IELTS preparation made easier
Members Academy
Log in
This lesson will help you understand:
Modals have 2 basic ‘types’ of meaning.
Type 1: ‘dictionary meaning’ (easy)
This is the basic meaning, which you usually learn early on e.g.
Type 2: ‘guessing’ (difficult)
This meaning allows you to express how certain/uncertain you are about something:
What do people assume (guess) about you?
When you assume something, you make a GUESS based on evidence.
But it is still a GUESS, and your guess may be wrong.
One simple way to make a guess is to say ‘Maybe’.
‘She has a nice car. Maybe she’s very rich’.
A more advanced way to guess is to use a modal verb (must, may, could, might, can’t)
‘She MUST have a lot of money’ (about the Present)’.
‘She COULD have won the lottery’ (about the Past)’.
When we assume things, we look at the evidence and ‘deduce‘ (guess) information from that evidence.
We use a Modal of Deduction – must, may, could, might, can’t – to express how sure we are.
Very often in IELTS Reading and Listening Tests, there are specific questions relating to the language of assumption/deduction.
This is because many of the texts are related to Academic Research. When you do research, you don’t always have all the evidence that you need to prove your theory.
So you have to make assumptions and guesses. And you have to tell your audience that you are NOT 100% sure. You are just guessing, based on some evidence.
‘The early farmers kept various animals, including cattle and sheep. There’s also evidence of pigs, but it is possible that these could have been descended from the native wild species.’
‘Now we know from modern farming that if the level of breeding stock falls below about 300 females, the future of the species locally is at risk.”
“So we must assume that from the beginnings of Neolithic farming the number of breeding sheep would have considerably exceeded 300, and the national cattle herd must have been of a similar size’.
The answer is A.
Get instant access to all courses, challenges, boot camps, live classes, interactive and engaging classes, 1:1 support, and a friendly tight-knit community of like-minded learners to get you to Band 7+.
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Leave a Reply