Learn how to use modal verbs of probability
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Intro |
|---|
| Barbara: Good morning! |
| Braden: Braden here. The Deal That Needed to be Negotiated. |
| Braden: In this lesson, you’ll learn about Transportation companies and Canceling. |
| Barbara: This conversation takes place in the morning, just before the meeting. |
| Braden: And it’s between Sarah and the Chairman. |
| Barbara: Sarah is the chairman’s aid, so she’s able to talk to him easily outside of the meeting. |
| Braden: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
| Sarah: Mister chairman. May I have a word? |
| Chairman: Sure Sarah. How may I help you? |
| Sarah: Well sir, if I may, I think we may have a problem. |
| Chairman: What's happened? |
| Sarah: I received a phone call from our keynote speaker, Daniel Giesbrect, and he informed me he won't be attending. |
| Chairman: He can't have forgotten? |
| Sarah: No, sir. His father died. |
| Chairman: Oh dear. That must have been hard on him. |
| Sarah: Yeah, I know. |
| Chairman: So, we need to find a new keynote speaker, is that what you're telling me? |
| Sarah: Yes. And another thing, Baxter Jeffries also won't be coming. He said he had scheduling difficulties. |
| Chairman: Wow. We might not find new delegates fast enough since the seminar is only two weeks away. |
| Sarah: Yes, sir. |
| Chairman: At least we haven't printed the meeting schedules yet. What do you think about Jeffery Nye as keynote speaker? |
| Sarah: That could work, sir, but don't you think we should bring it up before the committee? |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Braden: So, we wanted to talk a little bit about Canceling |
| Barbara: One of the most important things for maintaining trust among your coworkers is to fulfill your agreements. This is especially true for meetings and engagements you have agreed to participate in. |
| Braden: In the dialog, circumstances changed in many different areas which required a change of plans. |
| Barbara: In American business, the appropriate action here is to renegotiate the agreement. For example, one of the delegate's parents died. |
| Braden: According to correct business practice, some would say common sense, the delegate called and informed Sarah of the change in his circumstances. |
| Barbara: He renegotiated the agreement by canceling his participation in the seminar. |
| Braden: Beyond that, Sarah and the chairman were also renegotiating the agreements of who would be the keynote speaker. |
| Barbara: The circumstances had not changed sufficiently to justify canceling the keynote speech, however a renegotiation of who would give the keynote speech was necessary. This renegotiation will continue with the committee later on. |
| Braden: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| Vocabulary and Phrases |
| Braden: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Barbara: problem [natural native speed] |
| Braden: an obstacle, a source of distress, a negative issue |
| Barbara: problem [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: problem [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Barbara: informed [natural native speed] |
| Braden: having knowledge of a particular subject |
| Barbara: informed [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: informed [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Barbara: attend [natural native speed] |
| Braden: to be present at something |
| Barbara: attend [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: attend [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Barbara: telling [natural native speed] |
| Braden: communicate information |
| Barbara: telling [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: telling [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Barbara: printed [natural native speed] |
| Braden: past participle of “print” |
| Barbara: printed [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: printed [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Barbara: schedule [natural native speed] |
| Braden: plan for an activity or event or day; agenda |
| Barbara: schedule [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: schedule [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Barbara: scheduled [natural native speed] |
| Braden: describing something that has been planned |
| Barbara: scheduled [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: scheduled [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Barbara: excellent [natural native speed] |
| Braden: that which excels the others; extremely good |
| Barbara: excellent [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: excellent [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Barbara: committee [natural native speed] |
| Braden: a formal group of elected people that focuses on investigating and taking action on a particular issue or range of issues |
