MUST, MAY, MIGHT, COULD zamanlara göre kullanımı





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? Where may/might/could she be going?
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 two weeks ago.                                                                                            (It's impossible that you saw her there.)                                                                                   (Onu görmüş olamazsın. Onu görmüş olman imkansız.)

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.)