تدريب Shadowing: English Modal Verbs - May, Might, Could, Can - Talking About Possibilities - تعلم التحدث بالإنجليزية عبر الفيديو
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Hi, I'm Mikey, and welcome to Oxford Online English.
أهلاً، أنا مايكي، وأهلاً بكم في أكسفورد أونلاين إنجليش.
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In this lesson, you can learn how to use the English modal verbs may, might, can, and could.
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You'll learn how to use these modal verbs to talk about possibilities in English.
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Modal verbs are powerful because you can use them to express many different ideas and complex nuances of meaning.
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However, they are also difficult to use well.
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Each modal verb can be used in many different ways.
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You can use might, could, or may to say that something is possible in the present or in the future.
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For example, they could be brothers.
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They look so alike.
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I think it's possible that they're brothers. Where are my keys?
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They might still be in the car.
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I think it's possible that your keys are still in the car.
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It's raining here, but it may be sunny there.
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I think it's possible that it's sunny there.
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These sentences are all about the present.
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There's no difference between could, might, and may here.
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You can use any of these modal verbs in any of these sentences.
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It doesn't matter.
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Could and might are more common than may, but you can choose which modal verb you use.
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Be careful with may be and maybe .
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Maybe two words is a modal verb plus the verb be.
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Maybe one word is an adverb.
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They aren't the same.
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You can also talk about possibilities in the future.
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It could cost more than you expect.
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I think it's possible that it will cost more than you expect.
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You might miss the train unless you leave now.
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I think it's possible that you'll miss the train if you don't leave now.
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I may be around five minutes late.
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I think it's possible that I'll be a little late.
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It doesn't matter if you're talking about the present or the future.
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You can use these modal verbs in the same way.
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People will understand if you're talking about the present or the future from the context.
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For example, she might be there already.
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She might be there tomorrow.
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Here, the first sentence is about the present, and the second is about the future.
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You can understand this from the meaning, not from the modal verb.
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You can also make negatives by adding NOT after the modal verb.
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Use negatives to say you think it's possible that something is not true, or that something will not happen in the present or the future.
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In this case, you can only use may or might.
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You can't use could to talk about negative possibilities.
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For example, they might not be ready.
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I think it's possible that they aren't ready.
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This could be in the present or in the future.
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You can't tell just from this sentence.
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He may not be able to help you.
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I think it's possible that he won't be able to help you.
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There's no difference between using may or might here, but remember that there's no way to use could in these sentences.
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What about can?
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We haven't mentioned can until now because can behaves differently.
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Let's see how.
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Look at an example that you just saw.
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She might be there tomorrow.
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This is a specific possibility.
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You're talking about one person, one place, and one time.
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Let's add some more details to make it easier to see this.
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Sarah might be at the party tomorrow.
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You can use might, may, or could to express specific possibilities.
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You use can to express general possibilities.
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You've seen what a specific possibility is.
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What does general possibility mean?
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Can you explain it?
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A general possibility is something which is true for many people in many places at many times.
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For example, it can take two hours to get to the airport if the traffic's bad.
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This possibility doesn't apply to one person at one time.
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It applies to anyone who tries to get to the airport when the traffic's bad.
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Let's look at some more examples.
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It can be very wet and cold in spring here.
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This is possible every year, not just in one year.
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He can be very difficult to deal with when he's in a bad mood.
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This is possible every time he's in a bad mood, not just one time.
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Moving countries can be a stressful experience.
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It's possible that moving countries is stressful whoever you are, wherever you move to, and whenever you do it.
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If you're talking about general possibilities, you can only use can.
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You can't use could, might, or may.
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General possibilities refer to both the present and the future together.
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For example, if you say, it can be very wet and cold in spring here, you mean that this is possible this year,
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in the present, and next year, in the future, and the year after that and so on.
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Also, general possibilities are only positive.
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There is no such thing as a negative general possibility.
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Let's practice.
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Look at four sentences.
