Unit 10: Function: Expressing Present & Past Possibility : cours 1 Bac SM

1Lesson Objectives

This short opening section states what every learner must be able to do by the end of Unit 10. It sets the target competence: speculating about present and past situations in English.

Express present possibility correctly using modal verbs: may, might, could, must, can't . Express past possibility using the structure modal + have + past participle (perfect infinitive). Distinguish degrees of certainty : strong possibility based on logical deduction (must, can't) versus weak possibility based on a guess (may, might, could). Use these modal structures confidently and accurately in both speaking and writing tasks. Identify and correct the most frequent mistakes learners make when using modals of possibility.

Target Competence

Function

Speculating about present and past situations in English.

Skill

Choosing the correct modal to match the speaker's level of certainty.

Before studying the new structures, learners revise the grammar points they already know and discover the function through a real-life situation taken from the course.

Modal verbs already studied: can, could, may, might, must The bare infinitive after a modal: 'She can swim' (NOT 'to swim') The structure have + past participle, already known from the present perfect

Bare infinitive

The base form of the verb used without 'to' right after a modal verb, e.g. 'can swim', 'might rain'.

Have + past participle

A verb structure already seen in the present perfect (e.g. 'have finished'); it will be reused later with modals to talk about past possibility.

Warm Up Situation

Statement

Younes left his English notebook at school yesterday; this morning he cannot find it at home. Where could it be? Where might he have left it?

Method

Reason from the clues available, without being completely sure of the answer.

Solution

Think about the places Younes visited yesterday and this morning. List the possible places where the notebook could be. Choose words that show we are not fully certain, only guessing.

Interpretation

We cannot give one certain answer; we can only suggest possibilities based on the information we have.

Are we sure about the answer?

No, we are only guessing.

We do not have enough information to be completely certain.

We reason from the available clues.

Which words do we use?

Modal verbs of possibility.

Special auxiliary verbs that express how sure or unsure we are.

Modal verbs of possibility

Could, might and may are called modal verbs of possibility; they express different degrees of certainty in English.

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