Full-form verbs communicate more power than contractions. When we tell someone what is not permitted, we sound much more serious when we use full-form verbs. To sound less demanding, we often tell others what is not allowed by using contractions and weaker modal verbs.
In this exercise, you will hear prohibitions from our story. As you listen, decide whether the speaker is gently disallowing something, prohibiting something in a normal tone, or strongly communicating a serious prohibition.
For each audio statement, click on either Gentle, Normal, or Strong. The correct answer will turn blue when you click on it.
| Prohibition | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Gentle | Normal | Strong | |
| 2. | Gentle | Normal | Strong | |
| 3. | Gentle | Normal | Strong | |
| 4. | Gentle | Normal | Strong | |
| 5. | Gentle | Normal | Strong | |
| 6. | Gentle | Normal | Strong | |