7/28/2019 Table Learn About Modals
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LEARN YOUR MODAL VERBS
MODAL VERB USE EXAMPLES
Present & Futurecan / cant PresentABILITY
Informal permissionInformal polite request
I can /cantswim very wellYou can use my car tomorrow
Can I borrow your pen?
be able to PresentABILITY(difficulty) I am able to climb the
highest mountain.
will/wont be able to FutureABILITY(I will be able to swim by the
end of the course) (I will be able to run a race next Sunday)Shall
polite question to make a suggestion Shall I open the window?
may(not)might (not)could (not)
Formal permission
Polite request (only with I orwe)
Present & Future POSSIBILITY
You may leave the room.
May I borrow your pen?I may go to the beach next month
He might not gettickets
cantmust
Present Logical DEDUCTIONBelieve or guess something is
impossible
Certain something is true (not mustnt)
Itcant be time to go already!
He must be on holiday / He mustnt be at the gym (cant be)
ought (not) toshould (not)
GiveADVICE and make recommendations (present) You ought (not) to
overdo it.Youshould (not) overdo it.
had better(not)+inf To give very strongADVICE or make threats
(present) Youd better goor well be lateYoud better not crashmy car,
or Ill be furious
have tomust OBLIGATION (present) You must be fastYou have to do
4 years of ESO
needntdont have to
NO OBLIGATION (present) You neednt buyany special equipmentShe
doesnt have to join a gym.
need (withoutto) Negative and interrogative (present) I need
some salt / I dont need anything
need to In affirmative is to express necessity I need to get
fitter / I need to get a job (I need get a job)
mustnt PROHIBITION You mustntsmoke / you mustnttake drugs
must & have totheir meanings are similar in the affirmative.
They are completely different in the negative (mustnt=prohibition /
dont have to=no obligation)
Pastwas/were able to ParticularABILITYin the past (in one
occasion) He injured his foot, but he was able to continue
playing.
could GeneralABILITYin the past She could run very fast when she
was young
couldnt General & particularABILITYin the past He couldnt
walkuntil he was two / I couldnt sing yesterday
had to PastOBLIGATION I had to lose three kilos before the
operation
didnt havetodidnt need to
To say that an action was not necessary (past) I didnt need to/
didnt have to take my swimming costume(It was not necessary for me
to take my s c)
couldmay have+PastPmight
POSSIBILITYin the pastI could/may/might have leftmy towel at the
beach
cant have +PastP IMPOSSIBILITYin the past He cant have gone to
London. Ive just seen him.
must have +PastP Certainty or make logical DEDUCTION about the
past Its frozen. Itmust have been very cold recently
shouldought to have+PastP
Express regret or criticism about PAST events Ishould have
shouted
He ought to have leftthe team
neednt have+PastP To say that an action was not necessary, but
it happened anyway. I neednt have takenmy swimming costume (I took
my s.c. but I didnt need it)
Yolanda Gimnez / 2011
