Modal Verbs – Written by Héctor Iglesias Barnech [Fuentes Varias] – hgib333@hotmail.com ® THE FORM OF MODAL AUXILIARIES AUXILIAR + THE SIMPLE FORM OF A VERB CAN, COULD, MAY, MIGHT, SHOULD, HAD BETTER, WITHOUT TO MUST, WILL, and WOULD and would are immediately followed by the simple form of a verb CAN COULD - They are NOT followed by TO MAY - The MAIN VERB does NOT have a final “S” MIGHT - The MAIN VERB is NOT in its “-ING” form SHOULD HAD BETTER MUST WILL WOULD AUXILIAR + TO + THE SIMPLES FORM OF A VERB TO + the simple form is used with these auxiliaries: HAVE TO, HAVE GOT TO, OUGHT TO and BE ABLE HAVE TO TO HAVE GOT TO OUGHT TO BE ABLE TO I – EXPRESSING ABILITY: CAN, BE ABLE TO AND COULD Louis CAN play the piano CAN expresses abilityu in the present or future You CAN buy a screwdriver at a hardware store I CAN meet you at Ted’s tomorrow afternoon I CAN’T / CANNOT / CAN not understand the sentence The negative form of can may be written CAN’T, CANNOT or CAN NOT Our son COULD walk when he was one year old The past form of can is COULD He COULDN’T walk when he was six months old The negative of could: COULDN’T or COULD NOT II – EXPRESSING POSSIBILITY – MAY and MIGHT It MAY rain tomorrow It MIGHT rain tomorrow It MAY not rain tomorrow It MIGHT not rain tomorrow Yes, children, you MAY have a cookie after dinner. Okay kids, you can have a cookie after dinner
MAY and MIGHT express possibility in the present or future. They have the same meaning Negative: MAY NOT and MIGHT NOT Negative has no contradictions MAY is also used to give permission. Often CAN is used to give permission too… MAY is more formal than CAN
III – EXPRESSING POSSIBILITY – COULD TO Why isn’t Greg in class? I don’t know. He COULD be sick Look at those dark clouds. It COULD start raining any minute
COULD can mean past ability. But that is not its only meaning. Another meaning of COULD is possibility. In the first question, it expresses a present possibility. In the second question, it expresses a future possibility
IV – EXPRESSING PROBABILITY – SHOULD and OUGHT TO SHOULD and OUGHT TO Are sometimes used to say that something is probable, indicating that someone expects something to be true or to happen. The letter SHOULD / OUGHT TO arrive by Friday SHOULD / OUGHT TO + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE Can be used to talk about something that was expected to happen in the past / in the future. He SHOULD / OUGHT TO have finished the work earlier this morning / by the end of this month V – EXPRESSING PERMISSION – MAY and CAN You MAY not have a cookie You CAN’T have a cookie
MAY NOT and CANNOT are used to deny permission
MODAL VERBS – hgib333@hotmail.com – VRS0304032022 – Written by Héctor Iglesias Barnech ®- [Fuente: Varias]
Modal Verbs – Written by Héctor Iglesias Barnech [Fuentes Varias] – hgib333@hotmail.com ® VI – POLITE QUESTIONS – MAY I, COULD I, CAN I POLITE QUESTION MAY I please borrow your pen? COULD I please borrow your pen?
CAN I please borrow your pen?
POSSIBLE ANSWERS Yes Yes. Of course Yes. Certainly Of course Certainly Sure (informal) Okay (informal) Uh-huh (means “yes”) I’m sorry, but I need to use it myself
Please use MAY I, COULD I, and CAN I, to ask polite questions and they have basically the same meaning. CAN is less formal than MAY I and COULD I Please CAN come at the end of the question – MAY I borrow your pen, please? Please can be omitted from the question . MAY I borrow your pen?
VII – POLITE QUESTIONS – WOULD YOU, COULD YOU, WILL YOU, CAN YOU, (Atención, con USTED nunca se utiliza MAY) POLITE QUESTION POSSIBLE ANSWERS a) WOULD you please open Yes People use WOULD you, COULD the door? Yes. Of course you, WILL you, and CAN you to ask b) COULD you please open Certainly. I’d be happy to polite questions, and have basically the door? Of course. I’d be glad to the same meaning. The use of can c) WILL you please open the Sure (informal) is less formal door? Okay (informal) d) CAN you please open the Uh-huh (means “yes”) door? I’m sorry, I’d like to help, but my hands are full VIII – EXPRESSING ADVICE – SHOULD and OUGHT TO My clothes are dirty. I SHOULD / OUGHT TO wash SHOULD and OUGHT TO have the same meaning. them SHOULD + simple form of a verb (no to) OUGHT + simple form of a verb (+ to) You need your sleep. You SHOULD NOT stay up late Negative: SHOULD + not = SHOULDN’T OUGHT TO is usually NOT used in the negative I’m going to be late: What SHOULD I do? Question: SHOULD + SUBJECT + MAIN VERB Run OUGHT TO is usually NOT used in the questions I’m tired today The use of MAYBE with SHOULD and OUGHT TO You SHOULD / OUGHT TO go home and take a nap “softens” advice I’m tired today. Maybe you SHOULD / OUGHT TO go In the first sentence, the speaker is giving a definitive home and take a nap advice, but in the second one he is making a suggestion IX – EXPRESSING ADVICE – HAD BETTER
You HAD BETTER not eat that meat. It looks spoiled I HAD BETTER send my boss an e-mail right away