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For each one, decide if it expresses a general possibility or a specific possibility.
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Which modal verbs could you use in each case?
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Pause the video and think about your answers.
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If it's difficult, review this part and the previous part of the video.
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Ready?
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Let's look at the answers.
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In the first sentence, the word tomorrow makes it specific.
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Tomorrow is one day.
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That means you can use could, might, or may in this sentence.
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In the second sentence, in July in the south is a general idea.
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You're talking about one place, but you're also talking about every year, so you should use can.
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In the third sentence, you're talking about a general tendency which she has.
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She can get angry any time when people don't listen to her, not just one time.
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So you need to use can.
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The fourth sentence is talking about one reaction to one thing.
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The words when she finds out refer to one piece of news, which she will find out at a specific time in the future.
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So you need to use could, might, or may.
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Now you've seen how to use might, may, could, and can to talk about possibility in the present or the future.
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But what about the past?
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Let's start with some examples.
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Look at three sentences and try to work out how to talk about possibilities in the past.
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Where is he?
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I guess he might have missed the train.
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I don't know where the tickets are.
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I may have left them in the hotel.
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What was that noise?
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I suppose it could have been the wind.
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To talk about possibilities in the past, use could, might, or may, plus have, plus a past participle.
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Again, it doesn't matter if you use could, may, or might here.
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There's no difference in meaning.
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You can't use can in these sentences.
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There's no way to use can to express possibility in the past.
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What do these sentences mean?
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Can you explain what they're saying in other words?
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The first sentence means that you think it's possible that he missed the train.
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You're waiting for him.
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You don't know where he is, or why he's late.
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In the second sentence, you're saying that it's possible that the tickets are in the hotel.
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You don't know where the tickets are.
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In the third sentence, you heard a noise and you aren't sure what it was.
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You're saying that it's possible that it was the wind.
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You can also talk about negative possibilities in the past, like this.
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He might not have heard you.
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It's possible that he didn't hear you.
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Their plane may not have arrived yet.
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It's possible that their plane hasn't arrived yet.
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As before, you can only use may or might to talk about negative possibilities.
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You can't use could in these sentences.
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There's another way in which could behaves differently.
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Let's look.
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All the examples you saw in the last section, positive and negative, you're talking about situations where you don't know what happened in the past.
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For example, if you say, their plane may not have arrived yet, you don't know if their plane has arrived or not, you aren't sure.
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What about this sentence?
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You could have hurt yourself.
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Be more careful next time.
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This example is different.
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Can you see how?
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If you don't know, here's a clue.
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In this sentence, do you know what happened or not?
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Did the person you're talking to hurt themselves or not?
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In this sentence, you know what happened.
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The person didn't hurt themselves.
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You're saying that getting hurt was a possibility, but luckily it didn't happen.
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So there are two kinds of possibility in the past.
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One, you don't know what happened and you're making a guess.
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Two, you know what happened and you're talking about a possibility which didn't occur.
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In the first case, you can use any of the three verbs may, might, or could.
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In the second case, you can only use could.
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You often need this when you're talking about something bad which didn't happen.
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Let's see some more examples of this second case.
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They were very unlucky.
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They could easily have won.
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They didn't win, but it was close, so winning was a possibility.
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She could have lost all of her money when the company went under.
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She didn't lose all of her money, but it was a possibility.
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Of course, being in an accident was scary, but it could have been much worse.
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The accident wasn't serious, but worse results were a possibility.
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In all of these sentences, you know what happened in the past, and you're talking about a past possibility which didn't actually happen.
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Now you've seen how to use the modal verbs might, may, can, and could to talk about possibilities in English.
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Let's put everything you've learnt together.
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Might, could, or may can be used to talk about specific possibilities in the present or the future.
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Take a jumper.
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It might be cold outside.
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It could be a good game tomorrow.
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You can use can to talk about general possibilities.
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Using a credit card can be an expensive way to buy things.
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You can use could, may, or might, plus have, plus a past participle to talk about possibilities in the past.
