English Grammar Secrets

🔰 Must/Have to 🔻We can use‘must’to show that we are certain something is true. We are making a logical deduction based upon some clear evidence or reason. 🔹There’s no heating on. You must be freezing. 🔹You must be worried that she is so late coming home. 🔹I can’t remember what I did with it. I must be getting old. 🔹It must be nice to live in Florida. 🔻We also use‘must’to express a strong obligation. When we use‘must’this usually means that some personal circumstance makes the obligation necessary (and the speaker almost certainly agrees with the obligation.) 🔹I must go to bed earlier. 🔹They must do something about it. 🔹You must come and see us some time. 🔹I must say, I don’t think you were very nice to him. 🔻We can also use‘have to’to express a strong obligation. When we use‘have to’this usually means that some external circumstance makes the obligation necessary. 🔹I have to arrive at work at 9 sharp. My boss is very strict. 🔹We have to give him our answer today or lose out on the contract. 🔹You have to pass your exams or the university will not accept you. 🔹I have to send a report to Head Office every week. 🔻In British English, we often use‘have got to’to mean the same as‘have to’. 🔹I’ve got to take this book back to the library or I’ll get a fine. 🔹We’ve got to finish now as somebody else needs this room. 🔻We can also use‘will have to’to talk about strong obligations. Like‘must’this usually means that that some personal circumstance makes the obligation necessary. (Remember that‘will’ is often used to show ‘willingness’.) 🔹I’ll have to speak to him. 🔹We’ll have to have lunch and catch up on all the gossip. 🔹They’ll have to do something about it. 🔹I’ll have to get back to you on that. 🔻As you can see, the differences between the present forms are sometimes very small and very subtle. However, there is a huge difference in the negative forms. 🔻We use‘mustn’t’to express strong obligations NOT to do something. 🔹We mustn’t talk about it. It’s confidential. 🔹I mustn’t eat chocolate. It’s bad for me. 🔹You mustn’t phone me at work. We aren’t allowed personal calls. 🔹They mustn’t see us talking or they’ll suspect something. 🔻We use‘don’t have to’(or‘haven’t got to’in British English) to state that there is NO obligation or necessity. 🔹We don’t have to get there on time. The boss is away today. 🔹I don’t have to listen to this. I’m leaving. 🔹You don’t have to come if you don’t want to. 🔹He doesn’t have to sign anything if he doesn’t want to at this stage. 🔹I haven’t got to go. Only if I want to. @EnglishGrammarSecrets

🔰 May/Might 🚩may 🔻We can use ‘may’ to ask for permission. However this is rather formal and not used very often in modern spoken English. 🔹May I borrow your pen? 🔹May we think about it? 🔹May I go now? 🔻We use ‘may’ to suggest something is possible. 🔹It…

🔰Should2⃣ 🔻We can use‘should’after‘reporting verbs’such asdemand, insist, propose, recommend, suggest 🔹He demanded that we should pay for the repair. 🔹She insisted that she should pay for the meal. 🔹I have proposed that he should take charge of the organization. 🔹The committee recommends that Jane should be appointed. 🔹We have suggested that Michael should be given a reward for his hard work. 🔻However, it is also possible to say exactly the same thing by omitting the‘should’and just using the infinitive form without‘to’ . Some people call this the‘subjunctive’form. 🔹He demanded that we pay for the repair. 🔹She insisted that she pay for the meal. 🔹I have proposed that he take charge of the organization. 🔹The committee recommends that Jane be appointed. 🔹We have suggested that Michael be given a reward for his hard work. 🔻We can use‘should’after various adjectives. Typical examples are : funny, interesting, natural, odd, strange, surprised, surprising, typical 🔹It’s funny that you should say that. I was thinking exactly the same thing. 🔹It’s interesting that they should offer him the job. Not an obvious choice. 🔹It’s natural that you should be anxious. Nobody likes speaking in public. 🔹Isn’t it odd that he should be going to the same tiny hotel? What a coincidence. 🔹It’s strange that you should think so. Nobody else does. 🔻We can use‘should’in‘if clauses’when we believe that the possibility of something happening is small. 🔹If you should happen to see him before I do, can you tell him that I want to speak to him urgently? 🔹If there should be a problem, just give me a call and I’ll sort it out. 🔹If anyone should ask where I am, say I’m in a meeting. 🔻We use‘should’in various fixed expressions. ✨To show strong agreement 🔹_They’re paying you compensation? _I should think so. ✨To express pleasure when you receive a gift 🔹What a fantastic present. You really shouldn’t have. ✨To emphasize a visible emotion 🔹You should have seen the look on her face when she found out that she had got the promotion. @EnglishGrammarSecrets

