Modals of Deduction: Who stole the oranges?

Understanding Grammar: Modal Verbs of deduction
Introduction

Jack: Hello my name’s Jack

Rowan: My name’s Rowan

Rich: and I’m Rich and welcome to this week’s Premier Skills English podcast

Jack: In the Premier Skills English podcast, we talk about football and help you with your English. 

Rowan: In this week’s roleplay, we discover that there is a thief at the football club. 

Rich: We need to find out who the thief is before anything else goes missing so we turn to our very own Sherlock Holmes.

Rowan: Well, we couldn’t afford Britain's finest private detective so we hired our very own Sherlock Holmes

Rich: We’ve hired Geoff the groundsman. He does a bit of private detective work when he’s not looking after the pitch. He sounds a bit like Jack.

Jack: Funny that. After the roleplay, we’re going to focus on what English teachers call modals of deduction.

Rich: Modals of destruction. I like it. It could be a TV series.

Jack: Deduction not destruction.

Rowan: Modals of deduction. What might they be? I suppose they could be things we use when we make guesses … er no that can’t be right, can it?

Jack: You’re right. That’s exactly what they are. We’re going to look at how they're used in the past, too, which is a little bit more difficult.

Rich: And we’re going to take a look at the pronunciation of modals in the past because that can also be tricky.

Rowan: Your task this week is a little different, too because we want you to listen to three different scenarios or mysteries and make guesses or deduce who did what.

Jack: Yeah, we want everyone to be like Groundsman Geoff - a super sleuth - a number one detective. 

Rich: More from Groundsman Geoff in our roleplay in a couple of minutes.

Rowan: If you’re listening to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcast platform, you should also check out our website.

Jack: That’s because on the Premier Skills English website you’ll also find the transcript, examples and activities to help you understand the language, a task for you to do and a community of friendly listeners to interact with, in our comments section.

Rich: And that includes us - we’re always around to answer questions and join the discussions.

Rowan: Right, let’s move on to our next section and last week’s football phrase.

Last week’s Football Phrase 

Jack: If you didn’t hear our football phrase last week we’re going to give you one more chance to guess now. 

Rowan: This week’s football phrase is an action on the pitch. It’s called * ****** ****. Imagine you have the ball at your feet and a defender is in front of you. Right, now pull back one leg like you are going to pass the ball to a teammate then instead, stop your foot when it’s over the ball and pull the ball back behind your other leg, spin 180 degrees and run away with the ball. The defender will still be looking the other way if you do *** ****** **** well.

Rich: Jack also said that the phrase is connected to a Dutch footballer last week. I wonder if that gave the game away. We’ll reveal the answer at the end of the show.

Rowan: We’ll also have a new football phrase for you at the end of the show. Did anyone get the right answer last week?. 

Jack: Yes, of course. We know that even if it’s a really tough phrase that some of you will get it right! The first listener to get it right last week was Mohamed Kuma from Sudan. Well done Mohamed!.

Rich: Also a big well done to Marco Zapien, Hayato from Japan, Elghoul from Algeria, Luibomyr from Ukraine, Lakerwang from China, Gergo Nagy from Hungary, Yasser Salama from Egypt and Wsanta from Argentina who also got it right.

Rowan: Remember we’ll have a new football phrase for you to guess at the end of the show.

Introduction to Roleplay

Jack: In this section, you’re going to hear a roleplay. You’re going to hear about the strange disappearance of the half-time oranges at a local football club.

Rich: It’s a job for Groundsman Geoff who works as a private detective in his spare time.

Rowan: While you are listening, we want you to answer a couple of questions:

Rowan: Who stole the oranges?

Jack: What’s the evidence against this person?

Roleplay

Jack: Great to get that goal just before half-time.

Rich: It was a great finish. Let’s finish the job in the second half.

Jack: I’m parched. I’m so thirsty … Where are those oranges?

Rich: They can’t have gone missing again! What’s going on?

Rowan: This is an absolute disgrace. Who is this orange thief? We’ve got to get to the bottom of this!!!

Jack: I’m sure we will boss, see you tomorrow.

Rowan: Bye 

Rich: See you.

