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Course: French English Spanish Greek
Explanations in: Greek English Spanish French
C1

Certainty and probability: devoir, être censé, sans doute

How to express how sure you are: il doit être malade, il a dû oublier, il paraît que, sans doute.

FrenchEnglishCertainty
Il est malade.He's ill.certain
Il doit être malade.He must be ill.very likely
Il a dû oublier.He must have forgotten.very likely (past)
Il aura oublié.He'll have forgotten.assumption
Il est sans doute malade.He's probably ill.likely
Il se peut qu'il soit malade.He may be ill.possible (+ subjunctive)
Il serait malade.He's reportedly ill.unconfirmed

Supposed and reported

FrenchEnglish
Tu es censé être au travail.You're supposed to be at work.
Il paraît qu'elle déménage.Apparently she's moving. (+ indicative)
Il semble qu'il ait changé d'avis.It seems he's changed his mind. (usually + subjunctive)
Il me semble que tu as raison.I think you're right. (+ indicative)
Selon / D'après le ministre, …According to the minister…

Test yourself

  1. Translate: «He must be tired.» (deduction)
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    Il doit être fatigué.
  2. Translate: «He must have missed the bus.»
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    Il a dû rater le bus.
  3. Translate: «The meeting is supposed to start at 10.»
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    La réunion est censée commencer à 10 h.
  4. What does «Il viendra sans doute» mean?
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    He'll probably come.