SPECULATING Speculate : when you guess about the possible causes of something without knowing all the facts.

Language focus: Speculating When we want to say what we think will happen in the future in English, we can either use will followed by the verb without to What do you think will happen next year? There wont be a rise in house prices next year.

- or going to followed by the verb

Next week is going to be very busy, I think. ""He isnt going to win the election."

When speculating we can use will and going to and change the strength of our statements by using adverbs:

Im Im Im Im Im

fairly sure I will (weak) pretty sure Im not going to (weak) reasonably certain Im going to (average) absolutely certain I wont (strong) definitely going to (strong)

Q1. Do you want to study abroad?

Yes Answer Yes, definitely. Thats why Im taking the test. I hope I'll be able to study for my masters degree in a British University; Ill have to wait an see what happens.

No answer No. Id thought about studying abroad previously but the economy is improving back home so I think Ill have a better chance of getting a job back there.

Q2. When do you think you will finish your studies?

Answer: I havent decided yet.I reckon itll be a few more months before Ive finished here, then Im going to have to decide what to do next. So maybe 6 months,possibly.

Q3. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Vocabulary and phrases

will probably, likelihood, I would like to imagine, I think thatll happen, Its difficult to say

Answer: ____________. I guess, if I get married then I ________settle down in the UK and start a family but the _______of that isnt too great. _______that Im in a management position at work.__________ within 5 years.

Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHIGTUTG9HA&feature=related

In this video we will see an IELTS candidate speculating about her future.

Interviewer: What will you do when you finish? Sujatha: Well Im thinking of going into management of landscapes or maybe parks or botanical gardens. Im more interested in the management side because I wouldnt have to put in a lot of physical labour into it and just manage people and use my knowledge in the theory instead.

So how well did Sujatha do?

Im thinking of going into Here Sujatha makes it clear that she is still considering what she is going to do and is not certain

I wouldnt have to Sujatha is able to hypothesise she says wouldnt rather than wont to speculate about the future as she is not 100% certain of the fact but has some knowledge of it.

management of landscapes This sounds a little unnatural she would be better saying landscape management

Modal of Speculation

What are modals of speculation? Modals of speculation are modal auxiliary verbs which express degrees of certainty. In other words, they describe a fact or situation that is definite, probable, possible, or impossible from the speaker's point of view. (As the speaker is speculating, he/she may be wrong.) Here we'll focus on speculating about present or future events. For example: I may buy a new computer this summer, if I can afford it. He

might go back to school for his Master's Degree next year, but he hasn't decided yet. What is the sentence structure? The sentence structure is as follows: subject | modal verb | (negation) | main verb | object/complement He | must | (not) | be | very happy. Sandy | may | (not) | study | abroad next fall. The main verb is always in the plain form, even when the sentence expresses the future. How are modals of speculation used? Commonly used modals for present and future events include the following: Must / will express a definite situation, and must not / will not / could not an impossible one. On the other hand, may / may not / might / might not / could aren't as clear. The conversation and intonation may subtly change the meaning. However, may /may not are more certain than might /might not /could, and these last three modals express a weak probability. + He must really enjoy life because he always has a smile on his face. - He must not (mustn't) be very happy if he always has a frown. + If the US signs the Kyoto Protocol, greenhouse gases will significantly drop. - Many industrialized countries will not (won't) stop polluting the environment! + Sandy may study abroad next fall, but only if she gets good grades this spring. - If Sandy doesn't get good grades this spring, she may not study abroad next fall.

+ Although we might have cars that fly in 50 years, I doubt it. - Gasoline-powered transportation might not exist in 50 years. We'll use electric cars. + I could vote for in the next election if one of the candidates interests me. - Jim just loves President Bush. He could not (couldn't) ever vote for a Democrat.

Is there additional information on modals of speculation? There are a few more important points to consider. First, modal verbs never take a third-person singular s, as in: If it snows this afternoon, Tim coulds be late. In addition, modal verbs are always followed by a verb in the plain or bare infinitive form, never to + verb. So the following sentence is wrong: Time could to be late. Lastly, the contraction of might not is mightn't. However, this is rarely used nowadays and should generally be avoided.