---

Rowan: Come around guys! Great game yesterday. Shame we couldn’t hang on for all three points.

Jack: I just ran out of energy, boss.

Rich: Maybe if we’d had those half-time oranges we’d have been able to keep going.

Rowan: Yes, the orange thief. I don’t know what’s happening but we’re on it. Geoff the groundsman is on the case. If anyone can find this orange pilferer it’s Geoff.

Jack: We need answers boss. I’m not sure we can carry on without our oranges.

Rich: This thief is costing us points boss.

Rowan: We’re on it and Geoff will be looking into it this week. He’ll be around all week snooping ... I mean looking around the place.

Jack: See you at training on Tuesday, boss.

Rich: Have a good weekend.

Rowan: You too, bye.

---

Rowan: Gather round lads. Before you go out for the warm-up, you know Geoff has been looking into this orange business … Geoff

Geoff: It’s been a strange week - I didn’t really know what was going on. Who would steal the team’s half-time oranges?

Rowan: Someone must be sneaking into the dressing room. 

Geoff: At first, I thought the thief might be someone we don’t know but, you know me, boss. I’m in charge of locking up this place and keeping everything safe and secure. The first thing I did was rule out any outsiders. It must be someone who works here or plays football here. 

Rich: What? It’s an inside job?!

Geoff: Certainly.

Rich: And you are accusing us?

Geoff: Certainly not. I’m not accusing anyone. I know exactly who it is.

Rowan: How do you know?

Jack: It can’t be me! 

Rich: It can’t have been him. He’s got a citrus allergy. You know about his citrus allergy, don’t you Geoff. He can’t go near oranges.

Geoff: I know, I know. I did think you might have tried getting rid of the oranges for that reason. Guys! One of the squad has a citrus allergy! Why not have bananas at half-time?

Rowan: Good idea, Geoff. No more oranges.

Rich: And it wasn’t me!

Geoff: I did get a distinct smell of oranges from you and suspected it might have been you for a while but I soon realised that this smell was present on arrival at training and after a little bit of deduction and reconnaissance I discovered you live next to an orange grove.

Rich: I was about to tell you that. 

Geoff: I thought it might have been Johnny when I got a whiff of oranges one morning as he went past me after training but I soon deduced that the smell seemed to emanate solely from the top of his head and was only present after the players had showered.

Rich: It must have been his new shampoo, Geoff. Essential oils with a hint of citrus.

Geoff: It certainly was. You might want to use a bit less of that stuff Johnny. It’s pretty pungent! No, the person I’m looking for is not one of the players but another member of staff.

Rowan: Bobby the ball boy!

Geoff: No, not Bobby.

Rowan: Pete the physio? 

Geoff: You know it’s not Pete! 

Rich: How does she know?

Geoff: Because the locker room larcenist, pick me up pilferer, citrus swindler, break time bandit, orange outlaw ... has been you all along!

Rowan: How dare you!

Rich: But Rowan can’t have done it! She’s out on the pitch with us!

Geoff: Ah, that is certainly true ... Most of the time. I first suspected you when I saw you going back to the dressing room early in the first half of matches. At first, I thought you must have been going back for something important but you always returned empty-handed.

Rowan: I drink too much tea and nature called ... I’m forgetful … I leave things in my office all the time … my phone … my notepad has all our tactics on it ...  What can I say? 

Geoff: But you would come back licking your lips, look refreshed and reinvigorated as if your thirst had been quenched, somehow. 

Geoff: You must have been drinking some orange juice.

Rowan: Never!

Geoff: And then, have you never noticed guys? How loud does she listen to those matches in her office? The football commentary on the TV blasting out. It can’t be that pleasant to listen at that volume.

Rowan: I am hard of hearing in my left ear!

Geoff: You are not! It was a cover-up - literally. You were covering up the sound of this!

Rowan: My juicer!

Geoff: My evidence! Step this way. Open the locker.

Rowan: I’ve lost the key … It’s not my locker. I’ve never seen an orange before. I’m allergic. Geoff, you're sacked - fired. Sherlock Holmes my ... See you at training tomorrow lads …. bye.

