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Probability
Level: beginner
Possibility
We use may, might and could to say that something is possible, but not certain:
They may come by car. (= Maybe they will come by car.)
They might be at home. (= Maybe they are at home.)
If we don't hurry, we could be late. (= Maybe we will be late.)
We use can to make general statements about what is possible:
It can be very cold here in winter. (= It is sometimes very cold here in winter.)
You can easily get lost in this town. (= People often get lost in this town.)
| Be careful! |
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We do not use can to talk about specific events:
Notice the difference in meaning between can and may/might/could:
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- can and may/might/could
Level: intermediate
We use may have, might have or could have to make guesses about the past:
I haven't received your letter. It may have got lost in the post.
It's ten o'clock. They might have arrived by now.
Where are they? They could have got lost.
We use could to make general statements about the past:
It could be very cold there in winter. (= It was sometimes very cold there in winter.)
You could easily get lost in that town. (= People often got lost in that town.)
- could and could have
Impossibility
Level: beginner
We use can't or cannot to say that something is impossible:
That can't be true.
You cannot be serious.
Level: intermediate
We use can't have or couldn't have to say that a past event was impossible:
They know the way here. They can't have got lost!
If Jones was at work until six, he couldn't have done the murder.
Certainty
Level: beginner
We use must to show we are sure something is true and we have reasons for our belief:
It's getting dark. It must be quite late.
You haven’t eaten all day. You must be hungry.
We use should to suggest something is true and we have reasons for our suggestion:
Ask Miranda. She should know.
It's nearly six o'clock. They should arrive soon.
Level: intermediate
We use must have and should have for the past:
They hadn't eaten all day. They must have been hungry.
You look happy. You must have heard the good news.
It's nearly eleven o'clock. They should have arrived by now.
- Probability 1
- Probability 2
- Probability 3
- Probability 4
- Probability 5
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Hello QaaZee,
All of these are grammatically correct and they can all mean that there is a chance that they will come by car. Other meanings are possible for some of the examples. 'May' could refer to permission, for example, as in it is OK for them to come by car, but that would depend on the context.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello QaaZee,
You can find examples of this on our page dealing with modal verbs for ability, permission, requests and advice:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/english-grammar-reference/ability
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello jitu_jaga,
The modal verb does not carry a marker for this within it so we use the context to inform us. If the context is not clear then it is ambiguous, but this would rarely matter.
For example, the meaning of your sentence is quite clear, I think. The speaker is looking at a bad situation and consoling themselves with the thought that something worse is possible. It may or may not be obvious from the context whether the worse possibility is something specific (my car is not working but it could be worse - my car could have exploded) or general (my car is not working but it could be worse - I could have lost my job, got sick or suffered some family tragedy). It really does not matter, however; what is important is the idea that things are not as bad as they could be, and that the person's ill-fortune is not so terrible when considered in the right way.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello jitu_jaga,
The sentence about Sachin Tendulkar you mention doesn't sound right to me, at least out of context. In other words, perhaps in a specific context it would make sense, but out of context it does not.
Your other sentences with 'would' to talk about possibility (rain or getting married) are also not standard. At least in British or American English, 'would' isn't used to speak about possibility in this way. It can be used within a conditional structure to speak about a possibility, but that is a different structure, which is clearly indicated in most cases with an 'if' clause.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi SonuKumar,
In answer to your first question, yes, that is correct.
'She must have gone home' means the speaker has good reasons to believe she went home, or that it is the only logical explanation they have at hand to explain a situation.
'She can't have gone home' means the speaker has reasons to believe that it is impossible that she went home.
'She must not have gone home' is not as strong. It means the speaker is making a supposition -- they think she probably did not go home, but don't have strong evidence for this.
I hope that makes it clear.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi TJ,
It's important to remember that modal verbs have multiple uses. One use of 'could' is as the past form of 'can' to describe possibility. It's helpful to compare the two:
The first sentence describes something that is generally possible (getting lost) in certain situations (when it is foggy). The second sentence describes something that was generally possible (getting lost) in certain situations (when it was foggy).
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Hamdy Ali,
Yes, that is right. Both 'I'm sure' and 'I'm confident' are common ways to experss this. Good work!
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team