MODAL VERBS

grammar reference    

 

grammar index             home          bat -1           bat-2         general             can/may       

 

must/need/have to         should       used to

 

 

can-could-ability

can-permission (1)

can-permission(2)

can-may-allow

must, need, have to, should (1)

must-should-have to-need (2) new-03-04

modal verbs- can, may, must, need new-03-04

modals-grammar

shall, should, ought to

listen to 'should'

 

 

All modal verbs have some special characteristics you should remember:

 

1. they do not take an -S in the third person singular: you cannot say

 he cans or she wills.

 

2. they are followed by an infinitive without 'to' in most cases.

BUT:

NEED takes 'to' when expressing absence of obligation in the negative:

Ex: You do not need to stay if you don't want to.

 

OUGHT TO is a special case and you must learn it like that. It expresses convenience.

Ex: You ought to study more more if you want to pass the exam.

 

3. Also in most cases they function like the verb to be for questions and  negatives:

ex: Can you speak louder, please ? No, I cannot speak louder.

BUT

You DON'T NEED TO  speak louder to express absence of obligation

You DON'T HAVE TO

 

4. Also in most cases they do not have a past form of their own, so we need different forms like  BE ABLE TO: I will be able to speak French in

two months or BE ALLOWED TO : You will be allowed to go out as soon as you are eighteen. However

CAN   ---------------------- COULD

Or

MAY----------------------------- MIGHT    

 

However, past tenses in modal verbs normally mean more than just time.

- COULD is more polite than CAN  and can also be used for the present and

- MIGHT is less probable than MAY.

 

5. Sometimes modal verbs can also be followed by a perfect infinitive.

Ex: it MUST HAVE BEEN the rain, which talks about the past.

"Debió ser la lluvia".      

USO DE LOS VERBOS MODALES MAS FRECUENTES.

 

CAN/MAY  

 

Valor expresivo

presente

pasado

futuro

capacidad

She can speak English

           

She could understand Chinese,

but now she can't (general )

We WERE ABLE TO jump the hurdle(specific)

You will be able to speak  French.

Permiso

peticiones

Can you pass me the salt ?

Could you pass me the salt ?

May I go out ?

Yes, you may/may not

I couldn't leave the class .

I wasn't allowed to leave the class.

They didn't allow me to leave the class

You won't be allowed to drink in the army.

They won't allow you to drink in the army

posibilidad

What can that be ?

What could that be?

That may be the rain

It may have been the rain.

It can have been the rain

It could have been the rain

 

 

 

MUST/ NEED/ HAVE TO

 

Valor expresivo

presente

pasado

futuro

Obligación

prohibición

You must sit correctly

You mustn't speak loud

You need to start again.

           

She had to be home early.

You were  not allowed to get late.

You must be here tomorrow at ten o'clock

You will have to eat everything at school.

You won't be allowed to smoke there.

Ausencia de obligación

You needn't do it if you don't want to

You don't have to do it

You don't need to do it

You didn't need to do it.

You didn't have to do it

You needn't have done it

You won't need to spend money in the army.

They won't have to pay for the drinks in the party

deducción

That must be John coming (afirmativa)

That can't be John (neg)

That must have been John

That can't have been John

 

 

 

 

USE OF   SHOULD/ OUGHT TO 

 

- they are used to express 'convenience'

ex: you should/ought to study more: deberías estudiar más.

- ought to in the interrogative looks  peculiar but works a s a modal anyway.

Ought he to stay in bed or go out already ?

 

USE OF MIGHT

 - it can appear in the same contexts as MAY but it expresses less probability: it might rain tomorrow is less probable than it may rain tomorrow

 

- might as well… is used to express the idea of 'it makes no difference', like when we say in Spanish 'lo mismo…..

 

ex: 'I might as well walk home…(Sp: 'lo mismo voy andando a casa)

 

 

USE OF   USED TO  

 

It can function as a

 

1. as a modal verb:

 

 

to play in this area of the school ?

 

 

 

 

 

2. as a full verb

 

 

in that area of the school.

In this case DID auxiliary is used