I2CI

Grammar
Review

I2CI: Modal Verbs 1

Form

Modal verbs are can, could, will, would, may, might,

shall, should and must

Modal verbs are followed by the infinitive without to. Modal

verbs have only one form. So, there is no s in the third
person singular and there are no verb tenses with ing,
-ed, etc.

Questions are made by putting the modal in front of the

subject. Negatives are made by putting not immediately
after the modal (often shortened to nt in spoken English
and informal written English):

Can I?

I cannot (cant)

May I?

I may not

Could I? I could not

(couldnt)

Might I
?

I might not

Will I?

I will not (wont)

Shall I?

I shall not (shant)

Would
I?

I would not
(wouldnt)

Should
I?

I should not
(shouldnt)

I2CI: Modal Verbs 1

I2CI: Modal Verbs 1

Form

The same modal verb can be used in different ways and

with different meanings, You only know the meaning from
the situation. For example, could:
I could get to work in 30 minutes in my last job (ability:
past time)
Could you pass the salt, please? (request: present time)
That could be difficult (uncertainty: future time)

Ability

To talk about ability we use can and cant (or cannot in

formal writing):
We can get that information from Internet
Can you deliver the product in two weeks? No, we cant

I2CI: Modal Verbs 1

Ability

Cant is used for all things that we are not able to do:

For the special case of things that are prohibited (not

allowed) by rules or laws we can also use mustn't:

I cant speak German

Im sorry, you cant /mustnt smoke in this area

We sometimes use be able to instead of can. They are

common in writing:

For the first time in years we are now able to

generate growth internally, not just through
acquisitions (Herald Tribune Website)

I2CI: Modal Verbs 1

Past ability

To talk about general past ability (not limited to one

occasion) we use could:

To talk about one specific past action we use was/were

able to and managed to:

I could speak French quite well when I was at school

I was able to / managed to install the new software

quite easily

But to talk about a specific past action with a verb of the

senses (see, feel, hear, understand) we can use could:

I could / was able to / managed to understand most

of what he said

I2CI: Modal Verbs 1

Past ability

In negative sentences and questions, we can use

could , was/were able to, and managed to:

Im sorry, I couldnt / wasnt able to / didnt

manage to come to the meeting yesterday
I couldnt / wasnt able to / didnt manage to
understand what he meant
Could you / Were you able to / Did you
manage to deal with the problem?

I2CI: Modal Verbs 1

Will and willingness

Will is an auxiliary verb used to refer to the future,

But will also has a modal uses that can refer to the
present or the future

Will can be used for instant comments made at

the moment of speaking
I think Ill go home now (spontaneous decision)
Ill give you a lift to the station (an offer to help)
Ill give you my full support in the meeting (a
promise)
Ill have a salad, please (ordering food)

I2CI: Modal Verbs 1

Will and willingness

Will can also be used in questions to

make a request or offer something
Will you bring me the financial report,
please? (a request)
Will you have some more coffee?
(offering something)

In many of these examples where will

refers to the present, it expresses the
idea of willingness, that is, being ready
and wanting to do something

I2CI: Modal Verbs 2

Necessity (obligation)

To say that something is necessary we use have to,

need to and must.
I have to / need to speak to Jane before she leaves
We must finish the meeting by 2 pm

All three forms are very similar, particularly in writing

where they all express necessity (obligation). In
speech, we use have to and need to in order to
indicate that the situation makes something necessary
You have to pay the invoice by the end of this week

And we use must to indicate that the speaker

personally feels something is important:
You must stop working so hard (Im advising you)

I2CI: Modal Verbs 2

No necessity, permission, prohibition

When something is not necessary we use dont have to

and dont need to:
You dont have to pay now, you have credit here

When something is permitted we use can and be allowed

to:
You can park your car here during the week

When something is prohibited, we use cant, be not

allowed to and mustnt. Mustnt is common when telling
people what not to do:
You are not allowed to smoke inside a bar (its the law)
You mustnt talk about politics with our customers
(advice)

I2CI: Modal Verbs 2

No necessity, permission, prohibition

Notice that have to and must have similar meanings in their

affirmative forms, but different meanings in their negative form:
I have to / must leave now (its necessary for me to leave)
I dont have to leave now (Its not necessary, I can choose)
I mustnt leave now (Its prohibited, Im not allowed to leave)

Necessity, no necessity, permission and

prohibition in the past

To talk about necessity in the past we use had to and

needed to. There is no past form of must:
I had to / needed to speak to my marketing director
about something, but Ive forgotten what it was about

I2CI: Modal Verbs 2

Necessity, no necessity, permission and
prohibition in the past

To talk about no necessity in the past we use didnt have to

and didnt need to:
You didnt have to / didnt need to take a taxi at the
airport. I could have picked you up in my car.

