Podcast 102 B2 - Making deductions with modal auxiliaries

Hello! And welcome back to Practising English! Today I've got something interesting for you - an audio quiz! I'm going to play some sounds out of context and you have to identify what the sounds are or where the sounds come from. For example, what do you think this sound is? [sound]. Not sure? Well, listen to the podcast and find out. The grammar and vocabulary point we'll be talking about are modal auxiliary verbs for deduction. And the English language level is B2. Stay around and listen! Here we go...

How to make guesses

So let's listen to that sound again. It's a strange sound, but can you identify where it comes from? [sound]. Mmm. Not easy, is it? If you're not sure what the answer is, you can guess. To guess is to say what we think something is even though we don't really know for sure. To make these guesses we can use words like perhaps or maybe or just say I think it is...

Perhaps it's a the sound from an animal. Although I don't know which.

Actually, come to think of it... (we say that when an idea comes into our head),

B2 deductions - a bat

Come to think of it, maybe it's a bat!

Yes, I remember watching a documentary once with the presenter David Attenborough. He made a lot of wonderful documentaries about animals. There was one about bats, you know, those small mammals that can fly - like a mouse with wings. I remember they make these sounds - quite high pitched sounds. The sounds are a type of sonar. They bounce off a small insect and return to the bat's ears so that the bat can locate the insect and eat it! Let's listen to that sound again. [sound].

Yes, yes, I'm sure it's a bat!

Modal auxiliaries for deductions

We have other ways to talk about these guesses. We can use modal auxiliaries. In English there are three that have a very similar meaning. The modal auxiliaries are: may, could and might. We use one of these three modals when we guess at what something is. Another way to say to guess is to make deductions. Here is another sound: [sound]. My goodness! What's that? Well,

It sounds familiar.

We can say that when we listen to something and we're not sure what it is but we think we've heard it before - it sounds familiar. But remember if you are looking at something and trying to identify it, you must say,

It looks familiar.

So let's return to that sound [sound]. It sounds like running liquid.

It might be rainwater running off a roof.
It might be a tap running into a bath of water.
It might even be somebody going to the toilet!

You know, doing a wee! But I don't think it's somebody doing a wee because this is a family podcast and I can't talk about those things! Now, when we are sure it isn't something, we use the modal auxiliary can't.

It can't be somebody doing a wee in the toilet because this is a family podcast!

What do you think it is? Can you identify that sound? Well, I have the complete sound here. Listen to this: [sound]. Now it's clear, isn't it? When we are clear or certain about something in a positive way, we use the modal auxiliary must.

It must be somebody making a cup of tea!

Here is another sound. What do you think it is? [sound] Mmm, again it sounds familiar. In fact, I think I know what it is. When we think we know the answer, the deduction we make can be with 'may'. So 'may' is used if we think there is more possibility that we are right. If we're really not sure, we use 'might'. Here are examples:

It might be the wind blowing very strongly but I don't think so.
It may be a vacuum cleaner - vacuuming the carpets in somebody's house. I really think it is!

So, 'might' when we don't really think so, and 'may' when we are quite sure about something. Notice, that 'may be' here is two words: may + be and not 'maybe' as one word. Ok, so I really think it may be a vacuum cleaner. What do you think it is? Let's listen to the complete sound. [sound]

Oh, no! I was wrong.

It can't be a vacuum cleaner. It must be a plane flying overhead!

Let's listen to another sound [sound]. I'm really not very sure about that one. Now, one modal I haven't mentioned for making deductions is could. When do we use 'could'? Literally, we say that the three modals: may, could and might talk about possibility in descending order. That means, 'may' is when we are fairly certain, 'could' when we are less certain and 'might' when we really are not very certain at all. I think the difference between 'may' and 'might' are quite pronounced. But, as a native speaker, I feel it's difficult to separate 'could' and 'might'. They seem to talk about a similar amount of possibility to me. I'm not very sure about that sound. Let's listen again: [sound].

It could be a door squeaking.

You know, when a door needs oil and you open it and it makes a [sound] squeaking sound. Let's hear the complete sound now. [sound] Now, I've got it?

B2 deductions seagulls

It must be a seagull - or several seagulls!

Seagulls are those large white birds that live near the sea. I think there may be other birds in that recording too.

Right! I'm now going to reveal what that sound was that we heard at the beginning of the podcast. Remember, the one I said was a bat? What do you think it is? [sound] Let's listen to a little bit more of that. [sound] Have you guessed?

They must be kisses!

A mother kissing her child, for example. So, it wasn't a bat after all!

Ah! Now here's an interesting sound! Listen [sound]. Now that sounds very familiar! Do you know what it is?

It must be the sound of the expresso coffee machine in the cafeteria next door!

Right, I'm off for a coffee. Until next time! Goodbye!

Exercise on 'must', for deductions in the present...