Week 3. Modals

Week 3: Modals
Verbs
Full Auxiliary
➤Action & State ➤Be
➤Transitive & ➤Have
Intransitive ➤Do
➤Linking ➤Modals
Why Modals?
Want - Wanted - Wanted
Go - Went - Gone
Can - Could - *
May - Might - *
Ought - *
BASIC FORMS
SIMPLE MODALS PERIPHRASTIC MODALS Semi-modal
can could be able to ought to

may might be allowed to, be permitted to had better
must ___ have (got) to, need to used to
shall should be supposed to dare
will would be going to, be about to need
Notes on Modals
- Modals are tenseless (no -S, -ED, or -ING)
- Modals can be used with progressive (be + V-ING) and perfect
(HAVE + P.P) aspects.
- Modals are mutually exclusive.

Modalities
Meanings of Modals
Social Interaction: You can/may leave the room.
+ Advice
+ Requests/Permission
Logical Probability: It can/may rain tomorrow.
+ Inference/Deduction
+ Prediction
Ability/ Tendency: Usain Bolt can run very fast.
+ Possibility/Potential
+ Past tendency
Social Functions of Modals
Giving advice
(1) You (must/have to/have got to/need to) see a doctor.
(2) You (should/ought to/had better/had best) see a doctor.
(3) You (might/could) see a doctor.
(4) You (should/ought to/could/might) have gone to the doctor.

Advisability —> Necessity
(1) Should “In my opinion, it’s advisable to…”
(2) Ought to slightly stronger than SHOULD, regulations/duties imposed from the outside
(3) Had better stronger than SHOULD and OUGHT TO + threat/warning/urgency
(4) Am/is/are to can be used for instructions
(5) Need to “It’s necessary to…”
(6) Have to inescapable obligation, objective
(7) Have got to inescapable obligation, objective, more informal
(8) Must inescapable obligation, subjective

Negative Advice
stronger negative You must not say things like that.
advice
You can’t say things like that.
You had better/had best not say things like that.
You ought not to say things like that.
You shouldn’t say things like that.
weaker negative You’re not supposed to say things like that.

advice You don’t have/don’t need to say things like that.
Making requests
(1) Will/Would you help me with this math problem?
(2) Can/Could you help me with this math problem?
- Yes, I will/*would. No, I won’t/*wouldn’t.

- Yes, I can/*could; No, I can’t/*couldn’t.
Requests for permission
(1) May/Might I leave the room now?
(2) Can/Could I leave the room now?
- Yes, you may/*might; No, you may not/*might not.

- Yes, you can/*could; No, you can’t/*couldn’t
Permission
Compare the pairs of sentences:
- Won’t you please get into the pool?

- Will you please not get into the pool?
- Couldn’t I please go to the party?
- Could I please not go to the party?
Ability/Potential/Tendency
Animate vs. Inanimate subjects
(1) I can speak German. (animate subject, ability)
(2) The bicycle’s tires can lose air over the course of the day’s
ride. (inanimate subject, possibility or potential)
Compare: The bicycle’s tires could have lost air over the
course of the day’s ride. (Did the tires lose air?)

Ability: Can vs. Be able to
(1) We could repair the old car.
(2) We were able to repair the old car.
- could: implies the “potential”
- were able to: the actual event took place

CAN for hedging
(1) It can be said/noted/observed/argued/claimed…
- can with the passive voice: a frequent form of hedging in
academic writing
Habit/Past tendency
(1) I used to smoke, (but I don’t any more.)
(2) I used to be a waiter, but now I’m a taxi-driver.
(3) I collected stamps when I was a child.
(4) He will always complain if he gets the opportunity.
(5) When we were students we would often stay up all night.

Past Habit (Past Tendency)
(1) Used to: no time reference necessary, can be used to refer to “state”
(2) Would: a time reference is necessary, not used to refer to “state” and
never used at the beginning of a story
When I was a boy we always spent our holidays on a farm. He’d get up
at 5 and we’d help milk the cows. Then we’d return to the farm kitchen,
where we’d eat a huge breakfast.

Logical Probability
Deduction
Present:
Where’s Joana?
-She’s not here. She must be in the kitchen.
Past:
How do you think the burglar got in?
-He must have climbed through the window.

Deduction: Scale of certainty
Someone’s knocking.
- That must/has to/has got to be John. High certainty
- That will/would/is going to be John.
- That may be John.
- That could/might be John.

Low certainty
Deduction: Negatives
Someone’s knocking. I believe it’s John.
- That might not be John. Low possibility
- That may not be John.
- That won’t/wouldn’t be John.
- That can’t/couldn’t be John. Impossibility

Past Deduction:
Someone was asking for you.
- That must have been John.

