EXPRESSING
DEGREES OF CERTAINTY
Eğer bir konuda kesin olarak gerçeği
bilmiyorsak, o konuda tahminlerde bulunuruz. Bu tahminlerimizi, derecelerine
göre, "must, may, might, could" gibi modal yardımcı fiilleriyle ifade ederiz. Şimdi
zamanlarına göre bu yapılan inceleyelim.
1 PRESENT
TIME
a)
Positive Statements:
Eğer bir gerçeği kesin olarak biliyorsak, modal
kullanmaya gerek yoktur.
— Why is Peter at
home today? Why didn't he go to work?
— He is ill. (I know that he is ill.)
Gerçeği kesin olarak bilmiyorsak ama güçlü
bir tahminde bulunuyorsak, "must" kullanırız.
— Why is Peter at
home today?
— Well, he must be ill. (Hasta olmalı.)
(I saw
him last night, and he wasn't feeling very well, so I'm sure that he is ill
today.)
— The baby is
crying. Why?
— She must be hungry. (Aç olmalı.)
She
hasn't eaten anything for three hours.
— How does he know
so much about everything?
— Well, he must read a lot. (Çok okuyor olmalı.)
Gerçeği kesin olarak bilmiyorsak ve güçsüz
bir tahminde (ya da tahminlerde) bulunuyorsak, yani aklımıza gelen olasılıkları
ifade etmek istiyorsak, "may,
might, could" kullanırız.
— Why is Peter at
home today?
— Well, I don't
know. He may/might/could be ill. (Hasta olabilir.)
(There may be some
other possibilities, but I don't know. Perhaps/ Possibly/Maybe * he is ill. He is
probably ill. It's likely that he is ill.)
"May", "might"
ve "could" aynı anlama sahiptir ve Türkçe'ye ".......... olabilir"
biçiminde çevrilir.
— Why is the baby
crying?
— I don't know.
There may be several reasons. She may
be hungry, or she might need a nappy change or she could need burping.
— Why is Peter at
home today?
— He is ill. (100% sure)
— Why
is Peter at home today?
— He must be ill. (95% sure)
— Why
is Peter at home today?
— He may/might/could be ill. (About 50% sure)
|
* "Maybe" bitişik yazılınca bir zarftır.
Cümlenin başında kullanılır: "Maybe he is ill.
(Belki de hastadır.)
"May be", "modal+verb" kullanımıdır:
He may be ill. (Hasta olabilir.)
b) Negative Statements
Eğer gerçeği kesin olarak biliyorsak, durumu modal kullanmadan ifade ederiz.
— Why isn't Peter
eating anything?
— He isn't hungry. (I know that he is not hungry.)
Gerçeği kesin olarak bilmiyorsak ama bazı
temellere dayanarak güçlü bir tahminde bulunmak istiyorsak "can't"
ya da "couldn't" * kullanırız. Bu yapıları Türkçe'ye
"........ olamaz, imkansız"biçiminde çevirebiliriz.
— Your brother says he is very hungry.
— No, he can't/couldn't be hungry.
He ate a huge meal just half an hour ago. (It's impossible that
he is hungry.)
(Hayır, aç olamaz. Aç
olması imkansız.)
— Your brother says
he is broke.
— No, he can't/couldn't be
broke. I gave him ten million liras just an hour ago. (It's impossible that he
has no money.)
Yine güçlü bir tahmini ("can't" ve "couldn't"
a göre daha cılız),
aklımıza gelen en mantıklı tahmini ifade etmek için "must not **" kullanırız. Bu kullanımıyla "must
not" genellikle
kısaltılmaz.
— Your brother isn't eating his lunch.
— Well, he must
not be hungry.
(Aç olmamalı. Herhalde aç değil.)
(Normally, he eats everything on his plate. If he isn't eating now, I'm
almost sure that he isn't hungry. I can't think of any other reasons.)
— Look! Peter is
eating only salad. He hasn't even touched his fish.
— Well, he must
not like fish.(Balığı sevmiyor
olmalı. Herhalde balığı sevmiyor.)
— Jane always gets
low grades in history.
— She must not study hard
enough. (Yeterince çalışmıyor olmalı. Herhalde
yeterince çalışmıyor.)
