MODALS +infinitive
Modals are a class of auxiliary verb. Auxiliary= help. It is not the main verb. It is a verb that helps the main verb.
He swims nada
He can swim puede nadar or sabe nadar
Notice:
- Modal verbs do not have the extra s with he, she, it
- Modal verbs are followed by the infinitive. They are not followed by to or ing. He can swim not he can to swim or he can swimming
- Modal verbs do not generally have a past form (except for can/could)
Examples:
CAN, COULD, SHOULD, OUGHT TO, WILL, WOULD, MIGHT, MAY, MUST
I couldn’t swim when I was five years old
You should take lessons if you want to improve your English skills
You ought to take lessons if you want to improve your English skills
They will arrive late for the lesson if they miss the bus (first conditional)
They would arrive late for the lesson if they missed the bus (second conditional)
Every morning I would have two eggs for breakfast (past routine)
We might come to the party. It depends on work
We may come to the party. It depends on work
May I leave now? Yes, you may (formal asking for permission)
Employees must wash their hands before serving food
Pronunciation of could, should and would
Would is pronounced exactly the same as wood. The “l” is silent. The same is true for could and should. However, grammar words are never stressed except for a purpose.
I could drive (unstressed)
Can anyone drive? Well, I could if it’s important (stressed)
Would is often abbreviated to the short form:
They’d arrive late… I’d have two eggs…
May and might
Are almost identical in meaning.
We might come to the party. It depends on work
We may come to the party. It depends on work
Be careful! Puede ser in Spanish is not can be in English, but may be.
- John may be the next president of the committee
- He might call a meeting for next Monday
- He could resign before Christmas
Can means something more like he is able to:
- He can resign because he has a private income
Should and ought to are almost identical
You should take lessons if you want to improve your English skills
You ought to take lessons if you want to improve your English skills
It is complicated to use ought in the negative and questions. Most people avoid it. The don’t say Ought I take the bus? They say Should I take the bus? They don’t say I ought not go to the party they say I shouldn’t go to the party.
You might hear He didn’t ought to have done that. It is easy enough to understand, but you don’t need to use that expression.
Practice
Fit appropriate modals into the spaces
You …. not take the dog on the airplane.
He ….. not go after all because something came up.
We ……. leave now because the door is locked
We ……… call home because there was a telephone in the room
If you want to lose weight, you ………… stop eating donuts
If I won the lottery, I ………… buy a new bike
It’s Granny’s birthday. We ………. buy her a present
In basketball you ……… kick the ball
You ……………. do your homework before you turn on the television
I promise I …………… go to the party if I have time
Let’s go to Hawaii. I ……………. if I ………….. , but I …………………..
More Practice
Here is an excellent review of Modal verbs on Perfect English Grammar
Here are some exercises on Hilfen. Remember there are hundreds of practice pages on the Hilfen site. You can do as many as you have time for.
Here is the Test English page for modals of deduction