1) a) He MAY / MIGHT be ignorant, but he is not stupid. (concession)
b) He CAN be stupid at times. (possibility)
- Would you please tell me the difference between concession and possibility ?
Concession means that you are accepting that the other speaker is partially right.
- Would you have more examples where “may” expresses concession and others where it expresses possibility ?
I may go there. possibility
He may be good at his job, but he's an unpleasant person. concession
2) “At this point, Boggis became aware of the three men, Rummins, Bert, and Claud, watching him intently. They had seen him stop and gasp and stare….
He MUST HAVE time to compose himself thoroughly before he said another word.”
Quote from Roald Dahl, 'Parson's Pleasure'
- Does “Must Have” express a necessity in the past here? Is it also called an “emphatic MUST”?
It's a slightly old fashioned use, IMO, where 'must' was used as the past tense. Nowadays, we'd be more likely to say 'had to'
- I thought that MUST was only used in the present and that its past equivalent was HAD TO. What do you think?
3) a) They wished he WERE not too busy so that he could go skiing with them. (correct / incorrect ?)
b) They wished he HAD not BEEN too busy so that he could go skiing with them.
What’s the difference between a) and b) ?
Time- were = at the time of speaking had been = before the time of speaking.
PS: Could somebody answer my previous post too, please ?
I'll try tomorrow- it's past my bedtime now.
