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Pter Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

Degree of certainty - may/could/would/should/will

0 Would you please help me to rank the degree of certainty in these statements:02br
001. It may take a few months to complete.02br
002. It could take a few months to complete.02br
003. It would take a few months to complete.02br
004. It should take a few months to complete.02br
005. It will take a few months to complete. 02br
02br
00Context:02br
00 I am given a task, the complexity of which I am not able to determine at this moment. To set the expectation, I want to get the message across that a few months is required in very complicated cases. Simple cases may take just a few days but I don't want to emphasize the trivial cases. Which of the above statements is most suitable for this situation? Is it better to add "up to" before "a few months"?02br
00Thank you very much. 0-
  

Top answer

0 01blockquote 01cite 10Pter12cite 10rank the degree of certainty in these statements12blockquote 10Language is not mathematics. 02br 02br 001. It may take a few months to complete.

— CalifJim

  • 0 01blockquote 01cite 10Pter12cite 10rank the degree of certainty in these statements12blockquote 10Language is not mathematics.
  • 02br 02br 001.
  • It may take a few months to complete.
  • ; the speaker is being non-commital]02br 02br 002.
  • It could take a few months to complete.
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8 Answers
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Pter12cite10rank the degree of certainty in these statements12blockquote
10Language is not mathematics. Your approach is completely wrong in my opinion, even though certainty does figure into some of these expressions, particularly the last.02br
02br
001. It may take a few months to com
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Pter12cite10Is it better to add "up to" before "a few months"?12blockquote
10Adding 01i00up to02i00 gives the message that you may be able to complete the task sooner than a few months but that, on the other hand, if things don't go well, the full amount of time estimated will be nece
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0 01blockquote
01cite10CalifJim12cite10Language is not mathematics. Your approach is completely wrong in my opinion, even though certainty does figure into some of these expressions, particularly the last.12blockquote
10 Thank you very much indeed, Jim, for your excellent reply. You have replied to my question in a way that I wi
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0>Does it mean MAY carries the meaning that the situation is under my control, but I just don't want to commit?02br
00No. It may or may not be under your control. You must come up for all alternatives with extra context in order to clearly define the expectations. Just the choice of a modal verb won't do. 02br
01i00May02i00 just says that an outc
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0 Thanks Marius. I should have asked the following instead -02br
00Does it mean 01i00MAY02i00 may carry the meaning that the situation is under my control, but I just don't want to commit?02br
00I know 01i00MAY02i00 just suggests that an outcome is possible. Maybe I'm pushing it too far. What I actually meant is that would s
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Pter12cite10one more option ... might ...12blockquote
11blockquote
01cite10Pter12cite10Does it mean 11i10MAY12i10 may carry the meaning that the situation is under my control, but I just don't want to commit?12blockquote
10If
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0 Thank you very much again, Jim. It is very clear to me now.0-
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It will take a few months to complete for very complicated cases.

Your premise "a few months IS required" is absolute and your comment was that your intent is to express this. You also know that there are differences for trivial and complicated cases and you want to emphasize the complicated cases. This leads towards the clarification which allows you to make a statement which you are c
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