HAD BETTER usually implies a warning about possible bad consequences, like in the second sentence: If you don’t slow down, there could be a bad result. Negative: HAD BETTER NOT In speaking, had is usually contracted “ ‘D “
MODAL VERBS – hgib333@hotmail.com – VRS0304032022 – Written by Héctor Iglesias Barnech ®- [Fuente: Varias]
Modal Verbs – Written by Héctor Iglesias Barnech [Fuentes Varias] – hgib333@hotmail.com ® X – EXPRESSING NECESSITY – HAVE TO, HAVE GOT TO, MUST I have a very important test tomorrow: I HAVE TO / HAVE TO, HAVE GOT TO, and MUST have basically HAVE GOT TO / MUST study tonight the same meaning. They express theidea that something is necessary I’d like to go with you to the movies this evening, but I HAVE TO is used much more frequently in everyday can’t. I HAVE TO go to a meeting. speech and writing than MUST. Bye now I’VE GOT TO go. My wife’s waiting for me. I’ll HAVE GOT TO is typically ised in informal conversation call you later. MUST is typically found in written instructions. It is All passengers MUST present their passports usually strong, serious, “non sense” word It is Do we HAVE TO bring pencils to the test? HAVE TO is usually used in questions, not MUST or Why did he HAVE TO leave so early? HAVE GOT TO. Forms of DO are used with HAVE TO in questions. I HAD to study last night The past form of HAVE TO, HAVE GOT and MUST (meaning necessity) is HAD TO I HAVE TO (“hafta”) go downtown today HAVE TO sounds “hafta” Rita HAS TO (“hasta”) go to the bank HAS TO sounds “hasta” I’VE GOT TO (“gotta”) study tonight GOT TO sounds “gotta” XI – EXPRESSING LACK OF NECESSITY – DO NOT HAVE TO EXPRESSING PROHIBITION – MUST NOT I finished all of may homework this afternoon. IDON’T DON’T DOESN’T HAVE TO express the idea that HAVE TO study tonight something is NOT necessary Tomorrow is a holiday. Mary DOESN’T HAVE TO GO TO class Children, you MUST NOT play with matches! We MUST MUST NOT expresses prohibition (Do not do this!) NOT use that door. The signs says “Private” You MUSTN’T play with matches MUST + NOT = MUSTN’T (first “t” is not pronounced) XII – MARKING LOGICAL CONCLUSIONS – MUST / HAVE TO / HAVE GOT TO Nancy is yawning The “she MUST be sleepy” answer is a logical guess She MUST be sleepy and uses “MUST” to express his logical conclusion Logical conclusion: Amy plays tennis everyday. MUST can express: She MUST like to play tennis - A logical conclusion Necessity: If you want to get into the movie theater. You - A necessity MUST buy a ticket Negative logical conclusion: Eric ate everything on his MUST cannot express: plate except the pickle. He MUST no like pickles. - A negative logical conclusion Prohibition: There are sharks in the ocean near our - prohibitio hotel: MUST not go swimming there MUST It is used to draw conclusiones about present events MUST + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE Is used to draw conclusions about that happened in the past I heard that your dog died. It MUST HAVE BEEN very upsetting MUST + BE + ING Is used to draw a conclusion about something happening at the time of speaking Helen must be taking the children to school MUST + BE Is used to draw a conclusion about a present situation You didn’t get any sleep? You MUST be absolutely exhausted MUST + BE GOING TO Are used to draw a conclusion about something that is MUST + BE _ING likely to happen in the future There’s a “for sale” sign outside. They MUST BE GOING TO move HAVE GOT TO Is sometimes used when someone feels certain that HAVE TO something is true or will happen. There has to be a better way of doing this
MODAL VERBS – hgib333@hotmail.com – VRS0304032022 – Written by Héctor Iglesias Barnech ®- [Fuente: Varias]
Modal Verbs – Written by Héctor Iglesias Barnech [Fuentes Varias] – hgib333@hotmail.com ® XIII – MODAL OBSERVATIONS CAN MUST SHOULD OUGHT TO HAVE TO questions HAVE TO negatives OUGHT TO MUST and HAVE TO questions DON’T HAVE TO = It isn’t necessary MUSTN’T =It isn’t allowed Something wasn’t necessary in the past = DIDN’T HAVE TO XIV – MAYBE – MAY BE MAYBE it will rain tomorrow Compare: MAYBE John is sick (adverb) John MAY BE sick (verb)
They are the same for all subjects
We use “do” and “does” I don’t HAVE TO go Does she HAVE TO go? We don’t usually use it in its question form We usually use Do you think? Instead of OUGHT TO? We don’t usually use MUST in questions. Instead, we use Do I HAVE TO…? You DON’T HAVE TO wear a suit to work You mustn’t send personal emails from the office You DIDN’T HAVE TO get up early yesterday
MAYBE (one word) is an adverb and it means “possibly”. It comes at the beginning of a sentence. In MAY BE (two words) is a verb form: the auxiliary MAY + the main verb BE
XV– NOT MODAL – BE SUPPOSED TO – SOMETHING EXPECTED BE SUPPOSED TO We use BE SUPPOSED TO say a person is EXPECTED TO DO something Follows infinitive + TO XVI – NOT MODAL – BE ALLOWED TO – HAVE PERMISSION TO BE ALLOWED TO We use both to say we have PERMISSION TO DO CAN SOMETHING. Follows infinitive + to
MODAL VERBS – hgib333@hotmail.com – VRS0304032022 – Written by Héctor Iglesias Barnech ®- [Fuente: Varias]