To talk about permission in the past we use could and was

allowed to:
In my last job, I could / was allowed to use the phone for
personal calls

To talk about prohibition in the past we use couldnt and

wasnt allowed to:
She couldnt / wasnt allowed to report to our
competitors.

I2CI: Modal Verbs 2

Opinions and advice

We use should, should not (shouldnt), ought to and ought

not to (oughtnt) to give an opinion or recommendation
about what is the best thing to do:
We should / ought to invest more heavily in marketing

When we use you speaking to someone else, your opinion

becomes advice. An advice is like a weak type of necessity:
You should speak to your boss (its my advice to you)
You should / ought to go to the doctor (advice)
You must / have to go to the doctor (strong advice: its
really necessary)

had better (not) is used for strong opinions:

Youd better not interrupt him when hes in a meeting
Somebody has broken the window. Wed better call the
police

I2CI: Modal Verbs 2

Past criticism

When we use should and ought to in the past (+ have +

past participle) we mean that we didnt the right thing and
now we are making a criticism:
We should have seen the dangers a long time ago
We shouldnt have spent all our budget in advertising
You ought to have mentioned that problem earlier

Need to

Need to means the same as have to:

You have to / need to sign the contract here
You dont need to / neednt wait for me, Ill come along
later
I didnt need to arrive to my office so early in my last job

I2CI: Modal Verbs 3

Degrees of probability

We can use modals and other phrases to talk

about the probability that something will
happen in the future:
100% certainty
will, be certain to
95-100% deduction
must, cant
80%
expectation
should, ought
to,
be likely to,
shouldnt, ought
not to, be unlikely
to
30-70% uncertainty
may, might,
could,
may not, might not
0%
certainty wont

I2CI: Modal Verbs 3

Certainty and deduction

We use will and be certain to if we are certain

that something will happen:
Our new product will be launched in March

We use wont when we are certain something will

not happen:
Im Sorry, Mr Smith is not here. He wont be
back until 12:00

We can use probably and definitively with will

and wont. Note the word order:
Shell probably be at the meeting
She probably wont be at the meeting

I2CI: Modal Verbs 3

Certainty and deduction

We use mustn't and cant to show that something is

very certain because it is logical (deduction):
Theres no answer from her phone, she must be in
a meeting
Both meeting rooms are empty. She cant be in a
meeting

Expectation

When we expect that something will happen we use

should, ought to, or be likely to:
My boss should / ought to arrive at about 11:30
Our profits are likely to improve next year

I2CI: Modal Verbs 3

Expectation

When we expect that something will not happen we

use shouldnt, ought not to, or be unlikely to:
There shouldnt / ought not to be any problem
It is unlikely that the economy gets better soon

Uncertainty

When we are uncertain we use may, might or could.

The meaning is perhaps:
We may be able to deliver in two weeks
It could take a long time to arrange the finance

Negative forms are only may not / might not:

I may / might not be in the office on Friday afternoon

I2CI: Modal Verbs 3

Degrees of probability in the past

For certainty in the past we use a normal past

simple. For different degrees of probability in the
past we use: modal verb + have + past participle :

Assumptio Youll have seen our new model. Its in all the
shops
n
Deduction There was no answer from her phone. She
must have been in a meeting

Expectatio They should / ought to have arrived by now. I

hope they havent got lost
n
Uncertaint Were only five minutes late. The meeting
might not have started yet
y
Assumptio You wont have seen our model. Its not in the
shops yet
n

I2CI: Modal Verbs 3

Possibility

Be careful with the word possibility, because it refers to

two different ideas in English: uncertainty and ability. See
some examples:
The share price might / could recover (uncertainty: there
is a chance that something will happen)
Our factory can produce 800 cars a month (ability: the
mental skill or physical power to do something)

To talk about a past possibility we use could + have +past

participle:
I could have booked an earlier flight, but it left too early

To talk about a past impossibility we use couldnt + have

+past participle:
I couldnt have booked the earlier flight, it was totally full

I2CI: Modal Verbs

Grammar

exercises
on the modal verbs:
Test 6