4.2.2.2.7. Possible, likely or at least desirable, or maybe even necessary

Things may be possible in the sense that they are not impossible, or they may be possible in the sense that I don't know whether or not they are true. In simple communication, you do not commonly need to talk about the first kind of possibility (“It could rain on my birthday”). The second kind of possibility (“It could be raining outside”) is very frequently needed in basic communication. That is, you need to be able to express uncertainty. There may be different degrees of uncertainty. Compare “He might come tonight” with “He'll probably come tonight”. A concept related to possibility is ability. What I am able to do is possible for me, and what I am unable to do is impossible for me.

As with everything else we have considered, there is no reason to expect that the language you are learning will be at all like English in the way that it expresses these meanings. I cannot go into all of the possibilities. One that is worth noting is important because it would take us into a new realm. So far we have mainly been concerned with sentences that consist of a single clause. You may find that these meanings require two clauses. This happens in English in some cases: “It is likely that I will come”. Here the two clauses are “It is likely” and “that I will come”. Notice how each is like a sentence in its own right. We'll deal below with many types of sentences that have more than one clause.

Some languages put a lot of emphasis on degrees of certainty. They may distinguish between information which the speaker got from hearsay or directly observed. There may be several degrees of certainty that come into play, even in simple sentences.

For saying that something is desirable, a language may employ sentences with more than one clause, as in “It would be good if you left.” However, notice that in English, we can say “You should leave.” Likewise, in saying that something is necessary, a language may employ sentences with more than one clause, as in “He has to leave.” (Here the clause to leave is so chopped down that it may not seem like a clause to you.). But it may also be possible to express such a meaning within a single clause, as in “He must leave”.

Techniques: Use your pictures. Give your LRP some examples in English (or whatever language you are mainly using) of sentences which express possibility or likelihood. For example, if you have a picture of a restaurant, you might say, “Someone is probably eating in here.” If a man is walking by the restaurant, you could say, “This man might go into the restaurant”. Some examples will naturally involve a higher degree of likelihood than others. Your LRP can go through all of the pictures and make such statements. You can respond by pointing to the picture or situation she is referring to. Your LRP can use forms which carry the meaning of ability by looking around and asking you about things you are and are not able to do. Are you able to lift the fridge? Are you able to open the fridge?

To help you to learn to comprehend simple statements of desirability, such as “You should wrap the cloth around the fruit,” your LRP may be able to use these statements in place of command forms in TPR activities. You can combine the forms meaning “should” and forms meaning “must” in a single activity. If the LRP says you should do it, you may start to do it, hesitate, and then either do it or not do it. If she says you must do it, you quickly do it.

In connection with pictures, the LRP should be able to think of fairly simple statements of what people in the pictures should do or must do.