High certainty
- That will/would have been John.
- That should have been John.
- That may have been John.

Low certainty
- That could/might have been John.
Past Deduction: Negatives
Someone was asking for you. I believe it was John.
- That might not have been John. Low possibility
- That may not have been John.
- That won’t/wouldn’t have been John.
- That can’t/couldn’t have been John. Impossibility

Prediction
What do you think the weather will be tomorrow?
- It will/is going to rain tomorrow. High probability
- It should rain tomorrow.
- It may rain tomorrow.
- It could/might rain tomorrow. Low probability

Negative Prediction
The weatherman said it will rain tomorrow. Do you agree?
No, it might not rain tomorrow

Low possibility
it may not rain tomorrow
it shouldn’t rain tomorrow
it won’t/is not going to rain tomorrow
it can’t rain tomorrow Impossibility

because this new weather pattern is moving in.
Need
Need (as a modal) usually occurs in questions and negatives:
(1) Need you leave so soon?
(2) You needn’t have told him about my plans.
(3) She need never know what you have just told me.
(4) All you need do is to take a taxi from the airport.
Otherwise, we use “need” like any regular verbs:
(5) I needed to go to the dentist this morning.
(6) Why did you need to go to the dentist?

Dare
Dare (as a modal) usually occurs in questions and negatives. It’s
quite rare in the affirmative unless a negative is implied.
(1) Do you dare tell him? - I don’t dare tell him.
(2) Do you dare to tell him? - I don’t dare to tell him.
(3) I’d like to ask for the day off but I daren’t.
(4) Don’t you dare speak to me like that again!
(5) How dared he tell everybody I was looking for a new job!
References
1.Advanced Language Practice: Grammar and Vocabulary/ Michael
Vince & Peter Sunderland
2.Longman English Grammar / L. G. Alexander
3.Explaining English Grammar/ George Yule (OUP 1998)
4.The Grammar Book: Form, Meaning and Use for English Language
teacher (3rd ed.) - Diane Larsen-Freeman & Marianne Celce-Murcia

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Week 3: Modals

➤Action & State ➤Be

➤Transitive & ➤Have

Want - Wanted - Wanted

can could be able to ought to

- Modals are tenseless (no -S, -ED, or -ING)

- Modals can be used with progressive (be + V-ING) and perfect

(HAVE + P.P) aspects.

- Modals are mutually exclusive.

(2) You (should/ought to/had better/had best) see a doctor.

(3) You (might/could) see a doctor.

(4) You (should/ought to/could/might) have gone to the doctor.

(3) Had better stronger than SHOULD and OUGHT TO + threat/warning/urgency

(4) Am/is/are to can be used for instructions

(5) Need to “It’s necessary to…”

(6) Have to inescapable obligation, objective

(7) Have got to inescapable obligation, objective, more informal

(8) Must inescapable obligation, subjective

You had better/had best not say things like that.

You ought not to say things like that.

You shouldn’t say things like that.

weaker negative You’re not supposed to say things like that.

(2) Can/Could you help me with this math problem?

- Yes, I will/*would. No, I won’t/*wouldn’t.

(2) Can/Could I leave the room now?

- Yes, you may/*might; No, you may not/*might not.

Compare the pairs of sentences:

- Won’t you please get into the pool?

(1) I can speak German. (animate subject, ability)

ride. (inanimate subject, possibility or potential)

course of the day’s ride. (Did the tires lose air?)

(1) We could repair the old car.

(2) We were able to repair the old car.

- could: implies the “potential”

- were able to: the actual event took place

(1) It can be said/noted/observed/argued/claimed…

- can with the passive voice: a frequent form of hedging in

(2) I used to be a waiter, but now I’m a taxi-driver.

(3) I collected stamps when I was a child.

(4) He will always complain if he gets the opportunity.

(5) When we were students we would often stay up all night.

never used at the beginning of a story

where we’d eat a huge breakfast.

-She’s not here. She must be in the kitchen.

How do you think the burglar got in?

-He must have climbed through the window.

- That must/has to/has got to be John. High certainty

- That will/would/is going to be John.

- That may be John.

- That could/might be John.

Someone’s knocking. I believe it’s John.

- That might not be John. Low possibility

- That may not be John.

- That won’t/wouldn’t be John.

- That can’t/couldn’t be John. Impossibility

- That must have been John.

- That should have been John.

- That may have been John.

Someone was asking for you. I believe it was John.

- That might not have been John. Low possibility

- Yes, I will/would. No, I won’t/wouldn’t.

- Yes, you may/might; No, you may not/might not.