William
Hello, and welcome to How To, your handy guide to handy English. My name’s William Kremer and you’re studying English, aren’t you?
Do I sound a little uncertain? Do I sound like I’m not sure if you’re studying English? Well, in today’s programme we’ll be looking at ways for you to show that you’re not sure of something. But it’s more complicated than showing certainty or uncertainty: there are different levels of certainty.
English speakers demonstrate how sure they are of something by using words and phrases and also by using different intonation: by saying things differently.
You may have noticed that on the How To webpage on bbclearningenglish.com, there is a large picture of a beautiful pair of eyes. But whose eyes are they? Well, that’s the question I asked my colleagues Catherine and Elena earlier on.
EXAMPLE
Catherine
She looks like a film star.
Elena
I don’t recognise her at all.
Catherine
She looks really glamorous though; she’s got kind of almond eyes and quite a lot of nice make up. But who is it? Who can it be? Does she look like an actress? It’s not Shilpa Shetty is it?
Elena
No, no. Shilpa Shetty’s got slightly darker, more sultry looks, I don’t think it could be –
Catherine
Yeah, that’s true.
Elena
Shilpa.
Catherine
She looks like she might be Asian or possibly –
Elena
She looks possibly South American.
Catherine
Yeah, she could be. I don’t know.
Will
Well, the rule is that you have to make a guess.
Catherine
OK, my guess is – erm. I think it’s – Hips Don’t Lie – what’s her name?
Elena
Shakira?
Catherine
Yeah, I think it might be Shakira.
Elena
Yeah. Or, I think I might go with Salma Hayek.
William
Well, Catherine and Elena don’t seem very sure about who owns that beautiful pair of eyes. Maybe you’ve got a clearer idea!
But let’s now take a look at some of the language they used in that clip. Catherine used a very useful device called a question tag. You can make a question tag by putting a positive question on the end of a negative statement.
EXAMPLE
Catherine
It’s not Shilpa Shetty, is it?
William
We can use this structure with this intonation to express uncertainty and also sometimes surprise. But now listen to the same sentence with a different intonation.
EXAMPLE
Anna
It’s not Shilpa Shetty, is it?
William
This speaker’s voice goes down at the end of her question. She’s more certain of the answer than Catherine. She sounds like she’s stating a fact or maybe checking something with the person she’s talking to. Now listen to both intonation patterns again:
EXAMPLE
Anna
It’s not Shilpa Shetty, is it?
Catherine
It’s not Shilpa Shetty, is it?
Elena
No.
William
Elena says no – this is how English speakers agree with negative questions – so she’s saying it isn’t Shilpa Shetty. We can also make question tags by putting a negative question on the end of a positive sentence.
EXAMPLE
Matt
That’s Shilpa Shetty, isn’t it?
William
This sentence has more certainty, but we can tell from the speaker’s intonation that he’s still unsure whether he’s right or not.
Right, enough about Shilpa Shetty; it’s not her anyway! We’ve talked about questions tags and intonation, but what other ways can English speakers express uncertainty?
EXAMPLE
Catherine
She looks like she might be Asian or possibly…
Elena
She looks possibly South American.
Catherine
Yeah, she could be.
William
We can use modals like might, could and may to show different levels of certainty, with might being the least certain.
EXAMPLE
Matt
She might be a film star.
Vicky
She could be a film star.
William
We often use the words maybe and perhaps without a modal to express uncertainty.
EXAMPLE
Matt
Maybe she’s a film star.
Vicky
Perhaps she’s a film star.
William
If you have more certainty, you can say I think before the modal:
EXAMPLE
Catherine
I think it might be Shakira.
Elena
Yeah. Or, I think I might go with Salma Hayek.
William
But again, intonation is very important – this next speaker sounds much less sure of what she’s saying:
EXAMPLE
I think it might be Shakira.
William
Well, I can now reveal that those beautiful eyes belong neither to Shakira nor Salma Hayek. So whose are they? Well, let me just say that Elena and Catherine are right to think that they are looking at a Latin lady.
But the correct answer is at the very bottom of the How To webpage on bbclearningenglish.com. Goodbye!
When you are learning a language, you become very good at showing people you don’t know something! But sometimes we have an idea about something, but we’re not completely sure. How can we express different levels of certainty?
When you’ve listened to the programme, don’t forget to practise what you’ve learned with the quiz below.
This programme is suitable for elementary / pre-intermediate learners.
Useful ways for expressing uncertainty
Question Tags
We often use this structure when we are unsure of something or want to check information:
It’s not Shilpa Shetty
is it?
She isn’t an actress
is she?
These structures show slightly more certainty:
That’s Shilpa Shetty
isn’t it?
She’s been on T.V.
hasn’t she?
Note: When responding to question tags, yes and no refer to whether something is or isn’t the case, not whether the first speaker is right or wrong. So in the following exchange, B is saying he doubts the woman is an actress:
A: She’s not an actress, is she?
B: No, I don’t think so.
Intonation
The intonation the speaker uses with a question tag is the main indicator of the level of certainty. Listen to these examples:
Upward intonation: less certain.
It’s not Shilpa Shetty, is it?
Downward intonation: more certain.
It’s not Shilpa Shetty, is it?
Modals
Degrees of certainty
Here are some modals you can use to express degrees of certainty, starting from the most uncertain, to the most certain:
It might
be Shilpa Shetty
It may
be Shilpa Shetty
It could
be Shilpa Shetty
It must
be Shilpa Shetty
Could is sometimes combined with a question tag:
She couldn’t be an actress, could she?
Using ‘possibly’ and ‘perhaps’
You can use possibly and perhaps with all these modals (except must), to indicate a lack of certainty:
She might perhaps be an actress.
She couldn’t possibly be an actress, could she?
Using ‘I think’
Using I think before a modal usually shows that the speaker is more certain about something:
I think it might be Shakira.
I think she might be an actress.
However, a sentence like this with extra stress on the modal indicates slightly less certainty.
Maybe and Perhaps
Maybe
she’s a film star.
Perhaps
she’s a film star.