The Communicative Grammar of English Workbook - Edward Woods, Rudy Coppieters 2002

15.4. Attitudes to truth
Unit fifteen. Modality

Sections 293-297; 508; 587; 733

To express attitudes to the truth, we often use: a that-clause; a wh-clause; an adverbial or a comment clause.

We express such attitudes as certainty; doubt or uncertainty; belief or opinion; assumption; appearance

Task one **

Look at the examples below and then describe ways of showing attitudes to the truth and what each one of the examples expresses.

1. I just know that he won’t be here on time.

2. There’s no doubt that, by expressing her disapproval of the plan in such a manner, she upset all her colleagues and lost the argument.

3. You did take down all his details, I presume.

4. Obviously he was going to tell us.

5. It’s unlikely that she will be willing to take on that job.

Task two **

Complete the statements below with a suitable word or phrase which reflects the attitude shown in brackets after the statement. Avoid using a word similar to the one in brackets - e.g. for item 1, avoid using the verb ’assume’.

1. I ... you’ve made all your travel arrangements. (assumption)

2 ... nobody bothered to check if the customer had been properly informed. (appearance)

3 ... my ..., the case should never have gone to court. (opinion)

4. It’s my ... she actually arranged for books to arrive too late. Then she could have the test delayed. (belief)

5. Everyone has ... been told that they will have to come in to work on Sunday. (assumption)

6. It ... to me that we’re all to blame for the accident. (appearance)

7. David really ... he could persuade the company to give him special leave. (belief)

8. Pete was rather naive to believe that story, ...? (opinion)

9. The chairman ... that everyone will make special arrangements to be able to attend the meeting. (assumption)

10. I ... (not) ... we should ever have gone to war over such a minor issue and one that didn’t concern us. (opinion)

Task three **

Rewrite the statements below replacing the phrase underlined and state whether your rewritten phrase shows a) a belief or opinion; b) an assumption; c) an appearance; d) certainty; e) doubt or uncertainty.

1. I think the newspaper report suggested she had committed suicide.

2. He really believes the world revolves around him.

3. It appears that she never had the ring in the first place.

4. I assumed you knew exactly what the results of such an action would be.

5. In my opinion, we should give in now and take what we have.

6. It looks as if he’s not coming.

It is my belief that during this century overhead cables will disappear and all telecommunication

7. and electricity supplies will come via satellite.

8. You do know, I presume, that this work must be completed within two weeks.

9. You did behave rather stupidly, didn’t you? Telling him he’d made a fatal error of judgement.

10. I suppose he’s got there by now.