Grammar

Grammar - Modals
Modals are helping verbs. Modals cannot function as main verves.

except in few cases. They are
called modal auxiliaries because they are used to express certain
conceptions of mind like- ability,
possibility, permission, suggestion, obligation etc.
Characteristics of Modals
1. Modals are never used alone. They are always used with a
principal Verb that is expressed or
understood. Examples:
a) I can you. (Sentence is looking awkward)
b) I can help you. (Sentence is complete)
So, modals have a principal verb with tramhem.
2. Modals don’t change according to the number or gender of the
subject. Examples:
a) You may come.
b) He can go.
c) Should we go now?
d) They must not go there.
3. Modals don’t have the infinitive form. They are always followed by
the base form (first form)
of the verb. Examples:
a) I can play football.
b) We should attend your classes regularly.
4. Ony four of the Modals (can, may, shall, will) have past forms.
5. ‘Need‘ and ‘dare’ can also be used in the do/did forms and then
take the infinitive form ‘to’.
6. ‘Need‘ and ‘dare‘ can also be used as ordinary verbs.
7. Used, referred to as ‘used to’, is used only in the past Tense.
Modals and their usage
Will
i) To show promise, intention, willingness, determination with the
first person (I, we)
Examples:
a) I will give you a gift of your choice. (promise)
b) We will help you. (willingness)
c) I will change the system of our organisation. (determination)
ii) To express request, invitation, insistence, assumption,
characteristic or habit
Examples:
a) Will you please help me? (request)
b) She will be in the school during school hours. (assumption)
c) The lion will usually kill other animals. (Characteristic, habit)
Negative Form of will: Will not/Won’t Examples:
a) I will not spend my pocket money.
b) She won’t eat unhygienic food.
c) They won’t win the match.
d) My friend will not attend the party.
Would (Past form of ‘Will’)
i) It expresses the past form of ‘will’ Examples:
a) He informed me that he would dance at my marriage function.
b) The problem was how he would reach there.
ii) To express past habit Examples:
a) He would drink a cup of coffee in the morning.
b) My father would get up early in the morning.
iii) For request Examples:
a) Would you please give me your bike?
b) Would you like to spend this evening with me?
iv) To express wish Examples:
a) I wish she would be healthy.
b) You would be an engineer.
v) To express an imaginary condition Examples:
I would have a big house if I earned Rs.10 crore every year.
Negative Form of Would: Would not/Wouldn’t
Shall
i) To ask for suggestion, request, advice with the first person (I, We)
in the interrogative
Examples:
a) Shall we start the class? (advice)
b) Shall I have a cup of coffee from your shop? (request)
c) Shall we open a new shop? (suggestion)
ii) In the second and third person to indicate threat, warning,
command, promise, assurance
and determination Examples:
a) If you sit with bad boys, you shall be punished. (threat)
b) You shall get now. (command)
c) She shall get a bicycle. (promise)
Negative Form of Shall: Shall not/Shan’t Examples:
a) She shall not sing tomorrow.
b) They shall not win the match.
c) My friend shan’t be dismissed.
Should, May, Might
i) To express duty or obligation Examples:
a) I should help my friends. (duty)
b) You should not be lazy. (obligation)
c) You should respect your elders. (duty)
ii) To give or take permission. Examples:
a) May I come in?
b) Yes, you may come in.
iii) To wish or pray Examples:
a) May you get well soon!
b) May God bless you with a child!
iv) To show a purpose Examples:
a) My friend is joining a new company so that he may achieve his
target.
b) He is working hard so that he may win.
Negative Form of May: May not/Mayn’t Examples:
a) It may not rain today.
b) She mayn’t attend the meeting.
Might (Past form of ‘may’)
i) To express less possibility Examples:
a) He might help us.
b) She might be a winner in the competition.
ii) For permission Examples:
a) Might I being to reveal the truth?
b) Might I start speaking?
iii) To express a guess Examples:
That might be Rohit.
Negative Form of Might: Might not/ Mightn’t Examples:
a) It might not rain.
b) She mightn’t talk to me this evening.
Must:
i) To express necessity or obligation Examples:
a) You must take part in the competition.
b) We must love our motherland.
ii) To indicate assumption or conclusion Examples:
a) She must be here in the evening.
b) Mr AK Gupta must be a good teacher.
iii) In case of prohibition. Example:
You must not bunk school.
Negative Form of Must: Must not/Mustn’t Examples:
a) You must not play in sunlight.
b) You must not write your name on the walls.
c) You mustn’t make a fuss over this.
Have to/ Has to/Had to
i) To express obligation or compulsion (While talking about rules,
laws) Examples:
a) I have to reach school early.
b) She has to work late in the office.
c) They had to follow the instruction.
Negative Form of Have to: Don’t have to Examples:
a) I don’t have to cook the food at home.
b) She doesn’t have to work till late in the office.
Ought to
i) To express moral obligation or duty Examples:
a) You ought to respect your parents.
b) You ought to serve the nation.
c) We ought to help our relatives.
d) We ought to speak the truth.
ii) To give advice Examples:
You ought to study hard to achieve success.
Negative Form of Ought to: Ought not to/ Oughtn’t to Examples:
a) You ought not hate your neighbours.
b) You oughtn’t to insult your elders.
Semi-modals
Use of ‘Need’, ‘Need to’, ‘Dare’ and ‘Used to’
Need and dare are considered semi-modals because they can be
used either as modal
auxiliaries or as main verbs.
Need/Need to
As a modal auxiliary verb in negative terms, it indicates absence of
obligation. It expresses
the speaker’s authority or advice and is used for the present and the
future. e.g.
You needn’t type this letter.
i) The interrogative is formed by inversions.
e.g., Need I speak to him?
ii) Its past is needed to in the affirmative sentence, need not have in
the negative and need
have in the interrogative.
Examples:
a) Need I have gone to him? (Interrogative in the past)
b) I needed to go to him. (Affirmative in the past)
c) You needn’t have gone to meet him. (Negative in the past)
d) You need to go to the barber – your hair is too long. (Affirmative
in the future)
Dare
As a modal auxiliary, dare refers to being bold and courageous. The
negative is formed by dare not and the interrogative by inversion.
Examples:
a) Dare we talk to them?
b) I dare not disturb them.
Used to
i) A discontinued habit or a past situation which is no more in the
present.
e.g., He used to drink daily. (Now he does not drink)
ii) Something existing in the past.
e.g., This used to be a dense jungle before.

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Grammar - Modals

Modals are helping verbs. Modals cannot function as main verves.

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