Tahminimiz güçsüz ise, sadece aklımıza
gelen olasılıkları ifade ediyorsak "may not" ya "might
not" kullanırız.
— Why is Peter
eating only salad? He hasn't even touched his fish.
— I don't know. He may
not/might not like fish.
(Balığı sevmiyor
olabilir. Belki de balığı sevmiyordur.) (Maybe/Perhaps he doesn't like
fish.)
— Why does she
always get low grades in history?
— I don't know. She may
not study hard enough.
(Perhaps she doesn't study hard enough.) (Yeterince çalışmıyor olabilir.)
— I'm going to see
the manager.
— Phone him first.
He may/might not be in
his room. (Odasında olmayabilir.)
He isn't in his room. (100% sure)
He can't/couldn't be in
his room. (99% sure)
He must not be in his room. (95% sure)
He may not/might not be in
his room, (about 50% sure)
|
* Could güçsüz bir tahmin, couldn't ise çok güçlü
bir tahmin bildirir.
** Tahminde
bulunurken kullanılan yapılardan "must not" sadece American English'de kullanılır. British English'de "must
not" yerine
"can't/couldn't" kullanılır.
2 PRESENT PROGRESSIVE FORMS OF MODALS
Tahminde
bulunurken kullandığımız modal yardımcı
fiillerini, içinde bulunduğumuz anda devam etmekte olduğunu
zannettiğimiz eylemleri ifade etmek için de kullanırız.
— Where is your
brother?
— He is studying in his room. (I know that
he is studying in his room.)
— Where is your
brother?
— I'm not sure, but
he must be studying in his room. He has
an exam tomorrow.
(I'm almost sure that he is studying in his room.) (Odasında ders çalışıyor olmalı.)
— Look! Isn't that Elif going up Bahariye
Street
— I don't know. She may
be going to the cinema, or she might/may/could be going shopping. (I think she is going
shopping or to the cinema.)
(Sinemaya ya da
alışverişe gidiyor olabilir.)
— Don't make so much
noise. Your brother is studying in the next room.
— No, he can't/couldn't be
studying in the next room. I saw him in the street playing with
other children just a quarter of an hour ago.
(It's impossible that he is studying in his room.)
(Odasında ders çalışıyor olamaz. Ders
çalışıyor olması imkansız.)
— Do you hear some
noise from the baby's room?
— Yes, I sure do.
She must not be sleeping.
(I'm almost sure that she isn't sleeping.) (Uyumuyor
olmalı.)
— I think your
brother is studying in his room.
— Well, I don't
know. He may not/might not be studying. There is music coming from his
room. (Perhaps/Maybe he isn't studying.)
(Ders çalışmıyor olabilir.)
must
may/might/could
+ be doing
can't/couldn't
must not
may not/might not
|
3 PAST TIME
Geçmişe
ilişkin tahminlerimizi ifade
ederken, aynı modal
yardımcı fiillerinin "perfect" biçimlerini
kullanırız.
must may
/might/ could
+
have done can't/couldn't
must not may
not/might not
|
— I can't find my
grammar book.
— Well, you must have left it in the
classroom.
(I'm almost sure that you left it in the classroom.) (Sınıfta unutmuş olmalısın.
Herhalde sınıfta unuttun.)
— I can't find my grammar
book. I don't know where I left it. I may/might/could
have left it in the classroom or I may/might/could
have left it on the bus. (It's
possible that I left it in the classroom or on the bus.)
(Sınıfta unutmuş olabilirim ya da otobüste unutmuş olabilirim.)
— I think I saw Susan at a cafe the other day. but I
didn't talk to her. She was in a crowded group.
— No, you can't/couldn't have seen her there.
She has been out of town for two weeks. She left for London
— Jane is normally a good student, but she got a low
grade on yesterday's test.
— Well, she must
not have studied hard enough.
(I'm almost sure that she didn't study hard enough.) (Yeterince
çalışmamış olmalı. Herhalde yeterince çalışmadı.)
— Why did Jane get a low grade on the last test? She is a good student, you
know.
— Well, I don't
know. She might not/may not have studied hard enough. (Perhaps/Maybe she didn't study hard
enough.)
(It's likely that she didn't study hard enough.)
