Modal verbs express choice,
ability, possibility, need or other
condition. We use them for the
future and the conditional.
As complementary verbs that are, modal verbs
do not work without another verb. This other
verb always goes after the modal verb and is in
the base form (the infinitive without "to"). Modal
verbs are not conjugated and have no time.
Modal verbs
are:
can, could, may,might, will,shall, should,ought
to, must/have to, would
examples 1can: This verb can have different translations, different from its context, but the most
common are, you can, you can, I can, I know, you know, you know. An example of this I see in the
following sentences: Forgive me, can you tell me what time is? Disculpa, ¿puedes decirme qué hora
es? I can cook pizza. Yo sé cocinar pizza.
examples 2 could: This verb (past "can") can be translated as you could or could. It also establishes possibility as we
could. Some examples: We could meet up today. Podríamos encontrarnos hoy. Could you call your
mom, please? ¿Podrías llamar a tu mamá, por favor?
examples 3 May: May Your translations are, can, can or can. It is used as follows: May I speak now?
¿Puedo hablar ahora? We may go to the college tomorrow. Puede que vayamos mañana a la
universidad.
Modal verbs are auxiliary verbs that cannot function as a main
verb, unlike the auxiliary verbs "be", "do" and "have" that can
function as a main verb.