Revision of Modal verbs

-You must attend the meeting. (You are obliged to/you have to// you
need to/ it is necessary)
-I must attend the meeting. (I have decided)
-I have to attend the meeting. (Someone else has decided)
-I’ve got to attend the meeting (informal)
Obligation
-We ought to/should respect the elderly. (Strong recommendation)
-Need I buy a present? (is it necessary?)
-You are to stay here until I return. (=must. It is used to give orders)
-I’m supposed to work this weekend. (My boss expects me to do so)

-She doesn’t need to/doesn’t have to/needn’t do the shopping. I’ll do it

later. (it isn’t necessary)
-She didn’t need to/needn’t/didn’t have to do the shopping as I had
Lack of necessity already done it. (it wasn’t necessary for her to do it so she didn’t do it)
-She needn’t have done the shopping. (it wasn’t necessary for her to do
the shopping, but she did it anyway)

-You mustn’t tell anyone.

-Unfortunately, we can’t take a dictionary to the exam.
Prohibition aren’t allowed to …
are forbidden to...

Can (Present), could (Past), be able to (Future, Pres. Perf, …)

Ability -We were able to unlock the door (=managed to)

-She can’t dance. (Present)

-He couldn’t/wasn’t able to play chess. (Past)
Lack of ability
-She didn’t manage to get on time. (despite the effort)

(on hearing the bell)

Certainty -That must/will be my sister. (I’m sure it is true)+
(Deduction) -It can’t/couldn’t be her. She’s away. (I’m sure it isn’t her)-

-The road can be blocked. (theoretically possible)

-The road may/might/could be blocked (specific possibility)
Possibility
& -He’s likely to come round any time soon.
Probability unlikely
-He ought to/should be in now (He’s probably in)

-Anne must have gone to work, her coat’s gone. (it seems certain this
logically happened)
-Anne may/might/could have left her glasses at work. (it is possible that
Possibility in the
this happened)
Past
-Anne can’t have gone yet. Her car is still in the garage. (it seems
impossible that this happened)
 Asking for it: Can I / Could I / May I use the loo?
Are we allowed to take a dictionary to the exam?
Permission Giving it: Of course, you can/may.
I’m sorry, but you can’t/mustn’t/may not.

-Can / Could / Will / Would you explain this to me?

-Can I have a pint of lager, please?
Requests
-I’d like …

-Shall I / we give it a try?

-Why don’t we …?
-Let’s have something to eat, shall we?
Suggestions
-How/What about having something to eat?
-We can/could go to a concert tonight.

-You ought to/ should have your eyes tested.

-You‘d better not take much notice of his comments.
Advice -You must see the film (strong recommendation)
-If I were you, I’d listen to the radio in English much more.

Can Ought to
Could Shall
Common Modal Verbs
May Should
Might Will
Must Would

1. They do not agree in the third-person singular, as do other auxiliaries and lexical
verbs.

*She cans play the piano beautifully.

2. They are followed by a bare infinitive form of another verb. Most other verbs use
the infinitive with to. Ought is an exception to this rule.

*They must to work on the project.

They ought to work on the project.

3. Many modal verbs cannot be used in the past or the future tenses without changing
form.

*He will can go with us. He will be able to go with us.

*She musted study very hard.  She had to study very hard.

4. You use “not” to make modal verbs negative, even in Simple Present and Simple
Past.

He should not be late.

They might not come to the party.