NEED (semi-modal)

5/6.03.2015 (3)

I Vocabulary: collocations with legal concepts

Verb + noun collocations

· crime – commit, perpetrate, be involved in, witness, report to the police, prevent

· punishment – receive, avoid, escape, mete out, hand down, inflict, get, carry out

· the law – obey, respect, uphold, abide by, break, violate, pass laws (Parliament), bend, change

· trial – go on, stand, put sb on, face, adjourn

· case – dismiss, try, win, lose, bring … against sb, examine

· charges – press, dismiss, drop, face, file, level, make

· damages – award, claim, sue for, seek, pay

· sentence – pass, pronounce, give, hand down, serve, get, reduce, commute, serve

· verdict – pass, pronounce, bring in, deliver, reach, agree on, return

· court – come to, go to, bring sb to, appear in / before court, preside over

· justice – serve, do, get, ask for, deny to sb, bring sb to …, escape, administer

Adjective + noun collocations

· sentence - stiff, severe, harsh, heavy, lenient, light, prison, life, death, long-term

· crime - heinous, atrocious, abominable, shocking, outrageous, horrific, appalling, grave

· beyond … doubt: any, reasonable

· circumstances: extenuating, mitigating

· evidence - compelling, obvious, solid, reliable, abundant, convincing, dubious, insufficient, inadequate, reliable, false, exonerating,

· insufficient, damning

· charges – irrefutable, fabricated, trumped-up, false, grave, serious

· offence – minor, lesser, grave, criminal, serious, indictable, heinous

27.02.2013 (2)

MODALITY (1)

I Discussion of meanings of individual modal verbs

WILL

1 DIRECT REQUEST

 

· Will you help me with the ironing?

 

2 VOLUNTARY ACTIONS, SPONTANEOUS DECISIONS

 

· I’ll help you sort it out.

· I think I’ll go to the movies this night.

· I think I won’t go to the pub this night.

· I don’t think I’ll go to the pub this night.

 

3 OTHER FUNCTIONS CONNECTED WITH THE FUTURE

 

· I will slap you in the face if you keep lying. (threat, warning)

· I will give you a cookie if you behave. (promise)

 

 

4 CONDITIONAL MEANING - probable, real

 

· He’ll help you if you pay him for it.

 

5 PREDICTIONS (based on knowledge)

 

· I think it will rain tomorrow.

· I think it is going to rain. (external evidence)

 

6 PRESENT HABITS (with an emotional component)

 

· When he comes back from work, he’ll not help his wife with the cooking and the washing up of dishes, but will sink into the sofa and watch a football match instead.

WOULD

1 OFFER

 

· Would you like some tea?

 

2 ASKING FOR PERMISSION, POLITE REQUEST

 

· Would you mind if I sit/sat here?

· Would you help me with the hoovering?

· Would you help me with the housework?

 

3 PAST HABITS

 

· Every afternoon when I had nothing to do at home, I would go outside and work in the garden.

· When he was very young, he would sneak out after lunch instead of doing his homework.

 

4 CONDITIONAL MEANING

 

· (unreal, impossible) I would buy the latest model of Lexus if I had a mere 120 000 zloties.

5 FUTURE IN THE PAST

· She said she would not be coming to the conference.

MAY

1 REQUEST

 

· May I leave for a minute?

 

2 POSSIBILITY, LIKELIHOOD

 

· You may catch a cold in the autumn / get depression in the winter.

· I may have taken your handbag by mistake

 

3 PERMISSION (formal)

 

· You may leave now.

 

4 LIKELIHOOD (FORMULAIC)

 

· Be it as it may = whatever is going to happen.

5 PREDICTION

· It may rain today.

MIGHT

1 REQUEST

 

· Might I leave for a minute? (more polite than may)

 

2 A LOW DEGREE OF POSSIBILITY, LIKELIHOOD

 

· He might have taken your handbag by mistake.

 

3 FUTURE PREDICTION

 

· It might rain tonight.

 

4 SUGGESTION

 

· You might consider going to the mountains.

 

5 CRITICISM (MILD or SARCASTIC)

 

· He might at least have asked me.

· You might have told me you had got a pay rise.

 

6 LIKELIHOOD

 

· He might have lived in London before.

· Be it as it might = Whatever is going to happen.

CAN

1 ABILITY

 

· I can dance, but I cannot sing.

 

2 OPPORTUNITY, POSSIBILITY

 

· Anyone can find a good job in America.

 

3 REQUEST

 

· Can you pass me the sugar, please?

 

4 PERMISSION

 

· You can go out but you must be back for supper.

 

5 LIKELIHOOD

 

· It can’t be Peter who did it. I’m sure it was Christian.

· He can’t have murdered her. He loved her dearly.

 

COULD

 

1 ABILITY: GENERAL PAST

 

· I could swim when I was a child.

· I could ski when I was very young.

· I could skate at the age of 5.

 

· I was able to / managed to cover/ succeeded in covering a distance of 8 kilometres when I went swimming in the Caribbean (once).

 

I could cover a distance of 8 kilometres when I went swimming in the Caribbean last month.

2 ABILITY FOR VERBS OF THE SENSES

· When I entered the room I could smell a terrible stink coming from the kitchen (single past situation)

· Whenever I came to their house, I could always smell

burnt onions.

· When I left my house, I could see the beautiful clouds in the sky.

 

smell

see

hear

feel

 

3 POSSIBILITY

 

· It could be expensive to keep a cat. (= if we had one, it could or it may not be expensive)

 

· It can be expensive to keep a cat. (it can be, and it sometimes is)

 

4 REQUEST

 

· Could you pass me the sugar, please?

 

5 GENERAL PAST PERMISSION

 

· Anyone could enter the park when the Council owned it.

· Although he did not have an invitation, he was allowed to join (not “could join”) the party.

6 LIKELIHOOD

 

· It couldn’t be Peter who did it. I’m sure it was Christian.

· He couldn’t have murdered her. He loved her dearly.

SHALL

 

1 SUGGESTION

 

· Shall I close the window?

 

2 CERTAINTY

 

· Don’t worry. I shall be there to meet the train.

 

3 OBLIGATION/ NECESSITY (EMPHATIC)

 

· The school rules state that no child shall be allowed out of the school during the day, unless accompanied by an adult.

· Thou shall(t) respect your wife.

· You shall do it.

 

SHOULD

1 ADVICE, SUGGESTION

 

· You should go to the doctor immediately.

 

2 PROBABILITY, LIKELIHOOD

 

· The bus should come any minute now.

 

3 OBLIGATION, DUTY

 

· You shouldn’t leave without saying goodbye.

 

4 LIMITED LIKELIHOOD

· If you should come to Gdansk by any chance, be sure to drop in on us.

· Should you have any problems, do not hesitate to contact me.

 

MUST

 

1 OBLIGATION, STRONG RECOMMENDATION

 

· I must do my homework. (internal)

· I have to do my homework (external, a duty)

 

2 PROHIBITION

 

· You mustn’t steal / cheat.

· You mustn’t touch the red button.

· You mustn’t drink uncontrollably.

 

3 CERTAINTY

 

· He must be at school now.

 

NEED (semi-modal)

 

 

1 NECESSITY

 

· I need to go to the doctor’s because I feel unwell.

· Need you go now? (a negative meaning or implication)

· Do you need to go now? (more open)

· I needn’t work so much now because I have a lot of money.

· I don’t need to work so much because I have a lot of money.

· I needn’t have insulted him. (it was done, I did insult him.)

· I did not need to insult him (so it was not done.)

 

2 REQUIREMENT, SOME CONDITION TO BE FULFILLED

 

· I need some money for a present.