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English Education Department Tarbiyah and Teaching Faculty Alauddin State Islamic University of Makassar 2019/2020

This document discusses modal verbs and their meanings. It provides a list of the main modal verbs in English and their alternative forms. It explains some key characteristics and rules of modal verbs, such as they do not change form, are always followed by a bare infinitive, and do not require an additional auxiliary in questions and negatives. The document also outlines some common functions of modal verbs, including expressing permission, possibility, obligation, prohibition, and more. It gives examples of how different modal verbs express these functions. Finally, it discusses semi-modal verbs which have some features of modal verbs.

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71 views

English Education Department Tarbiyah and Teaching Faculty Alauddin State Islamic University of Makassar 2019/2020

This document discusses modal verbs and their meanings. It provides a list of the main modal verbs in English and their alternative forms. It explains some key characteristics and rules of modal verbs, such as they do not change form, are always followed by a bare infinitive, and do not require an additional auxiliary in questions and negatives. The document also outlines some common functions of modal verbs, including expressing permission, possibility, obligation, prohibition, and more. It gives examples of how different modal verbs express these functions. Finally, it discusses semi-modal verbs which have some features of modal verbs.

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BY GROUP 2:

RISKA AMALIA (20400119038)


ALFIAH FADHILLAH IMRAN ( 20400119013)
SRI HANDAYANI (20400119016)
TOTOK GUNAWAN (20400119041)

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT


TARBIYAH AND TEACHING FACULTY
ALAUDDIN STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY OF MAKASSAR
2019/2020
MODAL VERBS AND THEIR MEANING

1. 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.

2. List of modal verbs


Model verbs are difficult to define because of the wide range of pragmatic uses of
modals auxiliaries. This series provides some of the most frequent meanings of the
nine English modals. 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, etc behave like
modal auxiliaries to a large extent and may be added to the above list (semi-modals)

3. Characteristics or rules of modal verbs


a. They never change their form. You can't add "s", "ed", "ing"... Modal verbs do
not change their form according to tense, they’ve got no past form and they’ve
got no future form (they stay exactly what they are).

Example:
 He can swim ( He cans swim)

b. They are always followed by an infinitive without "to" (e.i. the bare infinitive.)

Example:
 I might eat pizza ( I might to eat pizza)
 I can play football (I can to play football)

c. They do not need an additional auxiliary in negatives or questions.

Example:
 Must I come? (Do I must come?), or:
  He shouldn't smoke (He doesn't should smoke).
Might Might not Mightn’t
May May not
Must Must not Mustn’t
Can Cannot Can’t
Could Could not Couldn’t
Will Will not Won’t
Would Would not Wouldn’t
Shall Shall not Shan’t
Should Should not Shouldn’t

4. Use of modal verbs


Modal verbs can express many basic concepts which you will need regularly, in any
situation. Modal verbs are used to express functions such as:

1. There are fundamental ideas which modal verbs can express:


 Asking Permission
 Expressing Possibility Or Impossibility(kemungkinan)
 Expressing Ability or Inability(kemampuan)
 Expressing Obligation(kewajiban)
 Expressing Prohibition(larangan)
 Expressing Williangness/Refusal(kesediaan)
 Expressing Certainty or Uncertainty(kepastian)
 Expressing Probability(kemungkinan)
 Lack of necessity(kurangnya keharusan)
 Giving Advice/suggestions(memberi nasehat)
 Making a Request/Offer,etc.(membeeri saran)

Examples:
Let’s take a look at them and find out what each one is used for.

MODAL
EXPRESSING EXAMPLE
VERB

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.
Prohibition You must not smoke in
the hospital.
Ability I can swim.
Permission Can I use your phone
Can 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
May please?
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.
Offer Shall I help you with
that?

Shall I shall meet you there at


Confirmation midnight.

You shall be the first


Promises
person to know.

Should 50 % Obligation I should see a doctor. I


have a terrible headache.
Advice You should revise your
lessons
Logical Conclusion He should be very tired.
He's been working all
day long.
Future Time I will go to bed

Promise/Williangness I will give money to Niel


this week
Will
Polite Question Will you help me with
this?

Polite Question Would you give me your


contact number?

WOULD I would like a cup of tea


Invitation/Preferences/Desir
e Would you prefer apples
of oranges?

2. Every modal verb can have more than one meaning. Also it shows you that every
idea like obligation, certainty, and so on, can be express by more than one modal
verb.
Example:
 Can you look at something for me? (REQUEST)
 I can’t do anything for a while (ABILITY)
 It can’t be a Corona virus (CERTAINTY)

5. What is semi-modal verbs?


Semi-modal verbs have some of the features of modal verbs, but not all. Most
importantly, semi-modal verbs do the same thing as modal verbs. They add
information to other verbs. They can express many of some ideas, like obligation or
giving advice. They don’t follow all the grammar rules of regular modal verbs. For
example, ‘have to’ is a semi-modal, and you can use it in different tenses: it has past
tense ‘had to’; you can use it in the present perfect, ‘I have had to...’, and so on. Often,
modals and semi modals can be used with the same meaning. Look at two sentences:
‘it will rain this afternoon" and’ it’s going to rain this afternoon’. Here, you use ‘going
to’, which is a semi-modal, to express certainty, in the same way that you can use
‘will’. It doesn’t matter which verb you use in this case. May be you’re thinking at
this point: how many semi modal verbs are there? We aren’t sure because it’s not
entirely clear what makes something a semi-modal verb. You can look the examples
of semi-modals in the conversation below.

A: What time are we supposed to be there?

B: Ten, I think, but I think we ought to aim to arrive at least fifteen minutes before

A: So, that means we have to leave here at... what? Nine?

B: We had better leave earlier, I think. There’s a metro strike tomorrow, so the
traffic will be terrible.

A: Are we going to drive, or take a taxi?

B: I’m not sure we’ll be able to find a taxi, so I think driving is best.
REFERENCES
https://www.myenglishpages.com/sitephpfiles/grammar-lesson-modals.php

https://youtu.be/4GMU08J98MQ

https://youtu.be/5Dq7IEw7CKM

https://youtu.be/BT3JbwlpQxU

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