Language Focus

Rich: Before the roleplay, we asked you two questions. 

Rowan: The first question was: Who stole the oranges?

Jack: It was the manager. Can you believe it? Biting the hand that feeds her!

Rich: And the second question was: What’s the evidence against her?

Rowan: All circumstantial evidence! 

Jack: Well, there’s the juicer, trips to the dressing room to drink orange juice and then you run away when asked to open your locker!

---

Jack: In the roleplay, Geoff the Groundsman played the role of a detective to find out who stole the half-time oranges.

Rich: He worked out or deduced that it was the manager who had taken the oranges. To deduce means to form an opinion based on information and evidence available.

Rowan: Geoff, the players and the manager used a few modals of deduction in the roleplay. These are modal verbs we use to make guesses about something using the information we have about it.

Jack: We use a different modal verb depending on how certain we think something is true.

Rich: They are sometimes called modal verbs of speculation but this is when we don’t have any evidence about something. However, they are used in the same way.

Rowan: Modal verbs of deduction or speculation can be used to make guesses about the past, present or future.

Jack: We’re going to start by looking at how these modal verbs are used to talk about the present and the future. The modal verbs we are going to look at are: can’t, might, may, could and must.

---

Rich: In the roleplay, the manager said a thief must be sneaking into the dressing room to steal the half-time oranges.

Jack: Sneaking means to move quietly without anyone seeing you. A thief sneaks - a thief is sneaky. The manager said a thief must be sneaking into the dressing room. She used the modal verb must followed by an infinitive without to.

Rowan: We use must when we are certain or virtually certain that something is true. A thief must be sneaking into the dressing room. There is no other explanation - it must be true.

Rich: We could also replace must with have to. Listen to these examples:

Jack: A thief has to be sneaking into the dressing room. She must work here - I saw her go into this office earlier. She must be thinking of making a substitution now - we need to do something.

Rowan: We use must when we are certain that something is true. When we think something isn’t true or is impossible we use can’t. 

Rich: In the roleplay, we said ‘it can’t be pleasant to listen to the TV when it’s so loud’. Groundsman Geoff was speculating here. He’s saying it’s impossible that it’s enjoyable to listen to the TV when it’s so loud.

Jack: One of the players also said it can’t be me. The player was saying that it was impossible that he stole the oranges because he had a citrus allergy.

Rowan: Have a listen to these examples: She can’t know - nobody has spoken to her about, have they?, It can’t be him - he said he was in France until next week, They can’t have scored because I didn’t hear the fans cheer.

Rich: OK, so we use must when we are sure something is true and can’t when we are sure something is not true but often we are not sure if something is true or not.

Jack: When we are not sure about something or we think something is possible we can use may, might or could.

Rowan: In the roleplay, Geoff said I thought the thief might be someone we don’t know. We are using might to say that it is possible that the thief was someone they didn’t know. 

Rich: We can use may and could in similar ways although may is a bit more formal. Listen to these examples:

Jack: They could be on their way to the airport. I saw some suitcases. Trains may be delayed due to essential repairs. Sorry for the inconvenience. The Premier League might have to play some matches at neutral venues.

Rowan: So that’s how we can use modal verbs of deduction and speculation in the present and the future. In the next section, we’re going to take a look at how they are used in the past.

...

Rich: When we use modal verbs of deduction to talk about past situations we use the same modal verbs as we’ve just looked at must, may, might, could and can’t with the same meaning but the grammar changes.

Jack: We use the modal verb followed by have followed by the past participle. There were lots of examples in the roleplay. Listen to these examples:

Rowan: It must have been his new shampoo. You must have drunk some orange juice.

Rich: She can’t have done it! She’s out on the pitch with us!  It can’t have been him. He’s got a citrus allergy.

Jack: I did think you might have tried getting rid of the oranges. I thought it might have been Johnny when I got a whiff of oranges one morning.

Rowan: In all of these examples someone is either deducing or speculating. 

Rich: I think it would be a good idea to take a look at some pronunciation here. Listen to Jack and Rowan saying a few of these examples again. Which sounds more natural to you?

Jack: It must’ve bin his new shampoo.

