Must have (done) – (1)  – to express the present supposition /guessing of what would have happened in the past.

• We must have taken the wrong road. The sign board was not clear.
• She predicted that such a creature must have existed.
• It must have been dreadfully difficult.  How did you manage the situation?
• It must have been agonising for the people around you.
• We rang the calling bell but he didn’t come out.  He must have been asleep.
• You looked weak and pale.  You must have been very tired of the heavy work.( i.e I am sure you were very tired)

Must have (done) (2) –  to show that it is necessary for the first thing to have happened before the second thing can happen.

• In order to qualify for the full pension benefits in the Bank, you must have completed 33 years of confirmed service.
• If you are to be included in the list of eligible candidates for the benefits, the application must have been submitted before 31st of December.

Compare ‘ Will have + past participle ‘with other perfect forms.  This is a short comparison of ‘ Present Perfect, Future Perfect and Past Perfect ‘

Examples:

• They have been married for 20 years.( present perfect – shows the present position. We don’t say , ‘ They are married for…………..))
• By the end of December next year they will have been married for 21 years. ( future perfect   – shows the future position.  We don’t say, ‘ They will be married for……..))
• When their first child was born, they had been married for three years. ( past perfect – shows the past position.  We don’t say , ‘ They were married for……..))

May / Might as well :  This particular expression is used for making suggestions.  This expression suggests a different course of action would be preferable and this frequently occurs in everyday conversation.  This is used mainly on informal occasions.  ‘ Might as well ‘ is more common than ‘ May as well ‘.

A :  Here comes the bus.  We might as well take it.

B:  Yes, we might as well.

A:  How slow this bus is ! We might as well walk.

B:  We might as well have gone on walking.

•   They don’t seem to come in time and it is pointless to wait for them.  We might as well get a taxi and go home before it gets dark.

Note : We can make ‘ May as well ‘ and  ‘Might as well ‘ stronger by using ‘Just ‘ after May or Might.

• We don’t  know anyone here and the matter they want to discuss doesn’t concern us. We might just as well go somewhere else.
• It’s a choice between a job and an admission in a college.  You may just as well take the job .  At least you’ll earn some money.

Shall – Modal expressions:

(1)  ‘ Shall ‘ is used with the second and third person to express a ‘ Command or Promise ‘.

• He shall not enter my garden. (command)
• You shall get a prize if you top the class.( i.e I promise that I will give you a prize)
• Students shall not pick flowers from the garden.

(2)  ‘ Shall ‘ is used with the first person to ask the opinion , suggestion etc.

• Shall I close the door?  (i.e Do you wish me to do that?)
• What present shall I buy for you? ( i.e Which present are you expecting me to buy for you?)
• Shall I call him in? ( i.e Do you want me to call him in?)
• What shall we do now?
• Shall we go?

(3)  ‘ Shall ‘ to indicate a decision or determination on the part of the speaker with regard to the actions of others.

• There shall be no more wars.
• The enemy shall not pass. (i.e we are determined not to let them)
• Every member shall pay their annual subscription within the first month of the year.

Will – Modal expressions.

(1)  Determinations.

• I will punish him.
• I will get a first-class in the next examination.

(2) A third person’s volition.

• The old man will sit in the beach for hours together.
• Some people will leave this door open.  They won’t close it properly.

(3) Assumption or probability.

• This will be the boy who got the prize. ( I suppose…….)
• ( The phone rings). That will be Rozanne, I expect.
• The rain will come soon.

(4) We use I’ll ( = I will) when we decide to do something at the time of speaking.

• A:  What would you like to drink?
• B:  I will have an orange juice, please.
• A : Did you phone him?
• B : No, I forgot, I will phone him now.

(5) We often use ‘ I think I’ll ‘ and  ‘ I don’t think I’ll ‘

• I feel a bit hungry.  I think I’ll have something to eat.
• I don’t think I’ll go out tonight.  I am too tired.

(6) Offering to do something.

• I think that you are short of money to purchase this expensive car.  I’ll help you with some money.

(7)  Agreeing to do something.

• I’ll return the book as mentioned by you.

(8) Promising to do something.

• Please lend me your umbrella. I’ll return it to you next Friday.

(9)  Asking somebody to do something.

• Will you keep quiet, please?
• Will you post this letter when you go to the office?

(10) You can use ‘won’t ‘ to say that somebody or something refuses to do something.

• I have advised him not to do such foolish things but he won’t listen.
• The car won’t start.  I wonder what is wrong with it.( i.e it doesn’t start)
• Some people would leave this door open.  They wouldn’t close it properly. So now we keep it closed. (refers to the past situation)
• The old man would sit there for hours together. ( refers to the past situation)

The difference between ‘ Active Voice ‘ and ‘ Passive Voice’

In Active Voice the subject is given more importance than the Object.  Here the Subject-Verb-Object order is followed.  But when we give more emphasis on the object, Passive Voice is used. The following are the relevant points which will clarify why Passive Voice is important.

• When the subject is not known/clear.
• When using of Active Voice becomes awkward.
• When more importance is given for the result rather than the doer(or Subject)
• The last but not the least, the sentence without object cannot be converted into Passive Voice.

Examples for Passive Voice.

• He was killed in an accident.( Here, who killed him is not clear.  The only thing one knows is that the accident caused his death.  We cannot say that the accident killed him.In such a situation use of Passive Voice is more appropriate and that allows a natural flow of expression.
• He was drowned in the swift flowing current.
• The workmen were electrocuted while they were doing the repair work.
• She was given 5 Grammy Awards.( ‘ by whom ‘ is omitted because it is either not important or known)
• You will be asked to make good the loss to the company if the lapse is on your part.( ‘who will ask’ is omitted here conveniently)
• The trophy will be given to the winners at a function.
• He was hurt when he fell off his bicycle. ( here mentioning the agent becomes rather difficult or impossible)
• After the show when they reached home, their ornaments had been stolen.( We don’t know who the thieves were)
• He was born in 1957.( Normally we don’t say that , ” His mother gave him birth in 1957 “.

