MODAL VERBS 2nd of Bachillerato

DEFINITION MODALS ARE SPECIAL VERBS WITH THE FOLLOWING FEATURES: 1. THEY DO NOT CHANGE IN TERMS OF PERSON, GENDER OR NUMBER He can speak four languages / You can write Chinese 2. THEY FORM THE NEGATIVE AND THE INTERROGATIVE FORMS WITHOUT DO Must she do her homework? / We shouldn’t smoke 3. THEY ARE FOLLOWED BY THE BASE FORM OF A VERB (INFINITIVE OR PERFECT INFINITIVE) They may come to see us / I must have talked to her before leaving 4. THEY DO NOT HAVE INFINITIVE, GERUND, PARTICIPLE, FUTURE FORMS OR COMPOUND TENSES *to can, *canning, *canned, *will can, *have been canning/*is canned/etc. 5. THEY ARE USED LIKE ‘AUXILIARY VERBS’ IN SHORT ANSWERS, QUESTIONS TAGS & WITH SO, NEITHER, NOR ‘Must I wear a uniform?’ ‘Yes, you must’ You can’t lend me a pound, can you? They ought to study harder for the exams. So ought we.

SEMI-MODALS & NEED TO BE ABLE TO & HAVE TO ARE SEMI-MODAL VERBS BECAUSE THEY SHARE MOST OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF MODAL VERBS EXCEPT THAT THEY CAN BE CONJUGATED I would like to be able to stay here. You’ll be able to walk soon. Have you been able to solve the problem? When I was young I had to get up at 5 o’clock in the morning. They had had to train hard before the athletics competition took place. NEED TO IS NOT A MODAL, NOR A SEMI-MODAL, BUT IT SHARES SOME OF THEIR USES AND MEANINGS One needs to have a visa to go to the U.S.A. He needs to get a new pair of trousers.

CAN / BE ABLE TO / CAN’T CAN expresses: a) General ability or capacity to do sth  She can lift me up with one hand b) Possibility  Even expert drivers can make mistakes c) Ask for and give permission  Can we borrow these books? d) Offers, suggestions & requests  I can help you with the washing up. We can talk about that later. Can you come here a minute, please? BE ABLE TO expresses: a) General ability to do sth  One day people will be able to run a kilometre in two minutes We have been able to cook the dinner on time. b) Particular ability to do sth on a specific situation in past (with the meaning of manage to, succeed in) How many eggs were you able to eat at the festival competition? How many eggs did you manage to eat at the festival competiton?

CAN / BE ABLE TO / CAN’T CAN’T expresses: a) Lack of ability or capacity  I can’t cook a Spanish omelette. b) Impossibility  Humans can’t fly on their own. c) Prohibition  You can’t speak loudly at the hospital. d) Negative deduction or certitude that sth is impossible  They can’t be at home. The lights are off. That can’t be the postman, it’s only seven o’clock.

COULD COULD is the past form of CAN and it expresses: a) General ability or capacity to do sth in the past  He was a terrific liar: he could make anybody believe him. b) Polite requests  Could I see you tomorrow evening? c) Less direct suggestions or offers  I could do the shopping for you, if you’re tired. d) More remote possibility  Her performance was the best that could be hoped for.

MAY / MIGHT MAY expresses: a) Possibility  We may go climbing in the Alps next summer. b) Ask for or give permission  May I put the TV on? Visitors may not feed the animals. c) Ask for sth  May I have some more wine, please? MIGHT expresses: a) Less possibility  Peter might phone. If he does, could you ask him to ring later? b) Ask for permission (more formal)  Might I sit on this chair?

WOULD / SHALL SHOULD / OUGHT TO WOULD expresses: a) Polite requests  Would you open the window, please? b) Together with like, offers & invitations  Would you like a cup of tea? SHALL expresses: a) Offers  Shall I carry your bag? b) Suggestions  Shall we go to the concert? c) Requests for insructions  How shall I cook the chicken? d) Requests for avice  What shall I do? SHOULD / OUGHT TO express: a) Advice or opinion  You should go and see Mary. *Slight difference of use: should is used to give a subjective opinion or personal advice; ought to has a more objective force (talking about laws, duties & regulations). People ought to vote even if they don’t agree with any of the candidates

MUST / HAVE TO MUST expresses: a) Obligation (more commonly used when the obligation comes from the speaker, in present)  I really must stop smoking. You must be here by 8 o’clock at the latest. b) Logic deduction about a present event (to say that we are sure about sth because it’s logical)  Mary must have some problem: she keeps crying. There’s the doorbell. It must be Roger. HAVE TO expresses: a) Obligation (more commonly used when the obligation comes from ‘outside’ –a rule, an order, etc., in present; anytime in other tenses)  I have to work from 9 a.m. till 5 p.m. Did you have to go to church on Sundays when you were a child?

NEED TO / NEEDN’T NEED TO is not a modal, nor a semi-modal, but it is used in affirmative sentences to express: a) Obligation  One needs to have a visa to go to the U.S.A. b) Necessity  He needs to get a new pair of trousers. NEEDN’T is a modal and it expresses: a) Lack of necessity or obligaton  You needn’t try to explain. We needn’t book a table, the restaurant won’t be full tonight.

DON’T HAVE TO / MUSTN’T DON’T HAVE TO expresses: a) Lack of necessity or obligaton  You don’t have to come early tomorrow. MUSTN’T expresses: a) Prohibition  You mustn’t move any of the papers on my desk.

PERFECT MODALS MUST HAVE + participle expresses a logical deduction about a past event (certainty that sth was true)  The lights have gone out. A fuse must have blown. MAY / MIGHT HAVE + participle expresses a guess about a past action  Polly’s very late. She may have missed the train. ‘What do you think that noise was?’ ‘It might have been a cat.’ COULD HAVE + participle expresses ability to do sth in the past which in the end was not done  I could have married anybody I wanted to (but I didn’t). COULDN’T HAVE + participle expresses certainty that sth did not happen  I couldn’t have won, so I didn’t go in for the race.

WOULD HAVE + participle expresses desire to do sth in the past which in fact couldn’t be done  She would have arried earlier but she was delayed. SHOULD / OUGHT TO HAVE + participle expresses a criticism or regret after an event  I wonder where she is. She should have arrived by now. I ought to have gone out last night. I’m sorry I didn’t. SHOULDN’T HAVE + participle expresses a criticism or regret after an event You shouldn’t have told him anything about our conversation. NEEDN’T HAVE + participle expresses an unnecesary past action  I needn’t have bought all that wine, only three people came to the dinner.