• He must be a chef.
  (we are very certain, because of his uniform and what he is doing)
• He can’t be a policeman.
  (we are very certain he is NOT a policeman)

• She must be at work.
• She can’t be at home.

• Sheila got a tan. She must have spent a lot of time in the sun lately.
• There was one banana left, but now it’s gone. My husband must have eaten it.

• The car is still dirty. Paul must not have washed it yet.
• He barely touched his lunch. He must not have been hungry.

• Martha couldn’t have takenyour notebook; she wasn’t even in class yesterday.
• The cookies are gone. But Eric couldn’t have reached the cookies on the top shelf; he must have asked his older brother to get them.

• I don’t see the report here – she must not have printed it out.
  (we draw the conclusion that she did not do it)
• The printer’s been broken for the past week, so she couldn’t have printed out the report.
  (we know it was IMPOSSIBLE for her to do it)

• She‘s definitely going to love this book – it’s by her favorite author.
• The kids will definitely be thrilled when we tell them we’re going to Disney World.

• Engineers are certain to develop even faster computers.
• The country is sure to come to the aid of its ally.

• Present:
  I took my car to the mechanic yesterday and he said the problem would be fixed in a day – so my car should be ready by now.
• Future:
  Can you please type up these notes? It should only take about half an hour.
• Present:
  The weather is clear, so our flight shouldn’t be delayed.
• Future:
  I’ve written out all the instructions for this task step by step, so you shouldn’t run into any problems when you try to do it.

• I sent the package three weeks ago with express mail. They should have received it already.
  = I expect that they have already received it
• This car is brand new. It shouldn’t have broken down.
  = I expected it NOT to break down

• Lindsay saw a woman who needed help, but did nothing.
  “Lindsay, you should have helped her.”
• I said something mean to my best friend during an argument.
  “I shouldn’t have said that. It really hurt her feelings.”

• Where’s Fred? He’s not in his office.
  He maybe in the bathroom… or he might be in the conference room.
• Don’t eat that mushroom. It could be poisonous.

• The weather forecast says it may rain tomorrow.
• Your daughter is really smart. She could be very successful someday.
• We might take a road trip this weekend.

• Are you sure that’s a good idea?
  The boss may not / might not like it when he finds out.
  The boss could not like it when he finds out.
• I may not /might not be the smartest person in the class, but I definitely work the hardest.
  I could not be the smartest person in the class, but I definitely work the hardest.

• She’s not home. She might have gone to the store.
• He may have misunderstood you when you talked to him yesterday.
• The person who stole the documents could have been one of the employees.

• John’s not here. He might not have known about the meeting.
• If she hasn’t called you back, she may not have listened to your voicemail yet.

• She couldn’t have taken the car; she doesn’t have a key.

• Use must (present) and must have (past) when you are very certain that something is/was true
• Use can’t (present) and couldn’t have (past) when you are very certain that something is/was impossible
• Use should/shouldn’t (present) and should have / shouldn’t have (past) to talk about things you expect to be true, although you don’t have complete certainty
• You can also use should have / shouldn’t have for judging actions in the past to be good or bad
• Use might (most common), may, or could to talk about present and future possibilities
• Use might have, may have, or could have to talk about past possibilities
• For a possibility that something did NOT happen, use might not have and may not have

1. Somebody stole my laptop. (subject = Somebody / action(verb) = stole / object = my laptop)

1. My laptop was stolen. (The object – now the subject = My laptop / action= was stolen)
2. Passive: Napa Valley is known for its excellent wines.
3. Active: [Many people] know Napa Valley for its excellent wines.
4. Passive: Twenty civilians were killed in the bomb explosion.
5. Active: Someone killed twenty civilians in the bomb explosion.

1. Passive: The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci. (agent =Leonardo Da Vinci )
2. Active: Leonaro Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa.

1. Active: While Mr. Taylor was driving down Highway 101, a police officer pulled him over and gave him a speeding ticket.
2. Passive: While Mr. Taylor was driving down Highway 101, he was pulled over and given a ticket by a police officer.

1. Highway 15 was closed yesterday due to a serious road accident.
2. A lot of corn is grown in Iowa.

direct speech: 'I love the Toy Story films,' she said.
indirect speech: She said she loved the Toy Story films.

direct speech: 'I worked as a waiter before becoming a chef,' he said.
indirect speech: He said he'd worked as a waiter before becoming a chef.

direct speech: 'I'll phone you tomorrow,' he said.
indirect speech: He said he'd phone me the next day.

direct speech: 'I work in a bank,' said Daniel.
indirect speech: Daniel said that he worked in a bank.

'I travel a lot in my job.'

• Jamila said that she travelled a lot in her job.

'The baby's sleeping!'

• He told me the baby was sleeping.

'I've hurt my leg.'

• She said she'd hurt her leg.

'We lived in China for five years.'

• She told me they'd lived in China for five years.

'It was raining all day.'

• He told me it had been raining all day.

'I'd tried everything without success, but this new medicine is great.'

• He said he'd tried everything without success, but the new medicine was great.

'I go to the gym next to your house.'

• Jenny told me that she goes to the gym next to my house. I'm thinking about going with her.

'I'm working in Italy for the next six months.'

• He told me he's working in Italy for the next six months. Maybe I should visit him!

'I've broken my arm!'

• She said she's broken her arm, so she won't be at work this week.

'I enjoy working in my garden,' said Bob.

• Bob said that he enjoyed working in his garden.

'We played tennis for our school,' said Alina.

• Alina told me they'd played tennis for their school.

'I'm working on my thesis,' I said.

• I told her that I was working on my thesis.

'We want our jobs back!' we said.

• We said that we wanted our jobs back.

'This is my house.'

• He said this was his house. [You are currently in front of the house.]
• He said that was his house. [You are not currently in front of the house.]

'We like it here.'

• She told me they like it here. [You are currently in the place they like.]
• She told me they like it there. [You are not in the place they like.]

'I'm planning to do it today.'

• She told me she's planning to do it today. [It is currently still the same day.]
• She told me she was planning to do it that day. [It is not the same day any more.]

• There are many things to do today.
• We have a lot of time left, don’t worry.
• Many people take the train to work.
• Much Italian wine is sold abroad.
• She plays a lot of sport.
• When we want to emphasize a really big quantity we can add ‘so’ in front of ‘many’ and ‘much’. For example:
• There were so many passengers on the train, it was difficult to get off.
• She had so much work to do, she stayed at the office until midnight.  

• We need a few coins for the car park.
• Would you like a little milk in your coffee?
• They ate a few biscuits with their tea.
• The engine needs a little oil.

• Few trains arrive on time. (A small number of trains arrive on train which is a bad thing.)
• Little attention is given to the problem of parking. (A small amount of attention is given to this problem and it’s not good.)

• We have some free time later this afternoon.
• She doesn’t want any coffee.
• Do they need any bread?
• I went to some meetings in Rome last week.
• Will there be any managers at the party?

• I need more plates. – No, we don’t. There are plenty!
• Slow down. We’ve got plenty of time to get to the station.
• We use ‘enough’ to express the idea of having, or not having, a sufficient quantity. For example:
• I think we have enough vegetables so I won’t buy any more.
• But we don’t have enough fruit. Let’s get some more.

• How many times have you visited Rome?
• How many people were at the meeting?
• How many chairs do we need?
• How much time have you got?
• How much bread does he eat?
• How much petrol shall I buy?

• How much do these melons cost?
• How much does this sofa cost?
• How much are those gloves?