(She probably didn't study hard enough.) (Yeterince
çalışmamış olabilir.)
NOTE: "Could have done"
ve "couldn't have done" kalıplarının şu iki kullanımı
arasındaki ayrıma dikkat ediniz.
1- a) I had lots of spare time
yesterday. I could have gone to the cinema, but I preferred to stay at
home.
(Sinemaya gidebilirdim ama
evde kalmayı tercih ettim.)
(The result is: I didn't
go to the cinema.)
b) Last
week, my husband was going to have a match with his friends, but he didn't
go. Later we found out that the match had been cancelled, so he couldn't
have gone even if he had wanted to. (İsteseydi
bile gidemezdi.)
(The result is: He didn't
go to the match.)
2- a) When I
phoned her, she wasn't at home.
She could have gone to the cinema,
because she had told me that there was a good film on at the Süreyya cinema and that she wanted to see it.
(Sinemaya gitmiş
olabilir.)
(The result is: Perhaps
she was at the cinema when I phoned her.)
b) He couldn't have gone to the match
yesterday, because his leg has been in plaster since the previous match.
(Dünkü maça gitmiş olamaz, çünkü
.........)
(The result is: It's impossible that he went to
the match yesterday.
|
Bu iki
anlam arasındaki farla
ancak "context"den,
yani parçanın ya da konuşmanın bütününden çıkarabiliriz.
4 PAST PROGRESSIVE FORMS OF MODALS
Geçmişte bir
noktada devam etmekte
olduğunu tahmin ettiğimiz
eylemleri ifade etmek istiyorsak, modal yardımcı fiillerinin
"perfect progressive" biçimlerini kullanırız.
must may/might/could
+ have been doing
can't/couldn't must
not
may not/might not
|
— Peter had a car accident last Saturday. He said that
a child had suddenly pushed himself in front of his car, and that he had
swerved to the left so as not to hit the child, but couldn't avoid running into
another car.
— Then, he must have been driving fast at the
time of the accident. (Kaza sırasında
hızlı sürüyordu herhalde.)
— When I got home late last night, the light in my
brother's room was still on. I didn't go to see what he was doing, but he may/ might /could have been
reading a book or listening to music. (Perhaps/Maybe
he was reading a book or listening to music.)
(Belki de kitap okuyor ya da müzik dinliyordu.)
— He can't/couldn't
have been driving very fast at the time of the accident, because I know
that he doesn't like speeding.
(It's impossible that he was driving fast at the time of the
accident.)
(Kaza sırasında hızlı sürüyor olamazdı. Hızlı sürüyor olması imkansız.)
—
While I was preparing to go to bed last night, I heard some noises from my
son's room. He must not have been sleeping.
(I'm almost sure that he wasn't
sleeping.)
(Uyumuyor
olmalıydı. Herhalde uyumuyordu.)
— Mother says my brother was studying in his room all
yesterday afternoon, but he may
not/ might not have been studying, because I heard the sound of a stereo coming from
his room.
(Perhaps/Maybe
he wasn't studying.)
(Ders çalışmıyor olabilirdi. Belki de ders çalışmıyordu.)
5 FUTURE TIME
Geleceğe ilişkin
olaylardan sözediyorsak, "will, should/ought to, may /might /could"
kullanabiliriz.
"Must" geleceğe ilişkin tahminde bulunurken kullanılmaz. Ancak,
içinde bulunduğumuz anda gelecekte bir eylemin olacağına ilişkin belirtiler
varsa, 'must be doing' kullanabiliriz.
Linda must be
giving a huge party for her
birthday next week. I saw her buying lots of food and drinks at the market
today.
Eğer bir olayın
olacağından kesin olarak eminsek, "will" kullanırız.
— He will pass his driving test. He is very good at driving.
Güçlü bir
tahminde bulunuyorsak, "should/ought
to" kullanırız.
— He took plenty of driving lessons, and he drives the
car very well. He should/ought to pass the test.
(Yeterince direksiyon dersi aldı. Sınavı geçmesi gerekir. Herhalde
geçer.)
— He took some driving lessons, and isn't so bad
at driving. He may/ might /could pass his driving test tomorrow, but who
knows. Anything can happen in a test. (Yarınki direksiyon sınavını
geçebilir.)