EXPRESSIONS TO ELIMINATE FROM

YOUR ENGLISH
• It’s possible that…….
• It’s not possible that…
• Sure that…
• Sure that it is not…
• It’s probable that..
• It’s not probable that..
• It’s necessary that..
• It’s not necessary that..
 WHY?
• They are not natural. More Latin based
than “Anglo-Saxon” English.
• Native speakers do not use them.
• So don’t expect to hear them from native
speakers .
• Saying what native speakers reallly say
will improve your comprehension.
 SO WHAT SHOULD WE USE?

• In a word…..
• MODALS
 WHAT’S A MODAL?
• Modals are types of verbs that are used with
“ordinary” verbs.
• Common modals are CAN, COULD, SHOULD,
MUST, MAY.
• Each modal has a function and many modals have
more than one function. You have to learn the
function of each modal.
• E.g. CAN = ability. I can speak Italian.
• But it can also be used for asking permission. E.g
Can I use your telephone?
 GRAMMAR OF MODALS
• Modals are always followed by the BASE
FORM of the verb (the infintive without “to”)
• E.g. I should go now (not I should to go now)
• There is NO third person S in modals.
• The negative is formed by putting NOT after
the modal
• E.g. He could not understand the problem.
 “FALSE” MODALS
• Some expressions are similar to modals in that
they represent a function but their grammar is
a little different.
• E.g. HAVE TO / HAVE GOT TO
• OUGHT TO
• HAD BETTER
 So now, let’s see how we can use
modals to eliminate the horrible
expressions are the beginning of this
presentation….