| Barbara: committee [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: committee [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Braden: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Barbara: In the dialogue, we heard phrases that demonstrated Getting the Chairperson's Attention |
| Braden: When you are in a meeting, there are certain procedures that should be followed but that are unnecessary outside of the meeting. |
| Barbara: For example, someone might be the chairman of your group but not be the chairman of anything else within the company. |
| Braden: So to get his or her attention within the meeting you’d say something like, “Mister chairman.” or, “Madam Chairman.” If you remember from a previous lesson, sometimes the word “madam” can have a negative connotation. |
| Barbara: However, in the context of a business meeting the correct term is madam chairman. You could say, “Ms. Chairman” however, this sounds awkward and forced. If you are concerned about how the term “madam chairman” might be received, ask the chairman before the meeting what their preferred title is. |
| Braden: You could start this conversation by using the phrase, “May I have a word?” This phrase is used when you would like to speak to the chairman (or anyone, really) separate from the group. Could you break this down for us? |
| Barbara: May I have a word? (slowly) |
| Braden: And one time fast? |
| Barbara: May I have a word? (fast) |
| Braden: Our next phrase is "If I may, I think..." Sarah used this phrase when she began to express her concerns to the chairman. She was bringing bad news, and she didn’t want to be blamed for it. |
| Barbara: That’s right. She said, “Well sir, if I may, I think we may have a problem.” |
| Braden: One of the interesting things here is that she used the word “may” twice in the same sentence. However, it was used with a different meaning each time. |
| Barbara: The first time, within the phrase “if I may,” she was asking for permission to say what she was going to say. The second time, she used it to indicate a strong possibility. |
| Braden: To avoid repeating the word Sarah could have said, “I think we might have a problem.” because the word “might” also expressed probability. However, “might” is for low possibility and “may” is for hight probability. You could say that “might” is less than 50% probability and “may” is more than 50% probability. |
| Braden: Could you break this down? |
| Barbara: if I may, I think we may have a problem (slowly) |
| Braden: And one time fast? |
| Barbara: if I may, I think we may have a problem (fast) |
| Braden: Let’s take a look at the grammar point. |
Lesson focus |
| Barbara: The Focus of this lesson is modal verbs of probability |
| Braden: In the dialogue, we heard the phrase |
| Barbara: I think we may have a problem. |
| Braden: In this lesson, we’ll cover examples and uses of modal verbs of probability. |
| Barbara: Modal verbs of probability are used to express an opinion of the speaker based on information that the speaker has. |
| Braden: For example, “He must be at work, it's 10 o'clock.” |
| Barbara: In this case, the speaker is 100 % sure that the person is at work based on the speaker's knowledge that the person in question usually works during the day. |
| Braden: Let’s take a look at MUST. Use "must" plus the verb when you are 100% (or almost 100%) sure that something is the case. |
| Barbara: Some example sentences are “They must be in Spain by now.” and “That must have been hard on him.” |
| Braden: Next let’s look at MIGHT &MAY. Use "might" or "may" to express an opinion that you think has a good possibility of being true. |
| Barbara: Some example sentences are “We might not find new delegates fast enough.” and “Jack might have gone to France.” |
| Braden: Next we have, COULD. Use "could" to express a possibility which is one of many. This form is not as strong as "might" or "may." It is just one of a number of possibilities. |
| Barbara: Some example sentences would be, “That could work, sir, but don’t you think we should bring it up before the committee?” and “Peter could have arrived late.” |
| Braden: Use "can't" to express an opinion that you are 100% sure is NOT true. |
| Barbara: Sample sentences for that would be ”You can't be serious!” and “They can't have worked until late.” |
| Braden: Be aware that the past form remains "can't have done." |
| Barbara: Let’s review these modals in a question-answer format. |
| Braden: Suppose Dustin is sixteen years old and it’s ten o'clock in the morning. If I were to ask you “Where is Dustin?” What kind of sentence would you build using a modal? |
| Barbara: One of the many possible answers is “Dustin is in class.” That’s because it’s ten AM |
| Braden: One more question. Suppose you’re getting married soon and you ask your mother, “Where do you think I should live?” How would she respond? |
| Barbara: One of the many possible responses is “You could live in Seattle!” |
Outro |
| Braden: That just about does it for today. |
| Barbara: Thanks for being with us! |
| Braden: Thanks for listening! |
| Barbara: See you later! |
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