🔰Should1⃣ 🔻We use‘should’for giving advice. 🔹You should speak to him about it. 🔹He should see a doctor. 🔹We should ask a lawyer. 🔻We use‘should’to give an opinion or a recommendation. 🔹He should resign now. 🔹We should invest more in Asia. 🔹They should do something about this terrible train service. 🔻‘Should’expresses a personal opinion and is much weaker and more personal than‘must’or‘have to’. It is often introduced by ‘I think’. 🔹I think they should replace him. 🔹I don’t think they should keep the contract. 🔹Do you think we should tell her. @EnglishGrammarSecrets

🔰 May/Might 🚩may 🔻We can use ‘may’ to ask for permission. However this is rather formal and not used very often in modern spoken English. 🔹May I borrow your pen? 🔹May we think about it? 🔹May I go now? 🔻We use ‘may’ to suggest something is possible. 🔹It…

🔰 May/Might 🚩may 🔻We can use ‘may’ to ask for permission. However this is rather formal and not used very often in modern spoken English. 🔹May I borrow your pen? 🔹May we think about it? 🔹May I go now? 🔻We use ‘may’ to suggest something is possible. 🔹It…

🔰May/Might 🚩may 🔻We can use‘may’to ask for permission. However this is rather formal and not used very often in modern spoken English. 🔹May I borrow your pen? 🔹May we think about it? 🔹May I go now? 🔻We use‘may’to suggest something is possible. 🔹It may rain later today. 🔹I may not have time to do it today. 🔹Pete may come with us 🚩might 🔻We use‘might’to suggest a small possibility of something. Often we read that‘might’suggests a smaller possibility that‘may’, there is in fact little difference and‘might'is more usual than‘may’in spoken English. 🔹She might be at home by now but it’s not sure at all. 🔹It might rain this afternoon. 🔹I might not have time to go to the shops for you. 🔹I might not go. 🔻For the past, we use‘might have’. 🔹He might have tried to call while I was out. 🔹I might have dropped it in the street. @EnglishGrammarSecrets

🔰 Could 🔻‘Could’ is used to make polite requests. We can also use ‘can’ for these but ‘could’ is more polite. 🔹Could you help me, please? 🔹Could you lend me some money? 🔹Could I have a lift? 🔹Could I bother you for a moment? ✨If we use ‘could’ in reply…

🔰Could 🔻‘Could’is used to make polite requests. We can also use‘can’for these but‘could’is more polite. 🔹Could you help me, please? 🔹Could you lend me some money? 🔹Could I have a lift? 🔹Could I bother you for a moment? ✨If we use‘could’in reply to these requests, it suggests that we do not really want to do it. If you agree to the request, it is better to say‘can’. 🔹Of course I can. 🔹I could help you if it’s really necessary but I’m really busy right now. 🔹I could lend you some money but I’d need it back tomorrow without fail. 🔹I could give you a lift as far as Birmingham. 🔻‘Could’is used to talk about theoretical possibility and is similar in meaning to‘might’. 🔹It could rain later. Take an umbrella. 🔹He could be there by now. 🔹Could he be any happier? 🔹It could be Sarah’s. @EnglishGrammarSecrets

🔰Can/Can't 🔹Can you do that? 🔹I can’t manage to do that. 🔹You can leave your car in that parking space. 🔹You cannot smoke in here. ✨Notice that there are two negative forms: ‘can’t’ and ‘cannot’ . These mean exactly the same thing. When we are speaking…

🔰Can/Can't 🔹Can you do that? 🔹I can’t manage to do that. 🔹You can leave your car in that parking space. 🔹You cannot smoke in here. ✨Notice that there are two negative forms: ‘can’t’ and ‘cannot’ . These mean exactly the same thing. When we are speaking, we usually say ‘can’t’ . 🔻We use ‘can’ to talk about ‘ability’. 🔹I can speak French. 🔹I can’t drive. 🔻We use ‘can’ to ask for and give permission.(We also use ‘may’ for this but is more formal and much less common.) 🔹Can I speak to you or are you too busy? 🔹You can use my phone. 🔹You can’t come in. 🔻We use ‘can’ in offers, requests and instructions. 🔹Can I help? 🔹Can you give me a hand? 🔹When you finish that, you can take out the garbage. 🔻We use ‘can’ with ‘see’ ‘hear’ ‘feel’ ‘smell’ ‘taste’ to talk about something which is happening now . (Where you would use the present continuous with most other verbs.) 🔹I can smell something burning. 🔹Can you hear that noise? 🔹I can’t see anything. 🔻We can use ‘can’t’ for deduction. The opposite of ‘can’t’ in this context is ‘must’ . 🔹You can’t be hungry. You’ve just eaten. 🔹You must be hungry. You haven’t eaten anything all day. 🔹He was in London one hour ago when I spoke to him. He can’t be here yet. @EnglishGrammarSecrets