Modal Auxiliary Verbs Section 7

70 deduction (deciding that something is

probable): should, ought to, e t c __
1 present or future
Should can be used to express the deduction or conclusion that som ething is
probable now or in the future: it is expected, norm al or logical.
I ’ve bought three loaves - that should be enough.
I ’ll phone Ruth - she should be hom e by now.
‘W e’re spending the winter in M iam i.’ ‘T h atsho uld be nice.’
Ought to (► 76.3) is used in a similar way, but is m uch less com mon.
Henry ought to be here soon - he left hom e at six.
The weather ought to improve after the weekend.

2 past: should have / ought to have .. .

We do not norm ally use should + infinitive to talk about the past.
However, we can use should have / ought to have + past participle to make
guesses or draw conclusions about things which are not certain to have
happened.
James should have got back home yesterday. Has anybody seen him?
( n o t James should get back home yesterday . . .)
We can also use this structure to talk about actions w hich we expect to have
been com pleted by now or at a future time.
Ten o ’clock. She should have arrived at her office by now. I'll try calling her.
We ought to have fin ish e d painting the house by the end o f next week.

3 be supposed to
We can use be supposed to to say that som ething is or was norm al or expected.
Cats are supposed to be afraid o f dogs, but ours isn’t.
Bill was supposed to get back hom e yesterday.
Note the pronunciation: /sa'poost to/, n o t /s.Vpoozd to/.
For be supposed to to express obligation, ►78.

For m ore about structures with ought, ►76.3.

71 chances: may, might and could

1 You may be right; We may go climbing.
We often use may, might and could to talk about the chance (possibility) that
som ething will happen, or is happening.
We m ay go climbing in the Alps next summer.
‘I think Labour are going to win.' ‘You m ay be right.’
Daniel m ight phone. I f he does, ask him to ring later.
‘Where's Emma?' ‘I don't know. She m ight be out running, I suppose.'
They’ve agreed, but they could could change their minds.
May well, m ight well and could well suggest stronger possibilities.
7 think it’s going to rain.' ‘You m a y well be right - the sky's really black.’

gram m ar • 71 chances: may, might and could