Rowan: It must have been his new shampoo.

Jack: It can’t’ve bin him. He’s got a citrus allergy.

Rowan: It can’t have been him. He’s got a citrus allergy.

Jack: I thought it might’ve bin Johnny when I smelled the oranges.

Rowan:  I thought it might have been Johnny when I smelled the oranges.

Rich: None of these are bad examples but often when we speak quickly we drop and even add or change sounds. This is called connected speech.

Rowan: When Jack was speaking he used lots of weak forms and schwas. The schwa is a very small sound that is very frequent in English. It sounds like this:  Listen to Jack again.

Jack: Must have been. Can’t have been. Might have been. Must have been. Can’t have been. Might have been.

Rich: OK, let’s leave the language there and move on to this week’s task.

Task

Rowan: You are going to hear three scenarios and we want you to respond to each one using some of the language of deduction we used in the roleplay and spoke about in the language focus.

Rich: In each scenario, you will hear a problem or an argument. Your job is to be like Sherlock Holmes or Geoff the Groundsman if you prefer, and work out who did it.

Jack: Listen to each dialogue and think about who must have done it, who can’t have done it, and who might have done it.

Rowan: Here’s scenario 1. There is a strange smell in Rich’s flat. What could it be?

Rich: What’s that smell?

Jack: It’s not me!

Rich: I wasn’t saying that it was. It might be the neighbour cooking. He likes to experiment.

Jack: That can’t be someone cooking. It can’t be something any living thing would eat.

Rich: It smells like it’s coming from the street! Look I can see smoke.

Rowan: What could the smell be?

Jack: Here’s scenario two. Rich isn’t happy. What’s happened to Rich’s muffin? 

Rich: Come on! Where is it?

Rowan: Where’s what? 

Rich: I knew it was you! My muffin! I’ve been waiting all day for that.

Rowan: I don’t know anything about your muffin! I’m just finishing off my lunch here.

Rich: Yeah, right! I’ve only got this apple now. It was my last one.

Rowan: I can’t eat muffins anyway. I’m gluten intolerant, remember!

Jack: Alright - how’s it going?

Rich: What’s that down your shirt? Crumbs!

Rowan: Who’s eaten Rich’s muffin?

Rich: Here’s scenario 3. Jack’s got a speeding ticket but who was driving the car?

Rowan: Have you got the post? Anything for me?

Jack: There’s this.

Rowan: Is that what I think it is?

Jack: Another speeding ticket! The 27th of April at 8:54 P.M. Look I was teaching then. I was in class. I wasn’t driving my car then. I couldn’t have been.

Rowan: Where did it happen?

Jack: On the motorway near the shopping centre. A Thursday evening. Don’t you go out near there on a Thursday night?

Rowan: No way. Look, I hardly ever borrow your car. Wait a minute. Wasn’t the 27th a holiday? You weren’t teaching …

Jack: Er .. well, maybe I …

Rich: Who was driving Jack’s car?

Rowan: Write all your answers in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website and try to use some of the modals of deduction we’ve introduced in this podcast.

Jack: or write your answers in the review section on Apple Podcasts if that’s where you listen to us.

Football Phrase 

Rich: Our final section as alway is our football phrase. It’s your turn this week, Jack.

Jack: This week’s football phrase is * *****-*****. This phrase is used to describe the situation when two players are competing for a loose ball. Each player has more or less an equal chance of getting the ball. To win * *****-***** you need to be stronger in the tackle than your opponent.

Rowan: Outside of football this phrase is used as an adjective to describe things that are split equally between two people or to when you have an equal chance of winning or losing.

Rich: Let’s see who can get it right? Before we leave you we also need to tell you last week’s football phrase. The answer was a Cruyff Turn.

Rowan: Right, that’s all we have time for this week! Don’t forget to write your answers to our questions and make a guess at our football phrase in the comments below. If you get it right, we’ll announce your name on next week’s show. 

Jack: If you have any questions or comments or suggestions for the podcast or anything football or English related, you can leave them on the website in the comments section, on social media, on apple podcasts or you can email us at premierskills@britishcouncil.org.
 
Rich: Bye for now and enjoy your football!