12 You can’t be serious! In this unit you will learn how to: • talk about what you and others have to do • say that you’re not sure about something • talk about possibilities and probabilities • use the TO - FORM after different types of word Dialogue 1 Tim and Paul are getting ready to go to Henry’s birthday party. T IM : Can we stop at the shop on the way, Tim? P AUL : Do we have to? We’ve got to get there by eight, and it’s a quarter to already. T IM : I have to get him a present – a bottle of wine or some- thing. P AUL : I’ve already bought him a present. T IM : Well you must be more organised than me, then, mustn’t you? Dialogue 2 Tim and Paul are at a party, trying to identify people. T IM : Is that Fiona over there? P AUL : It can’t be – she had to go to London this weekend. T IM : Well who is it, then? P AUL : It might be Suzie – she looks a bit like Fiona at a distance. T IM : No – I’ve just seen Suzie in the bar. P AUL : Well it must be someone else, then, mustn’t it? T IM : Shall we go and introduce ourselves? P AUL : Can’t do any harm, can it? Dialogue 3 Everyone’s in the pub, but Mike’s leaving early. M IKE : OK, everyone – I’m off! P AUL : Off? You can’t be serious – it’s not even eight o’clock! M IKE : I told you earlier – I’m expecting a phone call from my sister in Australia, and she may call tonight. P AUL :[looks at his watch and does some mental arithmetic] But it must be the middle of the night down there! M IKE : No, it’s early morning. She might phone before she goes to work. See you all tomorrow. P AUL : See you, Mike. Language point 71 – obligation There are three ways of talking about obligation (when someone must do something) in colloquial English: have to have got to must 1111 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1211 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 4211 195 Idioms • a bit like means ‘quite similar’ • at a distance means ‘not near’ •(It) can’t do any harm means ‘Nothing bad will happen if we do it’ Idioms • I’m off means ‘I’m going now’ Here are some examples using all of these: have to I ’ve got to do the shopping must has to Dave ’s got to work all day tomorrow must have to we ’ve got to go home now must Must is not so common in colloquial English – have to and have got to are more usual. Notice that, if we use have to, we never use the SHORT FORM : We have to go now not ‘We’ve to go now ’ Pete has to go now not ‘Pete’s to go now ’ but if we use have got to we don’t normally use the LONG FORM in statements: We’ve got to go now not ‘We have got to go now ’ Pete’s got to go now not ‘Pete has got to go now ’ Pronunciation have to is always pronounced /`hftə/ (or /hftυ/ before vowels) has to is always pronounced /`hstə/ (or /hstυ/ before vowels) The past tense of both have to and have got to is had to /`httə/ or /`httυ/: PRESENT I have to phone my brother later PRESENT I’ve got to phone my brother later PAST I had to phone my brother yesterday not ‘I had got to phone my brother yesterday ’ 196 And here’s how we make questions: Statement Question PRESENT You have to phone. → Do you have to phone? He has to phone. → Does he have to phone? You’ve got to phone. → Have you got to phone? He’s got to phone. → Has he got to phone? PAST You had to phone. → Did you have to phone? He had to phone. → Did he have to phone? But notice that at the end of Dialogue 1 Tim does use must: You must be more organised than me not ‘You have to be more organised than me ’ Here, must is correct, and have to/have got to is wrong, because Tim is not talking about obligation – he’s using must to show that he assumes something is true, or that he is fairly certain that something is true. We will learn more about this in Language point 72. Exercise 1 Match the two halves of each sentence – the first one has been done for you. 1 The car’s broken down so I’ve a have to speak louder. 2 There’s a power cut so we b has to wait. 3 The train’s late so everybody c got to phone the garage. 4 Dave’s run out of money so he d have to do it again. 5 We’re late so we e got to walk to work. 6 I can’t hear you so you f have to use candles. 7 The buses are on strike so I’ve g have to hurry up. 8 Their homework is wrong so h has to go to the bank. they 1111 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1211 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 4211 197 Exercise 2 Change the statements into questions, and vice versa. The first one has been done for you. 1 Dave’s got to go now. Has Dave got to go now? 2 We had to show our passports. ____________________ ? 3 I’ve got to sign the form. ____________________ ? 4 Do the children have to pay? ____________________ . 5 Did they have to pay by cheque? ____________________ 6 Greg had to do the work. ___________________ ? 7 Have Keith and Carl got to play a song? ___________________ . 8 I have to have my picture taken. ___________________ ? 9 We’ve got to leave early. ___________________ ? 10 Did Gerry have to work late? ___________________ . Language point 72 – possibility and certainty We use the AUXILIARIES can, might and must to say how ‘certain’ (or not) we are of something. In Dialogue 1 Phil says: it can’t be = it isn’t possible it might be = it is possible it must be = it is fairly certain And in Dialogue 2 Paul and Mike use these auxiliaries in longer sentences: 198 You can’t be serious = ‘it isn’t possible that you are serious’ She might phone = ‘it is possible that she’ll phone’ It must be the middle of the night = ‘I’m fairly certain that it’s the middle of the night’ Might /mɑit/ can be used with the BASE - FORM of any verb to show that it is possible that something will happen. Here are some more examples: James might come with us Your sister might help you with your homework We might arrive late at the party And we can add not to show that it’s possible that something won’t happen: James might