Modal verbs speculation

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 3

Welcome V3

Please take a seat in the first three rows.

Put your phone and earbuds in your bag

Grab your laptop and log in

Class rules

Respect! 

Listen to each other 

and to me :)

Try to speak English at 

all times. 

Making mistakes is okay.

Today's planning

To do: 

Modal verbs for speculation

Goals: 

You know how to speculate using modal verbs.

Let's watch a video and make a note of the modal verbs mentioned

00:18

In which job would you use modal verbs often?

01:02

What do modal verbs of speculation describe?

01:33

Which modal verbs did he mention?

02:15

He mentions that we speculate about the past...
Do you think we can speculate about the present too?

YES

NO

MAYBE?

02:42

What's the formula? How do we put together a speculation sentence?

3.2 Modal verbs a.k.a. hulpwerkwoorden

Present: mv + verb       Past: mv + have + past participle

In a true-crime show, the police, witnesses, and lawyers often use these modal verbs to talk about both the present and past.

He can't escape punishment. -> She couldn't have done it, she was with me!

She may be in danger. -> She might have been framed.

Based on witness statements, she must be innocent.
-> On the other hand, evidence shows that this guy must have killed him.

She's not here yet. She ....... be stuck in traffic.

It ...... be easy for him, looking after 3 kids on his own.

Aliens ...... be watching us...Who knows?

Rewrite the sentence:
I'm sure my keys are at work. (must)

Rewrite the sentence:
It didn't rain. (couldn't)
The roads are dry.

What do you think happened?
Use a modal verb

What do you think happened?
Use a modal verb

Practice a bit

more :)

A bit more explanation and examples

Multiple choice

must vs can't

present or past?

multiple choice + gap fill

can't vs might vs must

How well can you speculate in English?

0100