sal/moet (Guessing)
Guessing with Sal and Moet
Guess with sal or moet: Hy sal seker moeg wees. (He is probably tired.) Sy moet siek wees. (She must be sick.)
How It Works
1. Sal for a likely guess. Sal usually talks about the future, but with seker, wel or waarskynlik it can guess about now:
- Hy sal seker moeg wees. (He is probably tired.)
- Hulle sal nou al by die huis wees. (They will be home by now.)
- Dit sal die posman wees. (That will be the postman.) Someone says this when there is a knock at the door.
Note: as an adverb, seker means probably, not surely. Ek is seker means I am sure, but Hy kom seker means He is probably coming.
2. Moet for a strong guess. Just like English must, moet can show that you are nearly certain because of what you see or know:
- Sy moet siek wees; sy is nooit laat nie. (She must be sick; she is never late.)
- Jy moet Anna se broer wees. (You must be Anna's brother.)
3. The opposite: kan nie. To say that something is impossible, use kan nie ... nie: Hy kan nie honger wees nie; hy het pas geëet. (He can't be hungry; he has just eaten.) Moet nie would sound like a rule: must not.
4. Word order is the same as for any modal: the modal takes second place and the infinitive, often wees, goes to the end (see modal + infinitive).
Tip: To guess about the past, add a ge- form and het: Hy moet siek gewees het. See moet/kan ... het.
Examples (6)
- Hy sal seker moeg wees.
He is probably tired.
Word by Word: He will probably tired be.
Seker here means probably, and the sentence is about now, not the future.
- Sy moet siek wees; sy is nooit laat nie.
She must be sick; she is never late.
Word by Word: She must sick be; she is never late not.
- Dit sal die posman wees.
That will be the postman.
Word by Word: It will the postman be.
- Jy moet Anna se broer wees.
You must be Anna's brother.
Word by Word: You must Anna's brother be.
- Hulle sal nou al by die huis wees.
They will be home by now.
Word by Word: They will now already at the house be.
- Hy kan nie honger wees nie; hy het pas geëet.
He can't be hungry; he has just eaten.
Word by Word: He can not hungry be not; he has just eaten.
Kan nie is the opposite of the moet guess.
Common Mistakes
Using moet nie for can't be.
Hy moet nie honger wees nie; hy het pas geëet.Hy kan nie honger wees nie; hy het pas geëet.Moet nie sounds like a rule (he must not be hungry). To say that something is impossible, use kan nie.
Using is instead of wees after the modal.
Hy sal seker moeg is.Hy sal seker moeg wees.After a modal the verb is an infinitive, and the infinitive of is is wees.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Sal and moet can also express a guess.
Related Patterns
- kanCan
Kan nie ... nie gives the opposite guess: it cannot be.
Level 1 - moet/kan ... hetGuessing About the Past: Moet ... Het
The same kind of guess about the past.
Level 4 - sal ... hetWill Have Done: Sal ... Het
Sal + ge- form + het guesses that something has already happened.
Level 3 - gloGlo (Apparently)
Glo reports something you heard, while sal and moet show your own guess.
Level 3
Words in This Pattern
Practice sal/moet (Guessing) in Bubblegum
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