Modals

List of the Modal Verbs Can Could May Might Will Would Shall Should Must Ought to

Modals are different from normal verbs They don't use an 's' for the third person singular. They make questions by inversion ('she can go' becomes 'can she go?'). They are followed directly by the infinitive of another verb (without 'to'), except ought to.

Modals generally express a speaker’s attitude or moods. Modals can express that a speaker feels something is necessary, advisable, permissible, possible, or probable, and, in addition, they can convey the strength of these attitude.

Can = Ability or Permission I can play piano. Can I go with you? May, Could = Permission May I come in? Could I go with you? May, might = Possibility It may rain outside It might also snow Must, have to = Obligation I must catch my train I have to catch my train Should = Advice, recommendation You should drink more water You should try new Chinese restaurant Will = Future I will see you tomorrow Shall = Suggestion, Offering help Shall we have a drink? Shall I carry your bag?

Permission use verbs such as 'can', 'could' and 'may' to ask for and give permission. We also use modal verbs to say something is not allowed. Examples, Could I leave early today, please? You may not use the car tonight. Can we swim in the lake?

Polite Request May I, Could I, Can I Polite Impolite Used to request permission May I borrow your book? Could I borrow your book? (It has a present or future meaning not a past meaning) Can I borrow your pen? (used informally to request permission) Polite Impolite

Would you, Will you, Could you, Can you Would you and will you are having the same meaning in a polite request. Would you is more common and is considered more polite a. Would you pass the salt (please)? (Do you want to do this please?) b. Will you (please) pass the salt? c. Could you pass the salt? (Do you want to do this please, and is it possible for you to do this?) d. Can you pass the salt? (used informally, less polite than would you & could you)

Would you mind Asking Permission Asking someone else to do something Would you mind if i closed the window? (refer to present or future, not past) Meaning May I close the window? Is it allright if I close the window? will it cause you any trouble or discomfort if I close the window? Asking someone else to do something Would you mind closing the window? I don’t to cause you any trouble, but would you please close the window? Would that cause you any inconvinience?

Expressing Necessity Must, Have to All applicants must take an entrance exam. All applicants have to take an entrance exam. (a&b express necessity, meaning the exam is required, there is no other choice) In everyday statements of necessity, “Have to” is more common than “must”. Must indicates urgency or importance. I’m looking for Sue. I have to talk to her about our lunch tomorrow. Where’s Sue? I must talk to her right away.

Have to, Have got to “Have got to” express the idea of necessity. It is informal and is used in spoken English. “Have to” is used in both formal and informal english I have got to go now. I have class in ten minutes. I have to go now. I have class in ten minutes. *Note: have got to become ‘ve gotta/ gotta – dropped have The past necessity is expressed by had to. (I had to study last night) No past form for must (when it means necessity) and have got to

Lack of necessity and prohibition Lack of necessity = don’t have to Tomorrow is holiday. I dont have to go to school. (meaning: it’s not necessary to to go because tomorrow is holiday) Prohibition = must not You must not tell anyone my secret. (meaning: DO NOT DO THIS! I forbid it)

Advisability Should, Ought to You should study harder. You ought to study harder. (This is a good idea) Drivers should obey the traffic lights. Drivers ought to obey the traffic lights. (this is a very important thing to do) Statement of a suggestion Statement about responsibility or duty

Had better Implies a warning or a threat of possible bad concequences Has a present or future meaning. The gas tank is almost empty. We had better stop at the next service station.  If we don’t stop, there’ll be a bad result. We will run out of gas.

Suggestion Could We could go on a picnic. You could talk to your teacher.

Probability It can be used when we want to say how sure we are that something happened / is happening / will happen We often call these 'modals of deduction' or 'speculation' or 'certainty' or 'probability‘ We can use these when we want to make a guess about something. We choose the verb depending on how sure we are.

