With a partner, discuss how the meaning of the sentences changes when options A, Band C are used in the gaps.

1. Expert opinion suggests that, in 2030, an entirely new form of non-physical communication that will make today's social media appear positively prehistoric.

A. will be developed
B. will have been developed
C. will develop

2. Many inventors look at what they have created and think to themselves, ‘l’m going to be rich soon because I know this .

A. works
B. will work
C. could work

3. Educators seem to be in broad agreement that Coding the most important and popular Subject in schools, colleges and universities around the world.

A. might become
B. may well become
C. is about to become

Suggested Answer

1

A. The suggestion is that the development of this new form of nonphysical communication will begin and end in 2030.

B. The verb form changes the meaning completely, so the writer is suggesting that this new form will already be in use by 2030. The completion date of the development is unclear, but we know it takes place at some point between now and 2030. More often, with this grammatical form, in+ year/month/etc. is replaced with by+ year/month/etc.

C. The active, rather than passive, verb form suggests something different again, and something rather strange. In this case, the writer is stating their belief that this new form communication will inevitably begin in 2030, but as a natural process, apparently without human involvement. As such, it does not really make logical sense.

2

A. This sentence suggests that the inventor has a fully tested and functional product ready to launch or recently launched-into the marketplace. They are entirely confident in its potential to sell from the moment it is available to buy. They are expressing their confidence as a given fact, rather than a prediction.

B. This example is similar to A in terms of the inventor's confidence in the product. However, this time, the verb form reflects a prediction. The prediction is that the product will work once the inventor has finished developing it.

C. In this example, the inventor still feels positive about the outcome -i.e.that he/she is going to be rich-but the use of the word could throws a little more doubt onto the product. Maybe it is still in development; maybe the market research they have conducted suggests that its success is far from guaranteed. In fact, to make more sense, the sentence should read, 'I might be rich soon because I know this could work.'

3

A. The writer is making a 'soft' prediction. The popularity or importance of Coding as a subject is not guaranteed, neither does the writer offer any timescale as to when it can be expected to become 'the most important and popular subject'.

B. The writer is more confident in their prediction, and they are suggesting that its future importance and popularity is much more likely to happen than not. This effect is achieved by the addition of the word well after the modal verb.Asimilar meaning is expressed by might/may/could+ well+ bare infinitive.

C. Here, the writer is suggesting that Coding is, in the eyes of educators, very soon to become the most important and popular subject in schools, etc. This is not a prediction based on any form of subjectivity or guesswork; perhaps educators all over the world have produced over whelming evidence to support their claim. Using 'about to' allows the writer to produce a more objective statement than withoptionsA and B, which are more speculative/hypothetical