Guys, can someone explain why the answer to this is "may" and not "could"?

Without context every single choice is correct.

Actually, probably the most natural fit for this blank is a word that's not even listed: **will.** *We will either host lunch or dinner.* This makes the most sense as "either" is doing the work of expressing uncertainty. There's no need to use a "doubt word" like "may" or "could."

The vast majority of English speakers would use "could" and not "may" in this situation, regardless of what is "technically" correct. With that said, all of these would be grammatically correct (though D would be awkward to hear).

Ain’t they all right 😭

The real interesting thing to me is that this phrase contains a misplaced modifier. It should read “We ___ host either lunch or dinner”. “Either” should be operating on the word(s) following it. “We ___ either host lunch or dinner” is incorrect because it’s saying either host OR something, but there is no other something. That being said all options seem to fit to me.

Hey I have an honest question: Is this like, mandatory schooling? Or are you taking private english classes? Because if you are paying for private classes, looking at your history, I cannot imagine a world in which you are getting your money’s worth.

Could = it would be possible, it can be done May = it's allowed, something that's acceptable to do.

Im pretty sure I've only ever used ought to and shall in professional writing for procedure documentation. Many native speakers commonly miss use them in normal convo. If you say "We ought to grab some snacks on the way home." It sounds correct and makes sense. Though it is more correct to use "should" because it's a suggestion.

What the hell. Again, all four answers are correct. “Shall” is the least common, but still perfectly good English.

Seem all right to me!

Can we please name and shame the worksheets? I feel like this terrible material is making life unnecessarily hard on people trying to learn English.

Without more context, there is no wrong answer here. Most likely the “correct” answer has something to do with specific information your teacher gave you, not actual English usage.

Agree on what everyone else has said about all answers being correct, but am I the only one whose first thought is "either host" is awkward compared to "host either"?

In Texas it's weyotta

"could" is fine, it's a bad question.

I'm surprised no is mentioning the poor syntax of "either host" when "host either" would make more sense. The context isn't a choice of whether you could/may "host" versus something else, the choice is about what will be hosted: "either lunch or dinner." Regardless of which A-D option you choose, we would say "We \_\_\_\_ host either lunch or dinner."

Not without further context, no. Any of them fits, there should've been a context sentence to narrow it down.

They are all grammatically correct answers and have slightly different meanings. “May” indicates that it is one of several possibilities, or that you’ve received permission. “Could” means that you are capable of doing it if you want to, or if the situation requires it, or that you are asserting it as an option to consider. “Ought to” implies that doing it is exepected or proper etiquette, or perhaps fills an obligation. “Shall” indicates that it will be done as it is mandatory.

This is a horrible question. All of them are correct and the only way to tell which is supposed to be used is to have some context, which the question doesn't provide

Commenting to add that in all of these cases, it feels more natural to say either after host rather than before

All these ESL papers are so bad. They make English learners sound robotic while forgetting that English is so nuanced.

Out of context there is no "right" answer.  Each is as far as I can tell fine in usage.  I suspect there's other sentences surrounding this that would give you clues as to what answer the test expects. 

ALL OF THESE ARE CORRECT WHO IS WRITING THESE TESTS AAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHH

I can't for the life of me. This sub is suprisingly proficient at showing me how much I suck at English as a second language.

A and B are both correct.I would say the context here is missing.

~~Chose~~ Choose one option: Where does this question come from? A. SuccessCDs B. Modal MCQs test C. Modals MCQ quizz from SuccessCDs Edit: typo

Could or should would be the best two options. I see could on your list, so go with that.

Who are making these questions?!?!

Multiple choice questions are a bad way to test this kind of understanding, but this is the worst example there is.

Dude! This seems intentional at this point. Either you are making those up, or you should really really change school. But looking at your post history this feels fake now. Like no school in this world has this many wrong questions. I assume this is ragebait now.

It's b

None of those are "wrong". That is some weird stuff.

where are you getting these? they're Terrible. those all mean different things, but are grammatically correct. being part of this sub makes me think i need to work for an english learning curriculum company immediately.

“could” expresses uncertainty and passive whereas “may” expresses confidence.

It sounds more natural to me if you place the verb host before either.

I disagree with people saying the Worksheet is wrong. Without knowing the actual instructions we can't say. It could be saying past tense, present or future, but we have no way of knowing without the actual instructions. This causes these questions to be looked at in all different ways. Show the instructions fully and we'll be better able to help

“We may either host lunch or dinner.” We will host a lunch or we will host a dinner, but not sure which. “We could either host lunch or dinner.” We might host a lunch or a dinner… or we might not. “We ought to either host lunch or dinner.” We really should host a lunch or dinner. “We shall either host lunch or dinner.” We are definitely going to host a lunch or dinner but not sure which. I think the answer is may although they all technically work due to the placement of the word either. I think we may either do this or that is grammatically more correct than to say we could either do this or that… I think it makes more sense to say “We could host either a lunch or a dinner.”

I think its may because using could makes it feel like a question which would have the sentence ending with a question mark instead of just a period.

It's actually "host either"

All of these answers work (and mean different things) depending on context, though D sounds very old-fashioned and formal.

If you're viewing it without any context and assume both words mean the same thing, then "may" is correct because its held higher based on its formal use. "They said we could..." VS " They said we may..."

They're all "right." They mean different things. "We may either host lunch or dinner." We are allowed to host either lunch or dinner OR we might host either lunch or dinner. "We could either host lunch or dinner." We have the ability to host either lunch or dinner (but we might not.) "We ought to either hose lunch or dinner." We have an obligation to host either lunch or dinner. "We shall host either lunch or dinner." We are going to host either lunch or dinner (we just don't know which yet."

Any of these are grammatical to me. "Shall" would be a little strange to hear but I would just assume it's emphatic.

Casually, it would. However strict grammatical rules - Could" is used for past ability or a hypothetical possibility while "may" is more appropriate when discussing present or future possibilities.

Without context, I can't explain it. Any of these potentially work depending on what is the intended meaning.

These questions are all terrible. Anyway: I think the test-maker wants "may" as the choice that most specifically and directly means "possibly will, but it's uncertain." They think "could" is wrong as they believe it only suggests ability, not possibility (this is not true). They think "ought to" is wrong because... I don't even know why. There's not enough context to say whether A) or C) is what the speaker intends to express. Clearly they mean different things! But we have no way of knowing which is "correct" here. Finally, they think "shall" is wrong as it suggests certainty: *We shall host lunch* means we definitely will, as opposed to *We may host lunch.* However, crucially, this distinction doesn't even apply to the sentence as written, because it includes "either." So it's perfectly grammatical and sensible to say *We shall either host lunch or dinner*: this expresses certainty about **the fact that** we will host one of the two, though it's uncertain which.