MODAL VERBS

The main characteristics of the pure

modal verbs are:

They never change their form.

No -s/-es for the third person
singular (he/she/ it)
He can play the guitar
NOT *he cans play the guitar.

They form negative sentences by the

addition of not/n't (no dont/doesnt)
e.g. I can't remember
NOT *I don't can remember.

They form questions by inversion with

the subject of the sentence.
e.g. Should I stay?
NOT *Do I should stay?

They are all followed by the base

form of the verb (infinitive without
to)
e.g. He can swim
NOT *He can to swim
ABILITY

CAN (present): E.g. Can you swim?

COULD (general ability in the past):
E.g. She could dance for hours when she
was young.
WAS/WERE ABLE TO / MANAGED TO
(specific situation in the past):
E.g. The fire spread through the building
very quickly, but fortunately everybody
was able to escape/managed to escape.

POSSIBILITY

CAN (theoretical possibility):

e.g. You can stay in one of our relaxing
villas.
MAY (perhaps, very possible):
e.g. It may be true.
e.g. I may be late this evening.
MIGHT (perhaps, very possible):
e.g. There might be some cheese in the
fridge.
e.g. Take an umbrella, it might rain later.
COULD (possible):
e.g. He could be at home.
MUST (its almost certain, I think)
 e.g. They look alike. They must be twins.
SHOULD (reasonably certain)
e.g. Where is John? He should be here by
now.
e.g. There are plenty of hotels in the
town. It shouldnt be hard to find a place
to stay.
CANT (it does not seem possible, I dont
think)
e.g. You have been sleeping all day. You
cant be tired.
e.g. Youve just had lunch. You cant be
hungry.

PERMISSION

Asking for permission

CAN (informal)
e.g. Can I borrow your pen?
COULD (more polite)
e.g. Could I borrow your car?
MAY (formal)
e.g.- May I use your mobile phone?
MIGHT (more formal)
e.g. Might I see your driving licence,
please?

Giving/refusing permission
CAN (informal, giving permission)
 e.g.- You can have one more if you want.
MAY (formal, giving permission)
e.g. You may stay a little longer.
MUSTNT (refusing permission)
e.g. You mustnt park here.
CANT (refusing permission)
e.g.- You cant enter this room.

REQUESTS/OFFERS/SUGGESTIONS
CAN (request)
e.g.- Can you help me do my homework?
COULD (polite request/suggestion)
e.g.- Could I have a little more cake,
please?
WOULD YOU LIKE (polite offer)
e.g.Would you like some more coffee?
SHALL I/WE- suggestion/offer
e.g. Shall we buy him a present?
WILL
e.g. Will you do me a favour?

ADVICE
SHOULD/OUGHT TO (general advice)
e.g. You should eat more vegetables.
HAD BETTER (advice for a specific
situation)
e.g. Youd better see your dentist.

OBLIGATION/NECESSITY
MUST (strong obligation, external
rules/laws or personal feelings of
necessity)
e.g. We must follow the school rules.
e.g. You must wear your seat belt.
HAVE TO (everyday obligations)
e.g.- I have to do my homework every day.
IVE GOT TO (informal)
e.g. Ive got to leave early today.
SHOULD (mild obligation, suggestion)
e.g. You should take out insurance.

ABSENCE OF OBLIGATION/NECESSITY
NEEDNT/DONT NEED TO (it is not
necessary to do something, but you can if
you like)
e.g.You neednt take an umbrella. Its not
raining.
DONT HAVE TO
e.g. You dont have to do it now.
DIDNT NEED TO/DIDNT HAVE TO (past)
e.g.- He didnt need to go to work
yesterday.

PROHIBITION

MUSTNT (its forbidden)

 e.g.- You mustnt park here.
CANT (you are not allowed)
e.g.- You cant enter the club without a
ticket

PAST MODALS

You can use must / may / might / cant /

couldnt + have+ past participle to make
deductions or speculate about past actions.

MUST + HAVE + PP (you are almost sure

something happened or was true).
E.g. :You must have seen something. You were
there when the robbery happened.

CANT (also COULDNT) + HAVE + PP (you are

almost sure something didnt happen or that it is
impossible)
E.g.: You cant have seen Paul yesterday. He was
in bed with flu.

MIGHT /MAY + HAVE + PP (its possible that

something happened or was true)
E.g.: Somebody might have stolen your wallet
when you were getting off the train.
SHOULD /SHOULDNT + HAVE + PP (to say
somebody didnt do the right thing)
E.g.: Its my fault. I should have told you earlier.
E.g.: He shouldnt have gone by car. The train is
much faster.

EXERCISES

Modals

1. There are plenty of tomatoes in the fridge. You

____________ buy any.

2. It's a hospital. You___________smoke.

3. He had been working for more than 11 hours.

He_____________be tired after such hard work.
He____________prefer to get some rest.

4. I_____________speak Arabic fluently when I was a

child and we lived in Morocco. But after we
moved back to Canada, I had very little exposure
to the language and forgot almost everything I
knew as a child. Now, I ___________ just say a few
things in the language.
5. The teacher said we ____________ read this book
for our own pleasure as it is optional. But we
____________ read it if we don't want to.
 6. _____________ you stand on your head for more
than a minute? No, I _____________ .

7. If you want to speak English fluently, you

___________ work hard.

8. Take an umbrella. It ____________ rain later.

9. You_______________leave small objects lying

around . Such objects___________be swallowed by
children.

10. People_____________walk on the grass.

11. Drivers_____________stop when the traffic lights

are red.

12. ______________I ask a question? Yes, of course.

13. You____________take your umbrella. It is not

raining.

14. ___________ you speak Italian? No, I ____________.

Past modals
1) Rewrite the bold sentence with must / might
(not) /cant + have+ past participle.

1. Im sure I left my umbrella at home. I dont

have it now.
_________________________________________________________

2. Im sure they havent got lost. They have a

map.

_________________________________________________________

3. Perhaps John didnt hear you. You know hes

a bit deaf.

_________________________________________________________

4. Holly is crying. Perhaps shes had an

argument with her boyfriend.

_________________________________________________________

2) Complete with should /shouldnt have.

1. Peter was rude to everyone at my party. I

________________________ (invite) him.
2. Shes in bed with a stomach ache. She________
_________________(eat) so much chocolate cake.
3. A. You look really tired
B. I know. I ____________________ (go) to bed
earlier.

4. A. I couldnt understand anyone in Paris.

B. You ______________________ (learn) some
French before you went.