Using future to express probability

Using future to express probability

In answer to a different question that I asked in a different thread, Perikles wrote the following:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perikles (Post 76205)

"Supposition or probability with regard to something in the present can be expressed with verb forms other than those most frequently associated with the present"

Estará en casa
He/she must be home now

I find that to be interesting - and without a real parallel in English. Would someone who's good at example giving (ah hem) give me some more examples of this construction? Thanks!!

It's called "futuro de probabilidad".

- ¿Qué hora es?
- Serán las 10.

- Juan ya no llama nunca a María.
- Habrán discutido.

- No he visto a Sara en todo el día.
- Estará enferma.

- Hoy Pedro no ha venido a comer.
- Tendrá mucho trabajo.
:)

I guess the parallel in English will be: "He/She will be home by now."

Quote:

Originally Posted by irmamar (Post 76218)

It's called "futuro de probabilidad".

- ¿Qué hora es? What time is it?
- Serán las 10. It must be 10 o'clock.

- Juan ya no llama nunca a María. Juan never calls Maria. (What is the "ya" there for?)
- Habrán discutido. They must be not getting along.

- No he visto a Sara en todo el día. I haven't seen Sara all day.
- Estará enferma. She must be ill.

- Hoy Pedro no ha venido a comer. Today Pedro hasn't come to eat.
- Tendrá mucho trabajo. He must have a lot of work.
:)

Thanks, Irma. Please remember how weak my Spanish is! Let me guess at what these sentences mean. I would appreciate if you could tell me if I'm correct, or help me understand their meanings....

Quote:

Originally Posted by laepelba (Post 76221)

Quote:

Escrito originalmente por irmamar http://forums.tomisimo.org/images/sm...5/viewpost.gif
It's called "futuro de probabilidad".

- ¿Qué hora es? What time is it? :good:
- Serán las 10. It must be 10 o'clock. :good:

- Juan ya no llama nunca a María. Juan never calls Maria. (What is the "ya" there for?) "yet". Juan used to phone María (llamar is used to phone, too), they were friends.
- Habrán discutido. They must be not getting along. I'm not sure of the correct verb to use here, "they quarrelled"? :thinking:

- No he visto a Sara en todo el día. I haven't seen Sara all day. :good:
- Estará enferma. She must be ill. :good:

- Hoy Pedro no ha venido a comer. Today Pedro hasn't come to eat. To have lunch. In Spain we say comer, "almorzar" is not so common.
- Tendrá mucho trabajo. He must have a lot of work. :good:

Thanks, Irma. Please remember how weak my Spanish is! Let me guess at what these sentences mean. I would appreciate if you could tell me if I'm correct, or help me understand their meanings....

You're welcome. :)

Would you use "by now" in these sentences, as Hermit pointed out? :thinking:

Quote:

Originally Posted by irmamar (Post 76224)

Quote:

- ¿Qué hora es? What time is it? :good:
- Serán las 10. It must be 10 o'clock. :good: It must be 10 o'clock by now. (The former is more general ... "It must be around 10 o'clock." The latter almost assumes that it's not much past ten.)

- Juan ya no llama nunca a María. Juan never calls Maria. (What is the "ya" there for?) "yet". Juan used to phone María (llamar is used to phone, too), they were friends. Now I definitely don't understand the meaning. Is it "Juan hasn't called Maria yet"?
- Habrán discutido. They must be not getting along. I'm not sure of the correct verb to use here, "they quarrelled"? :thinking: I would say "not getting along" if it was something longer termed. I would say "quarreled" (one "l") or "argued" or even "faught" (although I don't like that last one) for something that happened in a particular instance and they're still experiencing the repercussions. But how would "by now" fit into this case?

- No he visto a Sara en todo el día. I haven't seen Sara all day. :good:
- Estará enferma. She must be ill. :good: Again, I don't know if you could say "by now" in this sentence...??

- Hoy Pedro no ha venido a comer. Today Pedro hasn't come to eat. To have lunch. In Spain we say comer, "almorzar" is not so common.
- Tendrá mucho trabajo. He must have a lot of work. :good: And again - "by now" doesn't seem to fit here....

Would you use "by now" in these sentences, as Hermit pointed out? :thinking:

Sure, you can use "by now" in some of them, but it gives a different sense. It sort of adds a time limit ... consideration of whatever you're talking about is over around now... But I don't see how it could be used with all of your examples.....

Quote:

Originally Posted by laepelba http://forums.tomisimo.org/images/sm...5/viewpost.gif

Quote:
Escrito originalmente por irmamar http://forums.tomisimo.org/images/sm...5/viewpost.gif
It's called "futuro de probabilidad".

- ¿Qué hora es? What time is it? :good:
- Serán las 10. It must be 10 o'clock. :good:

- Juan ya no llama nunca a María. Juan never calls Maria. (What is the "ya" there for?) "yet". Juan used to phone María (llamar is used to phone, too), they were friends.
- Habrán discutido. They must be not getting along. I'm not sure of the correct verb to use here, "they quarrelled"? :thinking:

- No he visto a Sara en todo el día. I haven't seen Sara all day. :good:
- Estará enferma. She must be ill. :good:

- Hoy Pedro no ha venido a comer. Today Pedro hasn't come to eat. To have lunch. In Spain we say comer, "almorzar" is not so common.
- Tendrá mucho trabajo. He must have a lot of work. :good:

Lou Annn and Irma:

Juan ya no llama nunca a María. Juan never calls Maria anymore (ya). Yet= todavía

Habrán discutido. They must have argued

Quote:

Originally Posted by chileno (Post 76229)

Lou Annn and Irma:

Juan ya no llama nunca a María. Juan never calls Maria anymore (ya). Yet= todavía

Habrán discutido. They must have argued

Okay, so I have a vague recollection that we've had this conversation previously, but I would not use "yet" in that situation or to mean "anymore"...

Quote:

Originally Posted by laepelba (Post 76232)

Okay, so I have a vague recollection that we've had this conversation previously, but I would not use "yet" in that situation or to mean "anymore"...

Yet means todavía/aún it does not fit there.

You asked about what the "ya" was there for. It is there as "anymore" in this case.

Oh, that's called deja vu. ;->