Perhaps he is sick. I am only making a guess. Degrees of certainty Refers to how sure we are (what we think the chances are) that something is true. Must  used to express a strong degree of certainty (95%) He must be sick. (I have the evidence to make me belive that he is sick) May, might, could be  express a weak degree of certainty (less than 50%) He may be sick. He might be sick. He could be sick. Perhaps he is sick. I am only making a guess.

Probability – Talking about Present must / might / could / may / can't must + infinitive might / might not + infinitive could / could not + infinitive may / may not + infinitive can't + infinitive *Note: the opposite of 'must' is 'can't in this case. Example, I am waiting for Julie with another friend, David. I ask: 'Where is Julie?' David guesses: She must be on the bus. (I'm fairly sure this is a good guess) She might come soon. (maybe) She could be lost. (maybe) She may be in the wrong room. (maybe) She can't be at home. (I'm fairly sure this isn't true)

Will / won't Should / shouldn't Note: We use will and won't when we are very sure She’ll be at work now. Should / shouldn't used to make an assumption about what is probably true, if everything is as we expect They should be there by now. It shouldn't take long to drive here. Note: This use of should isn't usually used for negative events. Instead, it's a better idea to use will: The underground will be very busy now (not: 'should be').

Can used for something that is generally possible, something we know sometimes happens Prices can be high in London. *Note Can is not used to talk about specific possibilities: He could be on the bus (not: 'can be').

Probability – Past tense must / might / could / may / can't + have + past participle must have + past participle might / might not have + past participle could / couldn't have + past participle may / may not have + past participle can't have + past participle Example, You: Where was Julie last night? David: She must have forgotten about our date. She might have worked late. She could have taken the wrong bus. She may have felt ill. She can't have stayed at home.

Will / won't + have + past participle used for past certainty The parcel will have arrived before now. Should + have + past participle can be used to make an assumption about something that has probably happened, if everything is as we expect The train should have left by now. Could use could + infinitive to talk about a general possibility in the past Prices could be high in the sixteenth century. This is not used to talk about specific possibilites in the past (instead we use could + have + past participle): He could have been working late (not: 'could be'. As this is a specific possiblity, 'could be' is present tense)

Ability We use 'can' and 'could' to talk about a skill or ability. When we talk about ability, we mean two things. General Ability This is something that once you have learned you can do any time you want, like being able to read or swim or speak a language. Specific Ability This mean something that you can or can't do in one particular situation. For example, being able to lift something heavy, or find somewhere you are looking for.

Ability - Present can / can't (for both general and specific ability) I can play the piano. She can speak English. He can't drive – he's too tired. We can't come now.

Ability - Past could / couldn't (for general ability) I could read when I was four. She could speak French when she was a child, but now she has forgotten it. He couldn't dance at all until he took lessons. My grandfather couldn't swim. was able to / couldn't (for specific ability) When the computer crashed yesterday, I was able to fix it.(not 'I could fix it') She was able to pass the exam, even though she hadn't studied much.(not 'she could pass') could + have + past participle (an ability someone had in the past, but didn't use) I could have played the piano well but I didn't practise enough. She could have studied law, but she preferred to become a secretary.

Ability - Future will / won't be able to (general ability) At the end of the course, you will be able to make your own website. He won't be able to speak Japanese in a week! It will take months. can / can't (specific ability) I can help you tomorrow. I can't come to the party.

Habits use 'will' and 'would' to talk about habits or things we usually do, or did in the past. Examples, When I lived in Italy, we would often eat in the restaurant next to my flat. John will always be late!

Habitual Past Used to Express a habit, activity, or situation that existed in the past but which no longer exists. I used to live in Semarang. Be used to has the same meaning with accustomed to Mary is used to cool weather.

Preference Would rather a. I would rather go to a movie tonight than study grammar. b. I’d rather study history than (study) biology. note: if the verb is the same, it doesn’t have to be repeated again.

Modals chart 1 Modals chart 2