What do MUST, SHOULD, and WOULD Really Mean in Writing?

0:00 Hi, everybody.

0:00 Welcome to www.engvid.com.

0:02 I'm Adam.

0:03 In today's video, I want to talk to you

0:06 about a specific aspect of English writing, okay?

0:10 And this is something that I think gets people...

0:13 Gives people a lot of trouble

0:15 because it's very nuanced differences between words.

0:19 And more specifically, I'm talking about modal verbs;

0:23 "must", "have to", "need to", "should", "could", "would", "will".

0:27 All of these modal verbs have very specific uses, and especially in writing,

0:34 using the wrong word creates the wrong impression for the reader.

0:39 In spoken English, you can more or less get the idea you want across,

0:44 and people won't pay as much attention to the choice of modal words.

0:49 In writing, because there's no facial gestures, there's no body gestures,

0:53 a reader has only the words in front of him,

0:56 and so the choice of words can make a very big difference.

1:00 And I'm going to tell...

1:01 Show you specifically what I'm talking about.

1:04 I'm talking about making an assertion,

1:07 providing an opinion or a suggestion, and stating a fact.

1:11 Each of these ways of writing aims to achieve a different goal.

1:17 So, when you make an assertion or an opinion,

1:20 what you're doing is you're giving something

1:23 that may or may not be true, especially opinion.

1:28 An opinion is just an opinion.

1:30 There's no such thing as an undoubted opinion, for example.

1:34 That's what makes an opinion an opinion.

1:36 You can have one, I can have one, they could be different.

1:40 One of us is right, one of us is wrong,

1:43 but there's not enough evidence to prove either one of us right,

1:46 which is why it's an opinion.

1:48 An assertion is a forceful expression of an idea.

1:52 Now, it could be true or it could not be true.

1:57 A lot of people try to express something as a fact simply by saying it strongly.

2:04 Saying it strongly does not make it a fact.

2:07 It might make you seem more confident,

2:09 it might make the reader more likely to believe you

2:13 or to at least engage in a conversation with you,

2:17 but it doesn't mean it's true, okay?

2:20 And that's the most important difference.

2:21 Anything that's a fact is a fact.

2:24 It can't be argued against.

2:26 That's what makes a fact a fact.

2:28 So, when we make assertions, we commonly use these modal verbs.

2:34 When we provide opinion,

2:36 we would say "should" or "ought to", and when we offer suggestions,

2:41 we could say "could", and when we talk about possibilities

2:44 or suggestions or advice, we can use "might".

2:47 Now, when you're talking about assertions and opinions,

2:50 this is where a lot of people get confused.

2:54 Make sure you're using the word "would", not the word "will".

2:58 "Will" is a fact.

3:01 "Would" is a hypothetical.

3:04 It's possible, but there's no reason to believe that it's 100% fact now.

3:09 Now, before I continue,

3:10 I just want to let you know that "will" and "would" are often mixed up,

3:16 and especially in writing.

3:18 So, I did create another video specifically talking about "will" versus "would",

3:22 and if you want a bit of review, you can go watch that video after.

3:25 There's a link here for you to do that.

3:29 Next, let's talk about facts.

3:31 So, facts, we use the "be" verb or an active verb.

3:35 And if we're going to use a modal verb, we're going to use the modal "will".

3:39 Now, obviously this is going to be much easier with an example,

3:41 so let's look at an example.

3:44 I'm going to start one sentence,

3:45 and then I'm going to finish the sentence four different ways.

3:49 "To combat childhood obesity",

3:51 so children are getting fatter these days, "schools"- now,

3:56 I'm going to continue- "schools must prohibit the sale of sugary drinks".

4:02 They must do this.

4:03 I'm making a very strong sentence.

4:06 They must do it.

4:07 Now, if I say that a school must do

4:10 this, does that mean that the schools are doing it now?

4:14 No.

4:16 "Must" automatically suggests- and as "must", "should", and "could",

4:21 all of these modals suggest a future, because right now, it is not a fact.

4:28 And if it's not a fact now, it can only be a fact in the future.

4:32 If you're talking about the past, then you're only talking about facts,

4:36 and then you're going to use a past tense verb of whatever the verb is.

4:41 So, "schools must prohibit the sale of sugary drinks".

4:44 I'm making a very strong statement.

4:47 Right now, they're not, but they must do this.

4:49 Or, "to combat childhood obesity,

4:52 schools should prohibit the sale of sugary drinks".

4:56 This is my suggestion.

4:58 I think that this is a very good idea that schools should do.

5:00 Obviously, now they're not doing it.

5:03 They should do it, because this will help fight obesity.

5:07 "To combat childhood obesity, schools could prohibit the sales of sugary

5:13 drinks." This is just one possibility, one suggestion of what they could do.

5:18 They could do other things, too.

5:20 So, I'm still stating an opinion, more of like a suggestion,

5:24 a possibility of what they could do.

5:28 Or, "schools might want to prohibit", again, another suggestion.

5:33 Okay, so now, "to combat childhood obesity,

5:36 schools prohibit the sale of sugary drinks in their cafeterias", for example.

5:42 So, right away, you should notice a very...

5:45 You should notice a noticeable difference, right?

5:48 Here I'm stating a fact.

5:50 Right now, schools do this, because they're trying to combat obesity.

