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Modals Verbs

Modal verbs are auxiliary verbs that provide additional meaning to the main verb of a sentence. There are several modal verbs in English including can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would, and ought to. Modal verbs do not conjugate or take infinitives and do not have all tenses. They are used to express concepts like ability, permission, advice, certainty, criticism, obligation, and necessity. Modal verbs can have single or double meanings depending on the context.

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Afif Dhaifullah
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27 views

Modals Verbs

Modal verbs are auxiliary verbs that provide additional meaning to the main verb of a sentence. There are several modal verbs in English including can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would, and ought to. Modal verbs do not conjugate or take infinitives and do not have all tenses. They are used to express concepts like ability, permission, advice, certainty, criticism, obligation, and necessity. Modal verbs can have single or double meanings depending on the context.

Uploaded by

Afif Dhaifullah
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Modals verbs

What are modal verbs?


They are:
Modal verbs are sometimes
• Can referred to as
• Could Modal Auxiliary verbs because
• May they help other verbs
• Might
• Must
• Shall They are Auxiliary verbs that
• Should provide additional and specific
• Will
meaning to the main verb of the
sentence
• Would
• Ought to
How do we use modals?
S M V
Subject Verb

Example: Mary could play the piano

They do not accept conjugation


They do not need other auxiliary verbs
Form
There is no “s” in singular
There is no “do / does” in the question
There is no “don’t / doesn’t” in the negative

 He can sing
XHe cans sing or He can sings
 Would you like to come with me?
X Do you would like to come with me?
 They can’t be serious
X They don’t can be serious
Form
Modal verbs do not have infinitives or –ing forms

to can / caning to must /musting

Modal verbs are followed by an infinitive without to

She must study


We should have gone the other way
He could play football in his youth (general ability)
Form
Modal verbs do not have all the tenses

Modal verbs use other verbs to complete the tenses


Can is completed with be able to
Must is completed with have to

• They can play piano = They will be able to


play the piano in the future
• You must come early = You had to come
early yesterday
What do they express?
They can have more than one meaning
depending on the situations

To understand it better we are going to divide them into


3 categories
1. Single Concept Modal: they have one meaning
2. Double Concept Modal: they have two meanings
3. Modals in past: They are used to express a situation in
the past
Categories
Single concept Modals Double Concept Modals in Past
Modals

Will May Would have


Might Must Could have
Should Would Might have
Ought to Shall Should have
Had better Could May have
Can Must have
Single Concept Modal

Modal Concept Examples


Will Future Joe will travel to NY next week

Might Small probability I might move to Canada some day

Should Recommendation You should go to the doctor

Ought to Formal We ought to know about first aids


recommendation
Double Concept Modal
Modal Concept Examples
May (1) Permission May I come in?

May (2) Good probability We may visit Mexico this summer

Must (1) Responsibility Everyone must pay taxes

Must (2) Assumption She didn’t arrive. She must be sick

Would (1) Past (used to) When I was young, I would play soccer

Would (2) Present unreal I would buy the car but I can’t afford it
Double Concept Modal
Modal Concept Examples
Shall (1) Educated expression Excuse me, I shall go now
Offer Shall I clean it?
Shall (2) Contractual obligation The company shall pay on January 1st

Could (1) Unreal Ability I could go if I had time

Could (2) Past Ability She could play the piano, not anymore

Can (1) Present Ability We can speak English

Can (2) Permission Can I have a sweet?


Modals in the Past
 They are modals referred to actions that happened in
the past

MODAL + HAVE + verb in past participle

 It must have been a difficult decision


 They should have invited her to their wedding
MODALS: ABILITY
CAN:
√ Expresses ability in the present or generally:
 I can run a kilometre in four minutes.
√ It is used for decisions made about future ability:
 We can meet at the gym tomorrow.

COULD:
√ Expresses ability in the past.
In sentences (if only) it expresses ability in the present, future and in general
hypothetical situations:
 If only you could come

COULD HAVE+ PAST PTC:


√ Expresses ability in past hypothetical situations:
 I could have roasted the turkey.
For other tenses: BE ABLE TO+INFINITIVE
MODALS- PERMISSION
MAY (more polite than 'could'):
 May I go out?
COULD(more polite than 'can'):
 Could you repeat, please?
CAN(informal use):
 Can I go to the toilet?
These modal verbs express giving permission now or for
the future.
For the past we have 'could' or 'be allowed to':
 I could go out with my friends/
 I was allowed to go out with my friends.
MODALS- ADVICE

SHOULD+ INFINITIVE / SHOULDN'T+ INFINITIVE


OUGHT TO
These verbs are used for giving advice now, for the
future or generally:
 You should go to the doctor now.
 They shouldn't buy things if they have little money.
 He ought to study for the exam.
MODALS- DEGREES OF
CERTAINTY
MUST/CAN'T/COULDN'T} Express certainty about now or the future:
 That must be the new manager/
 She can't be so old. She looks very young.
MUST/CAN'T/COULDN'T HAVE + PAST PTC} Express certainty
about the past:
 She must have been in a lot of pain/
 They couldn't have been on holiday for so long.
SHOULD/OUGHT TO} Express probability about now, the future or
generally:
 You ought to feel better in a few days.
SHOULD/OUGHT TO HAVE+ PAST PTC} Express probability about
the past:
 The bruises ought to have disappeared in a few days.
MODALS- DEGREE OF CERTAINTY (CONT.)
COULD/MAY/MIGHT} Express possibility about now, the
future or generally:
 You should talk to your doctor because that diet might be
dangerous.
COULD/MAY/MIGHT HAVE+ PAST PTC} Express possibility
about the past:
 That might have been the doctor who rang while we were
out.
COULD/MIGHT HAVE+ PAST PTC} Express possibility
about a hypothetical past:
 If you didn't follow your doctor's advice, you could have
become quite ill.
MODALS- CRITICISM

SHOULD HAVE+ PAST PTC.


OUGHT TO HAVE+ PAST PTC.
These forms express a criticism of past behaviour.
 He should have eaten more before going out.
 He ought to have made more effort.
MODALS- OBLIGATION AND NECESSITY

MUST/ HAVE TO/ NEED TO} Express an obligation or


necessity:
 I must /have to/need to study for the exam.
NEEDN'T/DON'T HAVE TO/DON'T NEED TO} Express no
obligation or necessity:
You needn't/don't have to/don't need to go to the shop. There
is a lot of food in the fridge.
HAD TO} Expresses a past obligation:
 He had to study hard for his exams.
NEEDN'T HAVE+ PAST PTC} Expresses a lack of past
obligation (an action that happened):
 They needn't have gone to the shop. There was plenty of
food in the fridge.
Thank You

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