle for actions

which were done unnecessarily

You needn't have worried. I was quite safe.

File 19: Modal verbs 2

1 Possibility

*may/could/might + bare infinitive for something

that is possibly true but we don't know.

Susan's not in. She may /could/might be next door

*may have/could have/might have + past

participle for something that has possibly

happened

I'm not sure where she is. She may /could/

might have gone to the cinema.

*may /could /might + be + -ing for something

that is possibly happening now

She could be watching a video.

! There is no evidence for any of these

assumptions.

2 Deductions

*must + bare infinitive for deductions in the

present

He must be a doctor. He has a stethoscope!

*must have + past participle for deductions

in the past

The police arrested the man. He must have

committed a crime.

*must have + been + -ing for the continuous

past

They couldn't find him. He must have been

hiding.

! There is usually some evidence for these deductions.

e.g. the doctor's stethoscope.

*can't + bare infinitive for assumptions in the present

She can't be a nurse. She isn't wearing a uniform.

*can't have/couldn't have + past participle for things

we are sure did not happen

He can't have passed his driving test. He looks upset.

*can't have + been + -ing for the continuous past

He crashed. He can't have been driving carefully.

File 20: Relative clauses