Modalité avancée : may, might, would, shall

Exprimer la possibilité, la probabilité, la politesse et la volonté en anglais — programme de 1re LVA

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Cette activité de compréhension sur « Modalité avancée : may, might, would, shall » en première entraîne à lire, analyser et répondre à des questions en anglais (LVA). Elle suit le programme officiel de première. Au programme : Rappel : les auxiliaires modaux en anglais, May : possibilité et permission, Might : possibilité incertaine et hypothèse, Would : politesse, habitude passée et conditionnel. Lis le document, réponds puis vérifie immédiatement tes réponses pour progresser. Un bon moyen de travailler la méthode, d'enrichir son vocabulaire et de préparer les contrôles. Ressource gratuite proposée par un professeur particulier à Marseille pour réussir en anglais (LVA) en première.

1Lisez ce dialogue entre deux amis qui planifient un voyage, puis répondez aux questions ci-dessous.

Planning a Trip

Alex: Shall we book the train tickets now, or shall we wait a bit longer?

Jamie: I'm not sure. The prices might go up if we wait, but they may also drop — it's hard to tell. I would book them now if I were you.

Alex: Would you mind checking the weather forecast for Edinburgh? It might be too cold in November.

Jamie: It may well be chilly, but I wouldn't let that stop us. Besides, we might have more luck with the weather than last year — that trip was a disaster! It might have been better if we'd gone in September.

Alex: You're right. Shall I call the hotel as well?

Jamie: Yes, please do. And you might want to ask about early check-in — it would be great to drop our bags before the tour.

2Questions

Q1 What does Jamie mean by 'it might be too cold in November'? What degree of certainty does this express?

Q2 Find one example of 'shall' used as a suggestion in the dialogue and explain its function.

Q3 What does 'I would book them now if I were you' express? Which structure is used here?

Q4 Explain the meaning and form of 'It might have been better if we'd gone in September.'

Q5 'You might want to ask about early check-in.' Reformulate this sentence using a different structure to convey a polite suggestion, and explain the nuance of 'might want to' here.

Voir le corrigé

Jamie suggests that cold weather in November is possible but uncertain, around 30% probability; might expresses a lower degree of certainty than may
Shall we book the train tickets now — shall + we expresses a suggestion or invitation — Two occurrences are valid.
It expresses advice using a type 2 conditional; would is used in the main clause (apodosis) with a hypothetical condition (if I were you)
Might have + PP expresses a possibility or mild regret about the past; the full structure is a type 3 conditional expressing an unrealised past possibility
Réponse libre — exemple : 'You might want to ask…' is an indirect, very polite suggestion — softer than 'you should ask'. Alternative: 'It would be a good idea to ask about early check-in' / 'You could ask about early check-in'. The modal might + want to distances the speaker from imposing their advice.

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