Modals in a Compliance Instruction
A compliance memo contains four sentences: (1) "Contractors must log entry within 10 minutes." (2) "Visitors should be escorted at all times." (3) "Staff may use the side entrance during maintenance." (4) "Drivers must not reverse without a spotter." A new staff member summarizes these as: "Everyone has to log in, be escorted, use the side entrance, and never reverse." The supervisor says the summary is wrong in two places and overstated in one. The memo is the only source; no other policy document exists.
1. Identify which of the four sentences the summary distorts, and explain the modal logic.
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Three problems, matching the supervisor's count.
- "Everyone has to log in" - sentence (1) applies to contractors, not everyone. The modal "must" is strong, but its subject is restricted. The summary widens the scope.
- "be escorted" - sentence (2) uses "should," which is a recommendation, not a requirement. The summary upgrades a recommendation to an obligation.
- "use the side entrance" - sentence (3) uses "may," which grants permission. The summary turns an option into a duty.
Sentence (4), "must not reverse without a spotter," is correctly rendered as "never reverse" only if the spotter condition is kept. Dropping it makes the rule stricter than written.
2. Rewrite the summary so it preserves both strength and scope.
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A faithful version separates the four rules by who they bind and how strong they are:
- Contractors must log entry within 10 minutes (obligation, contractors only).
- Visitors should be escorted at all times (recommendation).
- Staff may use the side entrance during maintenance (permission, conditional on maintenance).
- Drivers must not reverse without a spotter (prohibition with a stated exception path).
The key discipline is to carry three things through every paraphrase: the modal strength (must / should / may), the subject (who), and any condition (during maintenance, without a spotter). A summary that keeps the verbs but drops the conditions still misstates policy.