[Grammar] modal verbs

[ambitious-girl]

Hi,
I have some questions regarding the following short paragraph:


"The main drawback of the trend towards online university courses is that there is less direct interaction. Students may not have the opportunity to engage face-to-face with their teachers, and will instead have to rely on written forms of communication. Similarly, students who study online do not come into direct contact with each other, and this could have a negative impact on peer support, discussion and exchange of ideas. For example, whereas students on traditional courses can attend seminars and even discuss their subjects over coffee after lessons, online learners are restricted to chatting through website forum areas. These learners may also lack the motivation and element of competition that face-to-face group work brings."


One: Do all of those phrases in pink color suggest "possibility" or "probability" in the future?

Two: Do "will" suggest almost 100% possibility in the future, or do it suggest "students intend to do something in the future" ? I can't distinguish between possibility and something that someone is going to do in the future.

Three: Can we replace "may not" in the first sentence with "could not"? I think "may" is stronger that "could".

Students could not have the opportunity to engage face-to-face with their teachers.


Thanks so much.

 

[Rover_KE]

Please tell us the source and author of the quoted text.

 

[ambitious-girl]

Please tell us the source and author of the quoted text.

Source : http://ielts-simon.com/ielts-help-and-english-pr/ielts-writing-task-2/
Author: Simon ex-IELTS examiner

 

[jutfrank]

One: No. The paragraph is not particularly concerning the future, but the general present. It's about the current state of online courses. You can see this clearly from the opening sentence.

Two: No and no. The sentence is talking about a consequence (having to rely on written forms of communication) of not having the opportunity to engage face-to-face with teachers.

Three: No, may and could are not interchangeable there. You cannot use could in this sense. Not having the opportunity to engage face-to-face with teachers is a possible problem with online university courses.

 

[Rover_KE]

Source : http://ielts-simon.com/ielts-help-and-english-pr/ielts-writing-task-2/
Author: Simon ex-IELTS examiner

Thank you. In future, please give this information in post #1.

 

[ambitious-girl]

Thanks, teacher. :up:

You can see this clearly from the opening sentence.

I can't understand what you meant. What does "the opening sentence" mean?

The sentence is talking about a consequence

So, it seems that one of the uses of modal verb "will" is talking about consequences. Could you please give me some examples about this use of "will" in a sentence? I have never known about it.

And, Does the "will" in the following suggest "consequence" too? How it can be distinguished between "100 % possibility", "consequence", and "future action" of the use of "will"? It is too sophisticated and complicated.

"The option to start work straight after school is attractive for several reasons. Many young people want to start earning money as soon as possible. In this way, they can become independent, and they will be able to afford their own house or start a family."

"There are several reasons why saving minority languages could be seen as a waste of money. Firstly, if a language is only spoken by a small number of people, expensive education programmes will be needed to make sure that more people learn it, and the state will have to pay for facilities, teachers and marketing."

 

[emsr2d2]

"The opening sentence" is the first sentence.

 

[jutfrank]

So, it seems that one of the uses of modal verb "will" is talking about consequences. Could you please give me some examples about this use of "will" in a sentence? I have never known about it.

A similar, and basic way to use will to express a consequence is with the pattern: If..., (then)...will... where the will-clause expresses a predicted consequence of a condition in the if-clause. Here are a couple of examples.

If you don't take time off every once in a while, you'll burn out very quickly.
If somebody stops drinking water completely, then they'll usually be dead within 4 to 6 days.

And, Does the "will" in the following suggest "consequence" too?

"The option to start work straight after school is attractive for several reasons. Many young people want to start earning money as soon as possible. In this way, they can become independent, and they will be able to afford their own house or start a family."

In a way, yes. Think of the blue clause as being a predicted consequence. If young people start work straight after school, then they will earn money and they will be able to afford a house.

How it can be distinguished between "100 % possibility", "consequence", and "future action" of the use of "will"? It is too sophisticated and complicated.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "100% possibility". When we use will to make predictions, we have different degrees of certainty about what we are predicting. This degree of certainty is expressed in a number of different ways (with intonation, with adverbial phrases, and other phrases.)

If a sentence uses will to express a predicted consequence, we know from the context whether it is about the future or not.

This is a very difficult part of English to understand analytically, so don't worry if you don't fully get it. When you come across paragraphs such as the one here, first try to understand the meaning of the whole paragraph globally and then hopefully the uses of each of the modal verbs will become clear.

 

[ambitious-girl]

A similar, and basic way to use will to express a consequence is with the pattern: If..., (then)...will... where the will-clause expresses a predicted consequence of a condition in the if-clause. Here are a couple of examples.

Such an informative helpful. Thanks so much, Jutfrank.

In a way, yes. Think of the blue clause as being a predicted consequence. If young people start work straight after school, then they will earn money and they will be able to afford a house.

Thanks for your explanation.

This is a very difficult part of English to understand analytically, so don't worry if you don't fully get it. When you come across paragraphs such as the one here, first try to understand the meaning of the whole paragraph globally and then hopefully the uses of each of the modal verbs will become clear.

Sure teacher. Thanks for your guide.

Three: No, may and could are not interchangeable there. You cannot use could in this sense. Not having the opportunity to engage face-to-face with teachers is a possible problem with online university courses.

I have read about the negative use of could, may and might. "May not and might not" is used when something negative is possible. "Couldn't" is used when something is impossible. That's why I couldn't use them interchangeably.
Many thanks.

 

[Tarheel]

Two: DOES"will" suggest almost 100% possibility in the future, or DOES it suggest "students intend to do something in the future" ? I can't distinguish between possibility and something that someone is going to do in the future.

The word "will" can indicate certainty (Tomorrow is Thursday) or near-certainty (Bob will be working tomorrow as usual).

 

[Tarheel]

Bob: Is it too late to go the grocery store?
Sue: Yes, it is. It's closed.
Bob: Can I go tomorrow?
Sue: Sure.

Please note that the endmarks come right after the last word in a sentence. (No space!)

 

[GoesStation]

Bob: Is it too late to go the grocery store?

You lost a word there, Tarheel.

 

[Tarheel]

Oops!