1 DE BACHILLERATO

TEACHER. MARIA ANGELES

THEORY OF MODAL VERBS

List of the Modal Verbs in English:
Can, Could, May, Might, Will, Would, Must, Shall, Should, Ought to,
Used to, Neednt.
They are different from normal verbs.

Characteristics:
1-They dont take s for the third person singular. Example: She can
2-They make questions by inversion. Example: She can go becomes
Can she go?
3-Their negative for by adding not Ex: She cannot go there.
4- They are followed directly by the infinitive of another verb without
to. Example:
I can go.

Modals of Ability and Permission

Can, Could, ( poder o saber de habilidad)
Can: puedo
Could: Pude, poda, podra, pudiera o pudiese.
-

We use CAN to talk about ability in the Present. Example: I

can play the piano.
We use COULD to talk about ability in the Past. Ex: I could
play the piano yerterday.
We use can(in informal style) or could to ask for and give
permission.

BUT we use TO BE ABLE TO to talk about ability in other tenses.

Ex: I will be able to play the piano tomorrow.

Modal of Obligation, Prohibition, Deduction or

Speculation
Must: Deber

We use Must to talk about obligation. Ex: I must go to the

library.
We use Mustnt to talk about prohibition. Ex: You mustnt
smoke in class.
We use Must to talk about deduction or speculation. Ex: It is
snowing, so it must be very cold outside.
We use Must to express force necessity. Ex: I must study
now because I have the exam tomorrow.

Have to (semi-modal): Tener que

We use HAVE TOfor obligation but when it comes from the
outside. Ex: All the students have to be vaccinated.

Modal of No Obligation (absence of obligation)

Neednt: No es necesario que, no tienes por qu..
-

We use neednt to talk about no obligation or absence of

obligation.

Ex: You neednt watch this programme if you dont like it. (You dont
have to watch this programme if you dont like it)

Modals of Advice
Should and Ought to: Debera
Should, Ought to (this is a very formal verb. We sometimes tend
to use shall or should in its place)
-

We use should or ought to to give advice or make

recommendations. Ex: You shouldnt worry about it.

Ex: You ought to watch the show. I am pretty sure you will love it.
-

We use should or ought to to express a weak obligation.

Ex: I should study but the exam is in three weeks.

Modals of Probability or Possibility

May, Might

May (it is the present tense) Puede que, quizs

-

We use May asking for permission in formal style. Ex: May I

come in, please?
We use May for probability or possibility, when it is slightly
more propable. Ex: It may rain today.
We use May for permission to do something in the present,
the substitute form is to be allowed to. Ex: I am allowed to
do this.

Might ( It is the past tense) Podra, quizs,

We use it when it is slightly less probable than May. Ex: It
might rain today.
Watch out: Many native English speakers do not make a major
distinction between may and might and they are often used
interchangeably.
Watch out : We can also use to express possibility CAN AND
COULD, so the order of possibility/probability is ( from the
most possible to the less possible)
1 May It may rain today
2 Might It might rain today.
3 Can it can rain today.
4 Could it could rain today

WILL
-

We use it to express:
Requests ( less polite than would)
Ex: Will you please close the door? Quieres cerrar la ventana
por favor?
Prediction Ex: I think it will rain on Monday.
Promise: Ex: I will stop doing it
Spontaneous decision. Ex: Who wants to do this, please? I
will.

SHALL
-

We use it to express:

Suggestions in first person ( quieres que yo) Ex: Shall I

open the door for you, please? Quieres que yo te abra la
ventana, por favor?

WOULD
-

We use it to express:
Request (more polite than will ) Ex: Would you make me
some coffee, please?
Preferences: Ex Would you prefer the window seat or the
aisle?
Asking for permission. Ex: Would you mind if I opened the
window?
Invitation. Ex: Would you like to come to my party on Friday?
Habits in the past. Ex: Sometimes he would bring some
presents to me.

USED TO Sola
-

We use used to for something that happened regularly in the

past but no longer happens. Ex: I used to drive to work but now
I take the bus.
In negative and interrogative we use did. Ex: Did we use to
smoke?
USED TO (VS) WOULD
-If we say something used to happen we are talking about
repeated events and actions in the past, usually things that
happened a long time ago and are now finished.
To express this we can use EITHER USED TO OR
WOULD Ex: When I was young I used to play with my dolls
= When I was young I would play with my dolls.
-If you want to talk about repeated states or habits in the past,
you must use used to and you cannot use would. Ex: I
used to smoke

PERFECT MODALS (Modal+have+Past Psrticiple)

It is possible to follow the modal verb with have and in this
case, the following ver is in the Past Participle.
EXAMPLES:

-COULD HAVE+ PAST PARTICIPLE

-COULDNT/CANT HAVE +PAST PARTICIPLE
-MUST HAVE+PAST PARTICIPLE
-MAY/MIGHT HAVE+ PAST PARTICIPLE
-NEEDNT HAVE+PAST PARTICIPLE
-OUGHT TO/SHOULD HAVE+PAST PARTICIPLE
-WOULD HAVE+PAST PARTICIPLE
Example: I got very good marks, they couldt have been
better.

EXERCISES TO PRACTISE THEM