1 / 15

Permission, possibility, necessity, and obligation

Permission, possibility, necessity, and obligation. Contents. Permission Possibility Necessity Obligation Exercise Index. Permission. Giving and refusing permission Asking permission Talking about permission. Giving and Refusing Permission.

schuyler
Download Presentation

Permission, possibility, necessity, and obligation

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Permission, possibility, necessity, and obligation

  2. Contents • Permission • Possibility • Necessity • Obligation • Exercise Index

  3. Permission • Giving and refusing permission • Asking permission • Talking about permission

  4. Giving and Refusing Permission • Use can or may to give permissions (may is formal and used mainly in writing) Ex: Any person over 18 years may/can apply to join the club. • Use cannot/can’t and may not to refuse permission. Ex: I’m afraid you can’t just walk in here. Customers may not bring their own food into this café. • Some other ways of refusing permission: Ex:Tourists must not take money out of the country. Smoking is prohibited/is not permitted on school premises.

  5. Asking permission • Use “can, could, may” • Could means a more distant possibility than can and may is rather formal

  6. Talking about permission • Talk about permission when we are not giving it or asking for it. Ex: + I can stay up as late as I like. My parents don’t mind. + These yellow lines mean that you can’t park here. + At one time anyone could go and live in the USA. Note: We can’t not use may here. • We can also use be allowed to (means that the permission does not depend on the speaker or the person spoken to.) Ex: May we leave early, please? (= Will you allow it?) Are we allowed to leave early? (= Is it allowed?/What is the rule?)

  7. Possibility • May and might • Can and could

  8. May and might • May and might: used to say that something is a possibly true. Ex: That may not/might not be a bad idea. • For an uncertain prediction or intention. Ex: You may/might get stuck in traffic if you don’t go early. I’m not sure, but I may/might drive up to London on Saturday. • May is a little stronger than might Note: Do not often use may or might in questions.

  9. Can and could • Use to suggest possible future actions. Ex: You can/could go on the train, of course. • Could is used for something that is possibly true. Ex: The timetable could be in this drawer.(We can use may, might but not can) • For an uncertain prediction about the future, we also use could, may or might but not can. Ex: The motorway can get busy tomorrow. • There is a special use of can to say that something is generally possible. Ex: You can make wine from bananas. Smoking can damage your health. • Can often has the meaning ‘sometimes’. Ex: Housewives can feel lonely.(= They sometimes feel lonely.)

  10. Can and Could-Notes • Can is stronger than could, which expresses a more distant possibility. • They express only a possibility. They do not mean that something is likely to happen. Ex: We can/could have a party.~Yes, why not:?(suggestion) We may/might have a party.~Oh, really? (uncertain intention) • Compare can’t with may not/might not. Ex: This answer can’t be right. It must be wrong. (= It is impossible for this answer to be right.) This answer may not/might not be right. It may/might be wrong. (= It is possible that this answer isn’t right.) • Can’t and couldn’t express impossibility. Ex: She can’t be very nice if no one likes her.

  11. Necessity • Must/Have to • Notes • No necessity

  12. Must/Have to • Use must or have (got) to talk about necessity in the present or the near future. • Must: The speaker feels the necessity • Have to: The necessity is outside the speaker. Ex: I must go on a diet. I’m getting overweight. I have to go on a diet. The doctor has told me to. • You must … is a way of ordering someone to do something . Ex: You must fill in a form. (I’m telling you.) • You have to… is a way of telling them what is necessary in the situation.

  13. Necessity-Notes • We can also use be to for an order by a person in authority. Ex:The doctor says I’m to go on a diet. • Have to is more common than be to • Be obliged to and be required to also express necessity. Both expressions are rather formal Ex: You are obliged to/are required to sign a declaration.

  14. No Necessity • With needn’t, the lack of necessity is felt by the speaker. With don’t have to, it results from the situation. Ex: You needn’t take me to the station. I can walk. You don’t have to take me to the station. Alan’s giving me a lift. * Don’t have to/don’t need to( Americans) • We use mustn’t to tell someone not to do something. The speaker feels the necessity Ex: We musn’t lose this game. • Musn’t has a different meaning from needn’t/don’t have to Ex: I needn’t run. I’ve got plenty of time. I musn’t run. I’ve got a weak heart.

  15. Obligation • We use should and ought to for obligation and advice • Should and ought to are not as strong as must, but in formal rules should is sometimes a more polite and less emphatic alternative to must. • We can use musn’t or may not to forbid something. Ex: Students must not/may not use dictionaries in the examination.

More Related