qingqing  +  134964 Thu, 08 Sep 05 03:04 AM I thought you ________ like something to read, so I have brought you some books. A. may       B. might       C. could       D. must He may／might／could be in the library． At that time we thought the story could not be true. The answer to the question is B. I want to know why we can't choose C? By the way, "conjecture" is the same as "possibility" in modal verbs? qingqing Joined on Mon, Jan 10 2005 Full Member 181 Verbs, Modals, Modal Verbs

	CalifJim  +  134981 Thu, 08 Sep 05 04:51 AM C is "I thought you could like something to read". This means "I thought you would be able to like something to read". It doesn't make sense because it talks about one person ("I") thinking about (speculating about) another person ("you")  having the ability to like something.  Why would I speculate on whether you have the ability to like something?  Everyone has the ability to like whatever they like.  In a sense, liking doesn't even require the ability to like.  Liking is just the natural reaction we have to things that please us.  Therefore, "I thought you could like" is completely anomalous as an idea, something like saying "This water is much drier than that water"!  CJ CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,399 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche

	CalifJim  +  134982 Thu, 08 Sep 05 04:55 AM I'm not sure what you mean by "conjecture" and "possibility" with modal verbs, but in any case, the two are not the same.  To conjecture, or to form a conjecture, is to surmise or to guess or to suppose.  That's not the same as possibility, which is a potentiality. CJ CalifJim Verbs, Modals