Business Modals certainty probability BE - Exercise Worksheet

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GrammarBusiness · Modals — certainty & probability

Modals — certainty & probability

Article excerpt · target grammar marked

A manager who has privately concluded that a project must continue tends to rationalise neutral data as encouraging. The sunk-cost fallacy may be the most costly bias in corporate life.

Grammar Reference · Modals — certainty & probability

Certainty — must

This must be the reason sales dropped in Q3. — near-certain deduction from evidence

Probability — should

The new process should reduce errors by around 15%. — confident expectation, not guaranteed

Possibility — might /

The figures might reflect a seasonal pattern rather than a trend. — open possibility, lower confidence

Common error

This must be caused by bias. ✓ — not must to be ✗ — no to after modal verbs

01Exercise 1 — Form · Write the Correct Form

Modals — certainty & probability

1.The anchoring figure in the opening bid have shaped the entire negotiation without anyone realising.

2.Restructuring now save the division, but the board is still hesitant to act.

3.The dip in employee engagement scores reflect the new appraisal system rather than workload.

4.A team that never challenges its manager be operating under strong groupthink pressure.

5.If we set recycling as the default option in every office, participation increase significantly within a month.

6.Her resistance to the new data stem from confirmation bias — she had already made up her mind.

02Exercise 2 — Transform

rewrite with the new structure

1.I am certain the drop in sales was caused by the anchoring effect.

2.It is possible that the manager was unaware of her confirmation bias.

3.I expect the new policy will reduce errors in the approval process.

4.There is a chance the decision was driven by loss aversion rather than evidence.

5.I am fairly confident that awareness of bias improves decision quality.

6.It is theoretically possible that the default option accounts for most of the change.

03Exercise 3 — About You

in your notebook

Personalise: complete five sentences about yourself using the target grammar.

Modals — certainty & probability01EnglishPlans.com