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    Modal Auxiliaries: Prepared by

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    Modal auxiliaries are a small class of verbs that express concepts like possibility, permission, necessity, prediction and intention. They include will, can, may, shall, must, would, could, might, should and less commonly ought to, used to, need, dare, be to, be going to, had better and would rather. Modals occur before the infinitive verb, have no inflected forms, and are placed before subjects and negatives. They are widely used in conversation for speech acts such as requests, offers and promises.

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    Modal Auxiliaries: Prepared by

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    51 views12 pages
    Modal auxiliaries are a small class of verbs that express concepts like possibility, permission, necessity, prediction and intention. They include will, can, may, shall, must, would, could, might, should and less commonly ought to, used to, need, dare, be to, be going to, had better and would rather. Modals occur before the infinitive verb, have no inflected forms, and are placed before subjects and negatives. They are widely used in conversation for speech acts such as requests, offers and promises.

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    Modal Auxiliaries

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    Modal auxiliaries are a small class of verbs that express concepts like possibility, permission, necessity, prediction and intention. They include will, can, may, shall, must, would, could, might, should and less commonly ought to, used to, need, dare, be to, be going to, had better and would rather. Modals occur before the infinitive verb, have no inflected forms, and are placed before subjects and negatives. They are widely used in conversation for speech acts such as requests, offers and promises.

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    51 views12 pages

    Modal Auxiliaries: Prepared by

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    Modal auxiliaries are a small class of verbs that express concepts like possibility, permission, necessity, prediction and intention. They include will, can, may, shall, must, would, could, might, should and less commonly ought to, used to, need, dare, be to, be going to, had better and would rather. Modals occur before the infinitive verb, have no inflected forms, and are placed before subjects and negatives. They are widely used in conversation for speech acts such as requests, offers and promises.

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    Modal Auxiliaries

    Prepared by

    Ahsan Habib
    Lecturer
    Dept. of Humanities, RUET
    A small class of verbs that have meanings relating to modality, that
    is, to such concepts as possibility or permission, obligation,
    necessity or likelihood, prediction, intention or hypothesis.
    The modal auxiliaries group in pairs, except for must:
    will (’ll) can may shall must
    would (’d) could might should

    The lower modals in the list above are historically the past tense
    forms of the upper modals, but nowadays they have developed
    independent uses (especially would and should).
    Modals occur in first position in their verb phrase.
    form a construction with the bare infinitive of another verb, for
    example may be, may have, may find.
    have no other forms, such as -s forms, -ing forms or -ed forms.
    placed before the subject to form questions and before not in negation:
    question negation
    You can help me ~ Can you help me? ~ You cannot help me.
    We will succeed ~ Will we succeed? ~ We will not succeed.
    Modals can also express negation by negative contractions: won’t,
    can’t, shan’t, mustn’t, wouldn’t, couldn’t, mightn’t, shouldn’t: You can’t
    help me. We won’t succeed.
    Modals are very widely used in conversation for expressing various
    kinds of speech acts such as requests (Could I use your phone? Would
    you mind signing this form?), offers (Can we offer you a lift?) and
    promises (I’ll call you back this afternoon.)

    Note: Some less important verbs (ought to, used to, need, dare, be to, be
    going to, had better, would rather) are sometimes included with the modals
    because of their similar meanings and/or grammatical behaviour.
    Will/Would
    Future action:
    I will go to Rajshahi.
    He will take the B.C.S exam.
    Polite request:
    Will you shut the door?
    Will you pass me the book?

    • Note: In expressing more politeness, you have to use would.


    Would you shut the door?
    Can

    ability:
    Mina can sing. She can dance. He can ride a bicycle.

    Permission: (Can and May are synonymous; however, may is more


    formal than can)
    Can I borrow your pen?
    Could
    Past ability:
    I could swim when I was young.
    Hamid could run fast when he was at school.

    Note: In terms of a single act in the past, you have to use managed to, or
    was/were able to. Examples:
    I managed to (was able to) pass the admission test.
    Karim and Rahim managed to (were able to) swim across the river yesterday.

    Polite request:
    Could you lend me your pen?
    Could you show me the way to the station?
    May/Might
    Permission:
    May I borrow your pen?

    Guess about the future:


    Hamid is away in Dhaka. He may come back tomorrow.
    The sky is cloudy. It may rain.
    Note: Here May and might are synonymous; however, might is used to
    express more uncertainty/less possibility than may.

    Note: ‘may/might + be + ing-form’ is used to guess about the present.


    He may/might be sleeping now.
    It may/might be raining in Natore right now.
    Shall/Should
    Shall
    Opinion/proposal:
    Shall I make a cup of tea?
    Shall we go for a walk?
    Should
    Obligation/duty/advisability:
    You should obey your parents.
    You should attend the meeting.
    If you are ill, you should see a doctor.
    Note: ‘Should and ought to’ are synonymous; however, ought to is
    stronger than should.
    Must
    Command/order: (boss to a subordinate): You must come to the
    office on time.
    (mother to a daughter): You must come home before evening.
    Prohibition (negative form): You mustn’t smoke here.
    Internal obligation: My mother is ill. I must go home.
    My English is poor. I must work hard.
    Logical deduction: You have just walked five miles. You must be tired.
    Strong recommendation: You are ill. You must see a doctor.
    Be to
    Arrangement:
    I am to go to Dhaka tomorrow.
    He is to meet his father at the station this afternoon.
    They are to be married next month.
    Order/command:
    You are to be back home before dark.
    Destiny:
    She bade goodbye to her husband. But she was to see him no more.
    Be going to
    Wish/intention to do something in the future:
    I am going to study English.
    Belal is going to make a garden.
    Strong probability:
    I am afraid she is going to die.
    He is going to find the work difficult.

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