not come with us = ‘it’s possible that James won’t come’ Your sister might not want to help We might not be in time And instead of might we can use may /mεi/ or could /kυd/: James may come with us We could arrive late So, for example: ‘It’s possible that it’s too late’ It might be too late It may be too late It could be too late but not ‘It can be too late ’ 1111 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1211 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 4211 199 Be careful! We don’t use can to mean possibility: James can come with us = ‘James is able to come with us’ not ‘it’s possible that James will come ’ ƽ Exercise 3 Use can’t, might and must to make these sentences more colloquial – the first one has been done for you. 1 It isn’t possible that he’s late. → He can’t be late 2 It’s possible that James is ill. → 3 It isn’t possible that you’re right. → 4 It’s fairly certain that you’re joking! → 5 It’s possible that it’ll snow tonight. → 6 It’s fairly certain that they like Indian food. → 7 It isn’t possible that this is true. → 8 It’s possible that Terry will come later. → 9 It’s possible that the rain will stop soon. → 10 It isn’t possible that Pete thinks that. → Exercise 4 Correct the following sentences. Be careful – one of them doesn’t need correcting. 1 You don’t can be serious! 2 I might to phone Julie after dinner. 3 It musts be very hot in Australia in the summer. 4 We’re having got to do the shopping. 5 Did Adrian got to work late yesterday? 6 Did you had to light the fire yourself? 7 Gerry might call in later on. 8 I’ve get to got some money from the bank. Dialogue 4 Jane comes in to find Henry at the computer. He doesn’t look very happy. H ENRY : I’m never doing this again! J ANE : What, dear? H ENRY : Writing a novel on the computer. J ANE : Why? What’s wrong? H ENRY : The bloody thing’s packed up on me! J ANE : You’re joking! How’s that happened? H ENRY : The hard drive must have crashed, or something. J ANE : But you can’t have lost the whole novel! 200 H ENRY : I don’t know. I may be able to retrieve it if I can get the computer up and running again. J ANE : But you must have kept a back-up, surely? H ENRY : If only! Language point 73 – ‘must have’ When Henry says in Dialogue 4: The hard drive must have crashed he uses must (not have to/have got to) + have + PAST PARTICIPLE to say what he thinks has happened. This might be a good time to look 1111 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1211 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 4211 201 Idioms • bloody /`bld/ is an ADJECTIVE that we use in informal situations with NOUNS , or an ADVERB that we use with adjectives, to add emphasis when we are angry or frustrated. It’s a bit rude, but not very. this bloody computer bloody stupid • up and running means ‘functioning properly and without problems’ • If only! means ‘I wish what you just said was true, but it’s not!’ again at Language point 53 if you want to remind yourself about how to form the past participle. More examples: There’s milk on the floor – the cat must have knocked the bottle over The front door is open – someone must have broken into the house! My passport’s not in my bag – I must have left it at the post office Gerry’s not at his desk – he must have gone home early But when we want to say what we think hasn’t happened, we don’t use mustn’t have. Look what Jane says: You can’t have lost the whole novel not ‘You mustn’t have lost the whole novel ’ She means ‘It isn’t possible that you’ve lost the whole novel’. This fits with what we saw about must be and can’t be in Language point 72 – let’s remind ourselves: + It must be ten o’clock = ‘I think that it’s ten o’clock’ – It can’t be ten o’clock = ‘I don’t think it’s ten o’clock’ + He must have gone home = ‘I think that he’s gone home’ – He can’t have gone home = ‘I don’t think that he’s gone home’ Exercise 5 Fill in the blanks using must have or can’t have – the first one has been done for you. 1 The front door’s open – I must have left it unlocked! (leave) 2 Dom and Sarah are very late – the car _______ down. (break) 3 This kettle doesn’t work – you ________ it up properly. (wire) 4 Candace _______ – there’s no message on the answer machine. (ring) 202 5 The window’s smashed – someone _______ a brick through it. (throw) 6 Jane looks very happy – Henry ______ her the good news. (tell) 7 Fred’s looking guilty – he ________ his homework. (do) 8 The lights are off in that shop – they _________ early today. (close) 9 Helen doesn’t look very well – she ________ a cold. (catch) 10 The students all gave the wrong answer – they ______ the question. (understand) Dialogue 5 Dave’s showing off his latest acquisition to Paul. D AVE : How do you like my new home cinema system? P AUL : Very impressive. Is it easy to use? D AVE : Yes, it came with full instructions and it was dead easy to set up. P AUL : Was it expensive? D AVE : I’ll say! It was the most expensive one in the shop. But I arranged to pay for it over five years. P AUL : Are you glad you decided to buy it? D AVE : Yes, there’s just one problem to sort out. P AUL : What’s that? D AVE : I can’t find out how to switch it on. 1111 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1211 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 411 4211 203 Idioms • dead easy means ‘really easy’ or ‘extremely easy’ • I’ll say! /`ɑilsεi/ is a way of strongly confirming what the other person has just said, or of giving a strong ‘yes’ to a question: This place is packed out! – I’ll say! Is Henry very rich? – I’ll say! . what you just said was true, but it’s not!’ again at Language point 53 if you want to remind yourself about how to form the past participle. More examples:. ‘must have’ When Henry says in Dialogue 4: The hard drive must have crashed he uses must (not have to/have got to) + have + PAST PARTICIPLE to say what he