MAY, MIGHT MUST

MAY HAVE, MIGHT HAVE, MUST HAVE

THE LOST REPORT

John: Good morning, Sally. Say, could you help me out for a second?
Sally: Sure. What is it, John? How are you doing? Is something wrong?
J: Well, it’s Monday. How long is Mr. Barnes supposed to be off on vacation?
S: two weeks.
J: Great!
S: What’s wrong?
J: Well, they just called from Accounting. They need last month’s report. You don’t happen to know where it would be,
do you?
S: Not right off hand. But it must be here at the office somewhere. What about Mr. Barnes´ secretary? Julie might know
where it is. Have you asked her?
J: No, she’s off today as well.
S: You might be able to reach her at home.
J: No, I tried that already. No answer.
S: Well, let’s see. The report might be somewhere on his desk, you know.
J: His desk is always a disaster area. I looked through all the stacks of papers on top of his desk…
S: Have you looked in his top desk drawer? He might have slipped it in there.
J: It’s locked.
S: And the keys?
J: I don’t know. He might have given them to Julie. But naturally, I can’t reach her, either. What am I going to do?
S: Hold on. I just found Mr. Barnes’ keys. They’re here in Julie’s top desk drawer.
J: Okay. Now let me open Barnes’ desk. Let’s see… Oh, no! I can’t find that report anywhere. It’s simply not here. And
Accounting says they need it right away.
S: Now, John. Don’t panic. Let’s try to think logically. Mr. Barnes knew that Accounting would need that report, didn’t
he?
J: Yes.
S: Then he must have made some provision for your getting it before he took off on vacation.
J: Yeah, I know. It must be here in the office, but I just don’t know where.
S: How about your desk? Here it is! He must have left it out here before he left on Friday evening!

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. What problem does John have? John lost the report.

2. What suggestions does Sally offer about where the report might be? Reports might be in the desk.

3. Do John and Sally think the report is in the office? Yes, they do.

4. Where did they finally find the report, and how they think it got there? The report was in John’s desk and it must

have left it out here before he left on Friday evening

 A. Use MAY or MIGHT to state possibilities.
EXAMPLE: Alice can’t find her car keys. (coat pocket / table)
They may be in her coat pocket. or
They may be on the table.

1. Jim can’t find his wallet. (bureau / jacket pocket)

It may be in the jacket or It may be on the bureau.
2. Henry doesn’t like his neighbors because they are noisy. (move / talk to his neighbors)
Henry may talk to his neighbors or He may move
3. I can’t find my glasses. (desk / purse)
They may be on the desk or They may be in the purse
4. Wanda doesn’t know what to do tonight. (movies / party)
Wanda may watch movies or She may go to the party

B. State a logical conclusion using MUST.

EXAMPLE: He’s been sneezing and blowing his nose all day. (have a cold)
He must have a cold.

1. I haven’t eaten anything all day. (hungry)

I must be hungry.
2. Sarah didn’t get enough sleep last night. (tired)
She must be tired.
3. I have a terrible toothache. (cavity)
I must have a cavity.
4. I don’t know the answer to that question. Let’s ask Sam because he always knows the answers.
He must know the answer.

C. State a logical conclusion about what the person is doing now. Use MUST.
EXAMPLE: Tom always eats lunch at 2 o’clock. It’s 2 o’clock now, and he’s not in his office.
He must be eating lunch now.

1. Sally and Frank are yelling at each other.

They must be arguing now.
2. Al works from 9 to 5. It’s 10 am now.
Al must be working.
3. It’s 8:05. Ted’s phone is busy. He was expecting a long-distance call from his mom at 8.
He must be talking with his mom.

D. Express the same idea using MAY / MAY NOT, MIGHT / MIGHT NOT or MUST /MUST NOT.
EXAMPLE: Maybe he speaks French.
He might speak French.

1. Maybe I’ll go with you. I might go with you.

2. Maybe I won’t go with you because I have a lot of studying to do.
I might not go with you because I have a lot of studying to do.
3. I’m almost certain she’s good at math because she’s the head cashier She might be good at Math.
4. She looks terrible. I’m sure she’s working too hard She must be working to hard
5. It’s obvious she’s not getting enough sleep. She must not be sleeping well.
6. I’m not sure whether or not he’ll call before h comes by. He might call before he comes by
7. I’m almost sure John is studying for his final exam. He told me he was going to study a lot. He must be studying his
final exam.
8. I’m not sure he knows how to get to your house because he’s never been there before He must not know how to
get to your house

E. Your sister told you she was going to study last night, but you called her at 9pm, she didn’t answer the phone.
Some of her friends are offering possible explanations.
Express the same idea using MAY HAVE, MIGHT HAVE or MUST HAVE.

EXAMPLE: Sam: Maybe she was sleeping when you called.

She might have been sleeping.

1. Alice: Maybe she was studying at Linda’s house.

She might have been studying at Linda’s house.
2. Silvia: Maybe she decided to go out instead.
She might have gone out instead.
Joe: She told me she had to look something up at the library. I’m sure she went to the library to study.
She must have gone to the library to study.
F. Mr. Barnes is supposed to be back from his vacation today. It’s 10 o´clock and he has a meeting scheduled with
John and Sally, but he hasn’t arrived yet.
Express their ideas about why he hasn’t arrived yet, using MAY HAVE / MAY NOT HAVE, MIGHT HAVE /
MIGHT NOT HAVE or MUST HAVE / MUST NOT HAVE.}
EXAMPLE: Sally: Maybe he hasn’t gotten back from Hawaii yet.
He might not have gotten back from Hawaii yet.

1. Sally: Maybe he hasn’t had a chance to call.

He might not have had a chance to call
2. Sally: Or maybe his plane was delayed.
Or his plane might have been delayed
3. John: I’m sure he forgot about the meeting.
He must have for gotten about the meeting
4. John: Maybe he didn’t write it down in his appointment book.
He might not have written it down in his appointment book.
5. Julie: I’m sure he tried to call last night when I was out.
He must have tried to call last night when I was out.
 G. Complete the conversation logically using MAY, MIGHT or MUST or their negative forms in Present or Past.
EXAMPLE: Joe: “What are you doing tonight?”
Mary: “I’m not sure. I might be going to a movie or I may stay home and read.”

1. Harry: “I’ll meet you at the restaurant at 6:20.”

Nancy: “I’ll try to get there by 6:20, but I might be late . It depends on what time I get out of work.”

2. Elizabeth: “Are you going to Cuernavaca with us?”

Pauline: “Well, I was planning to, but now I may be sick I’m not feeling well. I’ll let you know this afternoon.”

3. Alex: “Harry has seen every James Bond movie ever made.”
Bert: “Boy! He must like him a lot!”

4. Jenny: “I’m a little worried. Ellen was supposed to call me at 8.”

Fred: “But I’m sure she had a lot to do today at the convention.”
Jenny: Yeah. She must have been working a lot.”

5. Patty: “Fred didn’t complete his homework assignment.”

George: “Why not?”
Patty: “I don’t know. He might have been quitetired to do it .”

6. Christine: “I wonder what Bryan was doing last night. I thought he’d stop by.”
Frank: “Remember, his chemistry final was this morning at 8am, and he said he planned to study a lot for the exam.”
Christine: “That’s right. He must have been studying a lot.”

7. Anne: “It’s 8:30 and Jack hasn’t gotten to work yet.”

Henry: “Where do you think he is?”
Anne: “He might have lost the bus. .”