MODALS

What are modalverbs?

Modals (also called modalverbs,modalauxiliaryverbs, modalauxiliaries) are
special verbs which behave irregularly in English. They are different from
normal verbs like "work, play, visit..." They give additional information about
the of the main verb that follows it.They have a great variety of
.

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 modalverbs:

The verbs or expressions , , ,and behave like

modalauxiliaries to a large extent and my be added to the above list

Use of modal verbs:

Modalverbs 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:
ModalVerb Expressing Example

Strong obligation You must stop when the traffic lights

turn red.
must
logical conclusion /
He must be very tired. He's been
Certainty working all day long.

mustnot prohibition You must not smoke in the hospital.

ability I can swim.

permission Can Iuse your phone please?

can possibility Smoking can cause cancer.

ability in the past When I was younger I could run fast.

polite permission Excuse me, could Ijust say

something?

could 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?

possibility,probability I might go on holiday to Australianext

might year.

lackof necessity/absence I need not buy tomatoes. There are

neednot of obligation plenty of tomatoes in the fridge.

50 % obligation I should / ought to see a doctor. Ihave

should/ought a terrible headache.
 to advice You should / ought to revise your
lessons

logical conclusion He should / ought to be very tired.

He's been working all day long.

hadbetter advice You 'd better revise your lessons

Remember
Modalverbs are followed by an infinitive without "to", also called the bare
infinitive.

Modal verbs show possibility, intent, ability, or necessity. Because they’

re a type of auxiliary verb (helper verb), they’re used together with the
main verb of the sentence. Common examples include , ,
and .

Modal verbs can be tricky, especially when it comes to using them in a

sentence. The good news is that they’re simple once you learn how
they work. Below, we explain everything you need to know to use
modal verbs with ease.

What are modal verbs?

Modal verbs are used to express certain hypothetical conditions, such

as advice, capability, or requests (there’s a full list in the next section).
They’re used alongside a main verb to change its meaning slightly.
Because they’re auxiliary verbs, they can’t necessarily be used on their
own. (A modal verb should only appear alone if it’s clear from context
what the main verb is.)
Consider the difference between these two examples:

The first example is a simple factual statement. The speaker

participates in a swimming activity every week on Tuesdays.

The second example uses the modal verb . Notice how the
meaning changes slightly. The speaker does swim every Tuesday;
they’re saying they are capable of swimming every Tuesday if they
need to. It’s hypothetical.

Modal verbs are quite common in English, and you’ve probably seen
them hundreds of times without actually knowing their name. The most
frequently used ones are:
There are more modal verbs, although the ones above are the most
common. Some modal verbs are outdated and rarely used—
like and —while others are more colloquial—such as
, or . Some express very specific conditions that don’t
come up often, like , for example, “I dare say.” The phrase ,
as in “I used to be an English student, too,” also behaves like a modal
verb.

When are modal verbs used?

What special conditions do modal verbs show? Here’s a list of when to

use modal verbs, along with examples:

Likelihood

Some things seem likely, but we don’t know for sure. In these cases,
you can use the modal verbs and to show probability
without certainty.

Possibility

In situations when something is possible but not certain, use the modal
verbs , , or .
Ability

The modal verb shows whether or not the subject is able to do

something, such as perform an action or demonstrate an ability.
Likewise, the negative form, or , shows that the subject is
unable to do something.

Asking permission

If you want to ask permission to do something, start your question

with , , or . Traditionally, in more formal and polite
usage, is better for permission; if you ask “can I go to the
bathroom?” it could be misinterpreted as, “do I have the ability to go to
the bathroom?” (However, in modern usage and are both
perfectly acceptable options when describing possibility or
permission.)

Request

Similarly, if you want to ask someone else to do something, start your

question with , , or .
Suggestion/advice

What if you want to recommend something, but not command it? If

you’re giving suggestions or advice without ordering someone around,
you can use the modal verb .

Command

On the other hand, if you want to command someone, use the modal
verbs , , or .

Obligation or necessity

Modal verbs can express a necessary action, such as an obligation,

duty, or requirement. Likewise, the negative form expresses that an
action is necessary. Use the same modal verbs as with
commands: , , or .

.
Habit

To show an ongoing or habitual action—something the subject does

regularly—you can use the modal verb for the past tense
and for the present and future. The phrase is also
acceptable if you’re talking about a habit that no longer exists.

How to use modal verbs (with examples)

Luckily, using modal verbs in a sentence is pretty simple. For basic

sentences—the simple present tense—just remember these rules:

Modal verbs always come directly before the main verb (except
for questions).

With modal verbs, use the infinitive form of the main verb without
“to”.

So, if you want to brag about your ability to eat an entire pizza, you take
the infinitive form of “eat” without “to”—which is simply “eat”—and add
the modal verb “can” in front of it. The rest of the sentence continues
as normal.

For questions, you still use the infinitive form of the main verb, but the
order is a little different:
[modal verb] + [subject] + [main verb]

So let’s rephrase the example above as a question:

Because modal verbs largely deal with general situations or

hypotheticals that haven’t actually happened, most of them are in the
present tenses. However, some of them can be used in different verb
tenses, so let’s talk a little about how to construct them.

Present tenses

We already covered the simple present above, but you can also use
modal verbs in the present continuous and present perfect
continuous tenses.

Present continuous

After the modal verb, use the word followed by the – form of the
main verb.

[modal verb] + + [verb in -ing form]

Present perfect continuous

You can add a modal verb before a verb in the present perfect
continuous tense without changing much. However, when using a
modal verb, you must always use “have,” never “had,” even if the
subject is third-person.

[modal verb] + + [verb in -ing form]

Past tenses and present perfect

Putting a modal verb in the simple past, past continuous, and present
perfect tenses is a little trickier.

For starters, two modal verbs in particular have a simple past

tense: and . If you want to use either of those in any of the past
tenses, you must first conjugate them into their past-tense form:

can -> could

will -> would

All the others remain the same, although some can’t be used in the
past at all. Modal verbs often deal with hypotheticals, but if an action
already happened in the past, it can’t be hypothetical. These are mostly
for speculating about the past, such as wondering “what if . . .”

None of the modal verbs can be used in the past perfect or past
perfect continuous.

Simple past

Of the main modal verbs listed at the top, only and can be used
in the simple past. and can also be used, as long as
they’re conjugated accordingly as and . Other modal
verbs use the present perfect to discuss events in the past.

and use their past tense form plus the infinitive form of the
main verb without “to,” just like in the present.
 + [verb in infinitive]

Past continuous

Again, only and can be used in the past continuous. It’s formed
just like the present continuous, except with the past form of the modal
verb.

+ + [verb in -ing form]

Present perfect

Instead of using the infinitive form of the main verb, just use the
present perfect form, which is “have” plus the past participle. As before,
you must always use “have,” even if the subject is third-person.

If you’re using , be sure to use its past tense form of

[modal verb] + + [past participle]

Future tenses

The truth is that most of the future tenses already use modal verbs
because they use “will.” If you want to use different modal verb, such
as “can” or “should,” you can use it normally with the infinitive form of
the verb, and without .