Verb PhrasesGrammar II

• Isabel Benitez

• María Sol Manuli

• Marlene Zambrano

O Future Time• Modal will, ‘ll, semi-auxiliary be going to • Modal shall• Simple present, present progressive• Other auxiliaries and semi-auxiliaries

O Modal auxiliaries• Can/Could• May/might• Will/would• Shall/Should• Should/ought to• Must, cannot/can’t, have to, have got to, need• Past time reference of modals• Special uses of past modals

Marlene

Isabel

Sol

• Future Time: modal will, ‘ll, semi-auxiliary be going to

• Please arrive at 8,45 for registration as the first teaching session will start at 9 promptly.

• I won’t be a second Richard I’m just going to berserk for a while and I’ l l then start again

Future time: modal shallO Well, If I get bored with the company

I shall come and find you

Future time: Simple present and present progressive

•The coach leaves in ten minutes•We’re going to the café. Won’t you join us?

Future time: other auxiliaries and semi-auxiliaries

O I keep thinking I must do something about it

Future with a past periodO He was watching her being destroyed right

in front of him.O He would never thereafter know precisely

why he did what he did next O I was just thinking about art because I was

going to get back to painting after not doing any for a year in a half

O I was going on holiday to Slovenia but HF cancelled this last weekend

O You will have noticed this isn’t a synthesizer this is a human being

Modal AuxiliariesThe first in the sequence of auxiliaries in a verb phrase

They may function as OPERATORS

Each of the modals has two kinds of meaning:

DEONTIC Human controlEPISTEMIC Judgement of the truth-value

Can/CouldO AbilityO Can you cook any rice this way?O Could you bit a more specific than that?O PermissionO You can take theseO Could I have the…slides on and the slides

out?O PossibilityO Can this be sent?O I have not forgotten you-How could I?

May / mightO PermissionO If I might just say

something…O You may come in if

you wish

O PossibilityO I may be staying

around to the end of the week or I may go back tomorrow

O You might be interested in it

Will/ WouldO Future PredictionO He’ l l be nineteen on

FridayO Present predictionO The tourist season

wil l be over by now

O Habitual predictionO My door wil l always

be open to youO VolitionO I wil l answer you in

a minuteO I would like it done

on Wednesday if possible

Should/ ought to O ProbabilityO It’s ten o’clock. He

should be/ought to be at work

O We should see him there

O She ought to be in Canada now

O ObligationO People should

take/ ought to take better care of the environment

O We ought to give more money to the charity

• It’s Sunday, he must be at home• MUST: possible replacements: CAN-

HAVE TO- HAVE GOT TO

• It’s Sunday, he can’t be at work

• You must listen to your Grammar teacher.

• We have to be at the airport at nine o’clock• I’ve got to phone

mum tonight.• Past equivalent: HAD

TO-HAD GOT TO

• You must listen to your Grammar teacher.

• We have to be at the airport at nine o’clock• I’ve got to phone

mum tonight.• Past equivalent: HAD

TO-HAD GOT TO

Past time reference of modals

MUST + marginal modals NEED TO and OUGHT TO

PAST TENSE FORM

Marginal modal USED TO PRESENT TENSE

• Can/ Could• May/ might• Shall/should• Will/would

PRESENT AND PAST FORMS

O COULD and WOULD.O USED TOO HAD TO, HAD GOT TO,

NEEDED TO

O May be used with PAST TIME REFERENCE

MODAL PERFECT

Modal verb + perfect auxiliary HAVE

• I could drive a tractor before I knew how to drive a car (ability)

• Every morning I would get up early and feel the chickens (habitual behaviour)

Special uses of past modalsO The Past tense of

modals is often used with present or future time reference, as a more tentative or more polite alternative to the present tense

O The present time reference of O COULD for abil ity:O The shop had nothing that I could

afford O For permission: Could I leave a bit

early today?O Possibil ity: There could be trouble if

the government tries to force this measure through

O MIGHT for permission and possibi l ity:

O The expedition might be quite dangerous

O WOULD for Volit ion : Would you please sit back close your eyes and try and envisage the scene.

O SHOULD for probabil ity and volit ion

Special uses of past modals

Could

Might

Should

Would

Back shifting of the present tense form in indirect speech

He said he’d put the letter in the post later

All the past tense modals

WOULD (for present and future time) and WOULD HAVE (for

past time)

Activities1.Identify the Verb Phrases in the following clauses and underline them. Then, identify the meaning of the modal verbs.

a) I couldn't ride my bike when I was six. b) Can she win an Olympic medal?c)May we come in?d)If you go to bed earlier, you might feel better tomorrow.e) I'll win this singing contest!f) We shall be away next week.g) You should work hard.h) It ought to be fine tomorrow.i) Students must not use their dictionaries in the examination.