Making guesses

English course · B2 · Upper intermediate · 6 short videos

Goal — I can make guesses and deductions about the present and the past.

Grammar — must / might / can't be, must have / might have / can't have + past participle

Words — desk, birthday, remember, asleep, gym, hate, battery, die (phone), apparently, selfie

The videos of this unit

A mystery cake on Priya's desk.

Priya Whose cake is this on my desk?

Mia It must be from Tom. It's your birthday.

Priya It can't be from Tom. He never remembers.

Mia Then it might be from Ben.

Priya It looks delicious. It can't be from Ben.

Mia OK, fine. It's from me. Happy birthday!

Useful expression It must be from Tom. — Use “must be” when you are almost sure.

Leo has disappeared.

Zoe Leo isn't answering. He must be asleep.

Mia At 3 pm? He might be at the gym.

Zoe He can't be at the gym. He hates the gym.

Mia His phone might have died.

Mia Wait. He just posted a selfie… at the gym.

Zoe Who is he, and what has he done with our Leo?

Useful expression He must be asleep. — Use “must be” for a strong guess about now.

When you heard it from someone else.

Word apparently /əˈpærəntli/ — From what people say, or from what you can see. You're not 100% sure.

Stop saying “He must to be tired”.

Common mistake ~~He must to be tired.~~ → He must be tired.

Why: After must, might, can't, could and should, never use “to”. Just the verb.

Short “o” or long “or”?

Word cot /kɒt/ / caught /kɔːt/

Astuce (cot) : “cot” is short, like “hot”. “caught” is long and round, like “more” without the “r”.

Deduction quiz: 4 questions!