Let’s look at how ‘hoped’ is used to make requests and orders less direct. Even if we would usually say I hope + something happens, we can push the verb ‘hope’ into the past tense not to refer to time. We often do tense shifts in English to express modality. In this case, to express […]
hoped + CLAUSE (polite) Read More »
“Maybe” and the more formal “perhaps” are both adverbs that convey modality related to uncertainty or possibility. For example: So why did we keep trying when all the adults said it was impossible? Well, maybe it‘s because we‘re kids. We don’t know any better. TED In this context, “maybe” is used to suggest a possible explanation or reason for why the kids kept trying despite the adults saying it was impossible. The speaker is speculating that
B1 CONFIRMING: refer to a previous direct or indirect ‘yes-no’ question where the answer might be ‘yes’.
In the English Grammar Profile in the category of conditional CLAUSES
