The document discusses modal verbs in English. Modal verbs are special verbs that express meanings like ability, permission, obligation, possibility, and more. They are irregular verbs that are always followed by a bare infinitive without "to." Some common modal verbs are can, could, may, might, will, would, shall, should, must. Modal verbs are used to express functions such as permission, ability, obligation, prohibition, lack of necessity, advice, possibility, and probability. Examples of modal verb usage are provided.
The document discusses modal verbs in English. Modal verbs are special verbs that express meanings like ability, permission, obligation, possibility, and more. They are irregular verbs that are always followed by a bare infinitive without "to." Some common modal verbs are can, could, may, might, will, would, shall, should, must. Modal verbs are used to express functions such as permission, ability, obligation, prohibition, lack of necessity, advice, possibility, and probability. Examples of modal verb usage are provided.
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a lesson about modal verbs from myenglishpages.com
The document discusses modal verbs in English. Modal verbs are special verbs that express meanings like ability, permission, obligation, possibility, and more. They are irregular verbs that are always followed by a bare infinitive without "to." Some common modal verbs are can, could, may, might, will, would, shall, should, must. Modal verbs are used to express functions such as permission, ability, obligation, prohibition, lack of necessity, advice, possibility, and probability. Examples of modal verb usage are provided.
The document discusses modal verbs in English. Modal verbs are special verbs that express meanings like ability, permission, obligation, possibility, and more. They are irregular verbs that are always followed by a bare infinitive without "to." Some common modal verbs are can, could, may, might, will, would, shall, should, must. Modal verbs are used to express functions such as permission, ability, obligation, prohibition, lack of necessity, advice, possibility, and probability. Examples of modal verb usage are provided.
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What are modal verbs?
Modals (also called modal verbs, modal auxiliary
verbs, modal auxiliaries) are special verbs which behave irregularly in English. They are different from normal verbs like "work, play, visit..." They give additional information about the function of the main verb that follows it. They have a great variety of communicative functions.
Here are some characteristics of modal verbs:
They never change their form. You
can't add "s", "ed", "ing"... They are always followed by an infinitive without "to" (e.i. the bare infinitive.) They are used to indicate modality allow speakers to express certainty, possibility, willingness, obligation, necessity, ability
List of modal verbs
Here is a list of modal verbs:
can, could, may, might, will, would, shall, should, must
The verbs or expressions dare, ought to, had better, and need not behave like modal auxiliaries to a large extent and may be added to the above list
Use of modal verbs:
Modal verbs are used to express functions such as:
1. Permission 2. Ability 3. Obligation 4. Prohibition 5. Lack of necessity 6. Advice 7. possibility 8. probability
Examples of modal verbs
Here is a list of modals with examples:
Modal Verb Expressing Example Strong obligation You must stop when the traffic lights turn red. must logical conclusion / Certainty He must be very tired. He's been working all day long. must not prohibition You must not smoke in the hospital. ability I can swim. can permission Can I use your phone please? possibility Smoking can cause cancer. ability in the past When I was younger I could run fast. could polite permission Excuse me, could I just say something? possibility It could rain tomorrow! permission May I use your phone please? may possibility, probability It may rain tomorrow! polite permission Might I suggest an idea? might possibility, probability I might go on holiday to Australia next year. lack of necessity/absence of I need not buy tomatoes. There are plenty of need not obligation tomatoes in the fridge. 50 % obligation I should / ought to see a doctor. I have a terrible headache. should/ought advice You should / ought to revise your lessons to logical conclusion He should / ought to be very tired. He's been working all day long. had better advice You 'd better revise your lessons
Remember
Modal verbs are followed by an infinitive without "to", also called the bare infinitive.
Examples:
You must stop when the traffic lights turn red.
You should see to the doctor. There are a lot of tomatoes in the fridge. You need not buy any. Choose the right modal verb 1. There are plenty of tomatoes in the fridge. You needn't buy any. 2. It's a hospital. You mustn't smoke. 3. He had been working for more than 11 hours. He must be tired after such haed work. He may prefer to get some rest. 4. I could speak Arabic fluently when I was a child and we lived in Morocco. But after we moved back to Canada, I had very little exposure to the language and forgot almost everything I knew as a child. Now, I can just say a few things in the language. 5. The teacher said we can read this book for our own pleasure as it is optional. But we needn't read it if we don't want to. 6. Can you stand on your head for more than a minute? No, I can't . 7. If you want to learn to speak English fluently, you need to work hard. . 8. Take an umbrella. It might rain later. 9. You shouldn't leave small objects lying around . Such objects may be swallowed by children. 10. People mustn't walk on grass. 11. Drivers must stop when the traffic lights are red. 12. May I ask a question? Yes, of course. 13. You needn't take your umbrella. It is not raining. 14. Can you speak Italian? No, I can't .
