Lesson 53: Modal Verbs for Probability and Deduction (must, might, can’t)

Hi! Welcome to Lesson 53 from LingTrio!

Salut ! Bienvenue à la leçon 53 de LingTrio !

Today, we’re going to learn how to express certainty, possibility, or impossibility in English using some special modal verbs:

Aujourd'hui, nous allons apprendre à exprimer la certitude, la possibilité ou l'impossibilité en anglais en utilisant des verbes modaux spéciaux :

must, might, can’t

must, might, can’t

These words help you:

Ces mots vous aident à :

Show how sure you are about something

Montrer à quel point vous êtes sûr de quelque chose

Express doubt or uncertainty

Exprimer le doute ou l'incertitude

Say that something is impossible or unlikely

Dire que quelque chose est impossible ou improbable

Let’s Learn Them One by One:

Apprenons-les un par un :

Must

Must

Use "must" when you are very sure that something is true — based on evidence or logical conclusion.

Utilisez "must" lorsque vous êtes très sûr que quelque chose est vrai — sur la base de preuves ou d'une conclusion logique.

Structure:

Structure :

must + base verb

must + verbe de base

Examples:

Exemples :

She must be at home; I saw her car outside. (You are sure based on evidence)

She must be at home; I saw her car outside. (Vous êtes sûr sur la base de preuves)

He must be tired after working all day.

He must be tired after working all day.

Might (or may)

Might (ou may)

Use "might" when you think there is a possibility that something is true — but you're not certain.

Utilisez "might" lorsque vous pensez qu'il y a une possibilité que quelque chose soit vrai — mais vous n'êtes pas certain.

Structure:

Structure :

might + base verb

might + verbe de base

Examples:

Exemples :

It might rain later. (Possible but not sure)

It might rain later. (Possible mais pas sûr)

She might come to the party.

She might come to the party.

Can’t (or cannot)

Can’t (ou cannot)

Use "can’t" when you are sure that something is impossible — based on evidence or logic.

Utilisez "can’t" lorsque vous êtes sûr que quelque chose est impossible — sur la base de preuves ou de logique.

Structure:

Structure :

can’t + base verb

can’t + verbe de base

Examples:

Exemples :

He can’t be the thief; I saw him at work. (Impossible based on evidence)

He can’t be the thief; I saw him at work. (Impossible sur la base de preuves)

That noise can’t be from the engine; it’s too loud.

That noise can’t be from the engine; it’s too loud.

When to Use These Modal Verbs:

Quand utiliser ces verbes modaux :

must: almost certain / logical conclusion — She must be tired; she’s yawning a lot.

must : presque certain / conclusion logique — She must be tired; she’s yawning a lot.

might / may: possible / uncertain — They might go on vacation next week.

might / may : possible / incertain — They might go on vacation next week.

can’t: impossible / very unlikely — That can’t be true; I just saw him yesterday.

can’t : impossible / très improbable — That can’t be true; I just saw him yesterday.

Summary:

Résumé :

Use must when you're very sure about something.

Utilisez must quand vous êtes très sûr de quelque chose.

Use might/may when you're unsure but think it’s possible.

Utilisez might/may quand vous n'êtes pas sûr mais pensez que c'est possible.

Use can’t when you're sure something isn’t true.

Utilisez can’t quand vous êtes sûr que quelque chose n'est pas vrai.

Great job! Now you can talk about certainty and doubt more naturally in English!

Beau travail ! Maintenant, vous pouvez parler de certitude et de doute plus naturellement en anglais !

Let’s keep going with Lingtrio!

Continuons avec Lingtrio !