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They may have got lost.
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I'll call them and find out where they are.
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You can use may or might to talk about negative possibilities, meaning there's a possibility That something won't happen or didn't happen.
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It might work, but it might not.
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He may not have seen the message yet.
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Finally, you can use could to talk about two kinds of possibilities in the past.
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Situations where you know what happened, and situations where you don't know what happened.
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You could have missed the plane.
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Don't be late next time.
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I'm not sure why he isn't here.
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I guess he could have missed the plane.
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Do you need practice with this topic?
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Visit OxfordOnlineEnglish.com for the full lesson, including a quiz to help you check your understanding of English modal verbs.
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Thanks for watching!
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See you next time!
تنزيل التطبيق
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “English Modal Verbs - May, Might, Could, Can - Talking About Possibilities”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: sentence, possibilities, possibility, verb, modal. This video has 184 sentences and 1857 words to shadow. The speech runs for 13:36. The speaker talks at a steady 137 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 91% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| verb noun | /vɝb/ | A word that indicates an action, event, or state of being. |
| modal adjective | /ˈməʊdəl/ | Of, or relating to a mode or modus. |
| participle noun | /ˈpɑɹtɪˌsɪpəl/ | A form of a verb that may function as an adjective, noun or adverb. English has two types of participles: the present participle and the past participle. In… |
| stressful adjective | /ˈstɹɛsfəl/ | Irritating; causing stress. |
| behave verb | /bɪˈheɪv/ | To conduct (oneself) well, or in a given way; to conform. |
| sunny adjective | /ˈsʌni/ | Featuring a lot of sunshine. |
| nuance noun | /ˈnjuː.ɑːns/ | A minor distinction. |
| unlucky adjective | /ʌnˈlʌki/ | Unfortunate, marked by misfortune. |
| jumper noun | /ˈd͡ʒʌmpɚ/ | A woollen sweater or pullover. |
| quiz noun | /kwɪz/ | A competition in the answering of questions. |
| luckily adverb | /ˈlʌk.ɪ.li/ | In a lucky manner; by good fortune; fortunately. |
| tendency noun | /ˈtɛn.dən.si/ | A likelihood of behaving in a particular way or going in a particular direction; a tending toward. |
| pause noun | /pɔːz/ | A temporary stop or rest; an intermission of action; interruption; suspension; cessation. |
| alike adjective | /əˈlaɪk/ | Having resemblance or similitude; similar; without difference. |
| clue noun | /kluː/ | Information which may lead one to a certain point or conclusion. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. | |
| go under verb | To descend into a body of water; to founder. | |
| work out verb | /ˌwɝk ˈaʊt/ | To calculate. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- I think it's possible that they're brothers.
- Which modal verbs could you use in each case?
- Can you explain what they're saying in other words?
- Did the person you're talking to hurt themselves or not?
- Do you need practice with this topic?
القواعد في هذا الفيديو
أكثر التراكيب التي يستخدمها المتحدث، مع العبارات نفسها من الفيديو:
| التركيب | في الفيديو |
|---|---|
| المضارع التام have/has + اسم المفعول — حدث ماضٍ ما زال له أثر الآن | haven't mentioned · You've seen · hasn't arrived |
| جمل الوصل who / which + جملة — معلومة إضافية عن شخص أو شيء | something which is · anyone who tries |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 68 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, don't, didn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like verb, modal, participle.
ما هي تقنية التظليل الصوتي؟
التظليل الصوتي (Shadowing) تقنية تعلم لغة مدعومة علمياً، طُورت أصلاً لتدريب المترجمين الفوريين المحترفين. الطريقة بسيطة لكنها قوية: تستمع لصوت إنجليزي أصلي وتكرره فوراً بصوت عالٍ — كظل يتبع المتحدث بتأخير 1-2 ثانية. تُظهر الأبحاث تحسناً كبيراً في دقة النطق والتنغيم والإيقاع وربط الأصوات والاستماع والطلاقة.