MODALS

MODALS

1. Use of modals

   • The modal verbs can, could, may, might, must, ought to, shall, should, will and would
     • are always used before another verb
       • He can swim
     • never change- they do not add -s or -ed or -ing
     • are followed by a verb in its infinitive form without to
       • You should get up earlier
       • except for ought to
     • are immediately followed by NOT in the negative
       • You should not/shouldn´t be late for college
         • You ought not to be late for college
     • go immediately before the subject in a question
       • Could you wake me up?

2. Rules and obligation

   • For obligation, we can often use either must or have to
     • I must go now or I¨ll miss the bus, I have to go now or I¨ll miss the bus
   • We use must to give orders, for written notices or for strong advices, including to ours
     • You must tell me everything
   • When the obligation does not come from the speaker, must is possible but have to is more usual
     • You have to pay to park your car here
   • We usually use have to for habits
     • Franco has to practise the piano for twenty minutes a day
   • We use must in one form, and that is present or future. For other forms we use have to
     • I had to work every day (past simple)

3. Necessity

   • (Need+infinitive) has a form in negative
     • She doesn´t need to come
   • In positive statements, we say:
     • She needs to come
   • To talk about the past we say
     • Oliver needed to buy a computer
   • Needn´t have has a different meaning
     • Oliver needn´t have bought a computer

4. Asking for and giving permission

   • We can ask for permission by sayin Can I? Could? or May I?
     • Can I leave my bag here? Could I borrow your car? May I sit here?
   • We usually answer by saying:
     • Of course/ OK/ Certainly. I´m afraid not/ No, you can´t
   • May is often used in written notices to say what is or is not allowed
     • You may borrow six books from the library. You may not keep any book for longer than three weeks

5. Making request

   • We often use Can you? or Will you?, especially in informal conversation
     • Can you pass me the bread?
   • To be more polite, we use Could you? and Would you?
     • Could you tell me me where the station is?
   • We usually answer by saying:
     • (Yes) of course (I can/will) or OK or Maybe. I´m sorry, I´m afraid I can´t
   • We often use Do you think you could? to make requests
     • Do you think you could move your things off the table?
   • We use Would you mind (not) -ing? when we want to be very polite
     • Would you mind moving to another seat?
   • We never use May you? to ask someone to do something. The reply to a question with Would you mind? is negative:

6. Making offers

   • There are several ways of offering help to someone:
     • Can I/we help you to cook dinner? Shall I/we clean the car for you? I can/ I could/ I´ll lend you some money. Why don´t I carry that bag for you? Would you like me to do the washing up?

7. Making suggestions

   • If we are less sure of what we are suggesting, we can say:
     • I/ We/ You could drive to the city centre today.

8. Giving orders and advice

   • To give orders and advice, we use: MUST!!!, HAD BETTER!, OUGHT TO/SHOULD, and Could
     • You really must start looking for a job. You´d better start looking for a job. You should/ought to start looking for a job. You could start looking for a job.
   • For the negative we normally use had better not or shouldn´t. Ought not to is also possible but less common:
     • You´d better not forget to send that application form
   • We don´t use mustn´t or couldn´t when giving advice
     • To talk about the past we say
       • You should have/ ought to have accepted that job
     • For the negative we say:
       • You shouldn´t have worn those clothes
     • We can use all these verbs to talk about the right thing to do:
       • I must try harder not to be late. She should/ought to be more thoughtful. He´d better go and say sorry. I´d better not upset her today. They shouldn´t/ought not to talk so much.
     • To talk about the right thing to do in the past we say
       • They shouldn´t have talked so much

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