Thus using of passive voice in the above situations makes a free flow of expression and sometimes the expression of the very idea becomes impossible without the support of Passive Voice.

Active Voice and Passive Voice Compared :  All the three Perfect Continuous Tenses and Future Continuous Tense have no passive voice.  So out of the 12 tense forms , only 8 have passive voice.  Some typical examples are given in order to clarify the structural differences of Active Voice and Passive Voice.  Once you study the examples carefully, you will become thorough with the grammatical rules behind.  The examples are given only for the purpose of teaching the grammar and usage and at times they may appear strange and practically not relevant.

• He eats a mango. Now see the passive voice – A mango is eaten by him.
• He eats two mangoes. —– Two  mangoes are eaten by him.
• He is eating a mango.—-  A mango is being eaten by him.
• He is eating two mangoes.—  Two mangoes are being eaten by him.
• He has eaten a mango.— A mango has been eaten by him.
• He has eaten five mangoes — Five mangoes have been eaten by him.
• He ate a mango. — A mango was eaten by him.
• He ate three mangoes —Three mangoes were eaten by him.
• He was eating a mango.—A mango was being eaten by him.
• He was eating three mangoes. — Three mangoes were being eaten by him.
• He had eaten three mangoes .—-Three mangoes had been eaten by him.
• He will eat a mango. —–A mango will be eaten by him.
• He will eat two mangoes. —Two mangoes will be eaten by him.
• He will have eaten a mango.  —- A mango will have been eaten by him.

Note :  Eminent grammarians do not appear to have used a ‘Passive Voice’ for verbs in Future continuous Tense.  However in recent times, a few books have come out with the argument that it would not be improper to derive a ‘Passive Voice’ for the verbs in Future Continuous Tense.  Anyway the disputed aspect has been excluded from this book with due respect to the acknowledged traditional scholars, but  of course not being disrespectful to the new ideas in this area.

May have –ed:   Here the speaker makes a present supposition about the pre-present or past.

• He is late. ( or he was late).  He may have been delayed by the rain.  (One of the possible explanations of his lateness is (was) that he has been delayed by the rain.)
• A : I wonder why she didn’t come to the party.
• B : She may not have been well. (OR)  She might not have been well.
• A: I wonder why she didn’t say hello.
• B: She may not have seen you.

Might have—ed (1)  Here the speaker is, very hesitantly, making a present assumption about the pre- present or past.

• He is late .(or He was late).  He might have been delayed by the rain or he might have had an accident.  (Perhaps there was an accident, perhaps not)
• What he said might have been the correct answer.
• He might not have located the house.  Because the route-map was not taken by him.  It is still lying on the table.

(2)  To mention that something was possible to have happened although it did not in fact happen.

• A lot of men died in the accident who might have been saved.( There was a chance to save them though it did not take place)
• I daren’t think about what might have happened.( i.e Fortunately nothing  unpleasant happened! I don’t have even the courage to think about what could have possibly happened)
• Things might have been so different.
• You were lucky.  You might have been killed.( Obviously the person addressed is not dead, the chances of his being killed were considerable)

(3) You know the answer.  You might have told me. (Here, the speaker is expressing regret at not having been told sooner)

(4)  Sometimes ‘ Could ‘ has a similar meaning of ‘ May ‘ or  ‘Might ‘.

• The phone is ringing .  It could be Renz. (or It may/might be Renz)
• You could have left your umbrella in the shop. ( You may have/ might have left it…)

May and Might  (1) We use  ‘May’ or ‘ Might ‘ to say that something is a possibility.  ‘ Might ‘ expresses the maximum degree of hesitancy.

• It may be true.  (OR)  It might be true ( more hesitant)
• She may (or might) know the details.
• It might not be true.
• Might I borrow your pen, please? ( more hesitant than ‘May’)
• Might this be the answer?
• That might be the answer but I doubt it.
• He may (or might) come to the party.
• What he said might be true.
• Tomi might be in a position to help you for your house construction.

(2) May or Might is used for making a polite request.

• (i) Can I borrow your pen, please?
• (ii)  May I borrow your pen, please?
• (iii)  Might I borrow your pen, please? ( Sentence No (ii) is more hesitant or polite than (i) and Sentence (iii) is the most hesitant or polite of all the three)
• May I come in, sir?
• Might I ask you a question?
• May I ask a favour from you?
• Might I park my car near your gate?
• May I call the servant in to clean the table?

Make – special usage :  Here ‘ MAKE ‘ has the meaning ‘ to force’ OR ‘ to compel ‘.  When ‘ Make’ or ‘Made’ is used in the active form , headless infinitive (bare infinitive) is used.  And in the passive voice the usual form of infinitive is used. Structural differences when ‘ force, compel’  and ‘make’ are used may be clearly distinguished from the examples given below:

Examples:

• The security staff forced us to stand in queue.
• The security staff made us stand in queue.( active – here headless infinitive is used , i.e simply  ‘stand’ is used without ‘to’ being preceded)
• We were made to stand in queue by the security staff.(passive – here normal infinitive is used , i.e with ‘to’  , to stand)

• The police officer compelled us to stop the car.(compelled us to stop ….)
• The police officer made us stop the car.( active – made us stop….)
• We were made to stop the car by the police officer.(passive-  made to stop..)

• The money-lender forced me to sign a few documents.
• The money-lender made me sign a few documents.(active)
• I was made to sign a few documents by the money-lender.(passive)