Modal Verbs of Willingness

Degrees of willingness

The degree of willingness is a reflection of the speaker's level of commitment to the course of action.

At the highest level, due to their strong willingness the speaker or person referred to is totally committed to
the course of action, eg I will ... This can be glossed as: determination.

The mid-level is mid willingness and at this level the speaker or person referred to is partly, but not completely
committed to the course of action, eg I may ... This can be glossed as: intention.

The bottom level is low willingness, and at this level the speaker or person referred to is willing to follow the
course of action, but may have some reason for not particularly wanting to, eg I would, but ...This level can be
glossed as acceptance.

Note that the modal will can be used to indicate all three levels: determination, intention and acceptance. The level
of willingness depends on the context, the stress which the word is given, and the addition of adverbs of likelihood.

For example, consider a situation where a father has told his daughter that she should not waste her time going to
university. If she is really determined to go in spite of all opposition, she might say something like:

I will go - and you can't stop me!

Contrast this with the way will is typically used to indicate intention. If a speaker is merely stating what she expects
to happen in the future, she might say something like the following, but without emphasizing the will:

After university, I will find a job.

If the speaker wants to convey that they are willing to follow the course of action, but not necessarily enthusiastic
about doing so, they might still use will, but the context would indicate that the level of willingness is low:

Alright then if I have to, I'll do it.

Modal Verbs of Probability

He must be at work; it’s 10 o’clock.

We can use these modal verbs (also called modals of deduction, speculation or certainty) when we want to make a
guess about something. We choose the verb depending on how sure we are.

1: Talking about the present:

must / might / could / may / can't + infinitive

For example:

I am waiting for Julie with another friend, David.

I ask: 'Where is Julie?'
David guesses:

 She must be on the bus. (I'm fairly sure this is a good guess)100% sure : They must be in Spain by now. They
told me they were going last week.
 She might come soon. (maybe)70% : she might come this evening, but she also had some work to do.
 She could be lost. (maybe)50% : She could be at work, or she could be at home. I’m not sure.
 She may be in the wrong room. (maybe)70% :
 She can't be at home. (I'm fairly sure this isn't true)100 % not sure: Peter can’t like that show. He doesn’t
enjoy comedy.

Notice that the opposite of 'must' is 'can't in this case.

Will / won't
We use will and won't when we are very sure:

 She'll be at work now. That will be Mary, she always returns home at this time.

Should / shouldn't

Should and shouldn't are used to make an assumption about what is probably true, if everything is as we expect:

 They should be there by now.

 It shouldn't take long to drive here.

Can

Can is used for something that is generally possible, something we know sometimes happens:

 Prices can be high in London.

2: Using modal verbs to talk about the past:

must / might / could / may / can't + have + past participle

 must have + past participle 100%

 might / might not have + past participle 70%
 could / couldn't have + past participle 50%
 may / may not have + past participle 70%
 can't have + past participle 100%

For example:

You: Where was Julie last night?

David:

 She must have forgotten about our date. Ana is smiling. She must have done well on the test.
 She might have worked late. Jack might have gone to France for her vacation. I think he wanted to practice
French this summer.
 She could have taken the wrong bus. Peter could have arrived late. I know he missed the bus.
 She may have felt ill.
 She can't have stayed at home. They can’t have worked until late because they were on time for the meeting

Will / won't + have + past participle

Will and won't / will not + have + past participle are used for past certainty (compare with present use of 'will'
above):

 The parcel will have arrived before now.

Should + have + past participle

Should + have + past participle can be used to make an assumption about something that has probably happened, if
everything is as we expect (compare with present use of 'should' above):

 The train should have left by now

Could

We can use could + infinitive to talk about a general possibility in the past (compare with the use of 'can' above):

 Prices could be high in the sixteenth century.