5:55 I could also say, "schools have prohibited",

5:58 or "many schools are prohibiting as we speak", etc.

6:02 But basically, I'm stating a fact.

6:05 There's no suggestion, there's no potential of something to do,

6:09 there's no forceful thing that they should do in the future.

6:13 Right now, this is what is happening, okay?

6:16 And I can say the sentence in another way with using a "be" verb,

6:20 but it doesn't really matter.

6:21 It doesn't really matter, especially simple present gives an idea of...

6:26 Simple present generally gives the idea of fact,

6:29 but any present tense verb will work as well;

6:32 present perfect or continuous as well.

6:35 So, this is one example.

6:37 Let me give you a few more just to get the idea a little bit clearer.

6:40 Okay, so now, I've written here a short little paragraph,

6:43 and I want you to notice the underlined verbs and try to understand.

6:48 And is it making an assertion,

6:50 offering a suggestion or opinion, or is it stating a fact?

6:55 So, "Some employers prefer to give their staff

6:58 extra holidays instead of a raise." I forgot to...

7:03 Prefer to give their staff extra holidays instead of raises.

7:07 So, this is a fact.

7:09 I'm just stating somebody's preference, and I can clearly point it out.

7:13 I can go to other companies and show you that they give more raises.

7:16 So, nothing to argue here.

7:18 Simple present verb, no problem.

7:20 Action verb.

7:21 "This approach would not work in our company." Okay?

7:25 Now, the reason this is an unreal assertion is because "would not work",

7:30 well, I don't know, we haven't actually tried it.

7:33 It would not work if we tried it, but we haven't.

7:37 So, it's a hypothetical situation.

7:40 Again, that video between Would and Will will explain that.

7:43 So, it's not a fact.

7:45 "In our company, because most of our employees cannot afford to travel." So,

7:50 this is actually a fact.

7:52 Now, notice I'm using "cannot" and not "could".

7:55 "Cannot afford", I'm looking at the whole thing

7:58 as a present action verb with a modifier,

8:01 not as a modal verb of a hypothetical, imaginary situation.

8:06 "We should raise their monthly incomes." This is something we should do,

8:11 which means we haven't done yet, so it's an opinion.

8:14 "As this would be more practical." So, "would be", again, if we did it.

8:20 So, this is more of an assertion because it's not a fact.

8:24 "But we must also consider", "we must consider", now, again, is this a fact?

8:33 No, it's more of an opinion.

8:34 We must do this.

8:35 We obviously haven't yet, but if you ask the bosses of the company,

8:40 maybe, "I don't want to consider it." Right?

8:42 So, you have to be very careful with "must".

8:45 "Must" is always an assertion, but you have to ask, "Can I prove it,

8:49 or is it just a very strong opinion?" In this case,

8:52 it's a very strong opinion that sounds like a fact.

8:56 That's the thing about assertions.

8:58 If somebody says something strongly enough,

9:00 a listener or a reader might think it's a fact.

9:04 Be very, very careful about facts and assertions.

9:09 "Must also consider staff burnout." Now,

9:12 "burnout" is a condition where you overwork

9:16 somebody and their brain sort of, like, smoke comes out of their ear, right?

9:21 It's technically fatigue; very,

9:23 very tired from doing your work over and over and over again.

9:28 It could be from just too many hours and physically just too tired.

9:32 It could also be from extreme boredom.

9:35 If you're doing the same job day after day after day after day,

9:39 even if it's not a hard job,

9:41 the sheer repetition and boredom might make you a little bit crazy,

9:46 and we call this condition "burnout".

9:49 So, "staff burnout", which is a common issue in this industry.

9:54 Again, I'm stating a fact,

9:55 because there have been reports, there has been research,

9:59 and you can go to other companies and see

10:01 the high turnover of staff, so that's a fact.

10:04 So again, this is just a very small and minor example.

10:09 As you're doing your reading, especially those of you who are doing the IELTS

10:13 and TOEFL or preparing for the IELTS and TOEFL,

10:16 this is one of the things that you need

10:19 to understand for the writing section, for the essay.

10:23 It's also very important to understand how modals work for the reading section,

10:29 because sometimes what they will test is your ability

10:32 to understand the difference between an opinion and a fact.

10:35 And they'll give you an opinion,

10:37 or they'll give you a fact in the reading passage,

10:41 and then the question they will paraphrase,

10:44 but they'll write it as an assertion, but not a factual assertion.

10:50 So, you have to make sure you understand if things are working together.

10:54 Consider the "yes", "no", or "true", "false", "not given" questions.

10:59 It's all about paraphrasing and how a sentence is structured,

11:02 so it's very important to understand the intention of the writer.

11:07 Okay?

11:08 So, if you have any questions about any of this, please go to www.engvid.com.

11:12 You can ask me in the comments section.

11:15 I will also put up a quiz there.

11:16 There is actually a quiz there

11:18 that you can test your understanding of assertions, opinions, and facts.

11:23 If you want some more tips on writing, especially for the IELTS and TOEFL,

11:28 please visit my other YouTube channel, www.writetotop.com.

11:34 That's where I deal with a lot of this more advanced writing tips.

11:38 And that's it.

11:39 I hope you liked the video.

11:41 Please give me a like if you did.

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11:50 And come back soon.

11:51 I'll have more useful writing tips for you, and grammar tips, and all that.

11:55 See you again soon.

11:56 Bye-bye.