Modal Auxiliary Verbs

Modal auxiliary verbs include: can, could, may, might, must, ought, shall, should, will, and would. These verbs – which never change forms the way most other verbs do – indicate possibility, capability, necessity, or willingness.

Modal verbs always accompany the base form of another verb having semantic content.

MODALS	FUNCTIONS	EXAMPLES
Will	asking possibility suggestion	Will you go to school? It will rain today. You will not keep late hours at night before the exam.
Would	requesting	Would you give me a pen?
Shall	asking possibility	Shall I do the work? I hope I shall complete the project within a week.
Should	suggestion seeking advice	You should walk a mile in the morning. Should we go for a walk?
Can	ability possibility	The boy can speak English fluently. We can hold a condolence meeting for his death this Sunday.
Could	ability requesting	He could do the sum. Could you help me to solve the problem?
May	possibility permission offering	He may come here today. May I come in? May I get you a cup of tea?
Might	possibility suggestion	His statement might be true. You might just as well go.
Must	obligation certainty strong probability prohibition	You must obey your teacher. Man must die one day. You must be tired after a long journey. We must not waste our time.
Dare	have the courage challenge negative force interrogation	He dare not say so. (not dares’) I dare you to prove that you’ve said so. He dare not follow you. Who dares to enter the room?
Need	prohibition interrogation	You need not (needn’t) come here. Need he go there?
Used to	habitual action in the past	My father used to teach me English.
Ought to	obligation strong likelihood	You ought to work hard. The lawyer ought to be able to help you.

Modal Verbs of Ability

Modals of Ability: Can, Could, Be able to, May, Might.

To talk about ability in the past we use ‘could‘, which is the past form of ‘can’. I can’t dance rumba now (present ability), but I could when I was younger (past ability). I could read when I was four.

1) you swim when you were 10?

2) We get to the meeting on time yesterday, because the train was delayed by one hour.

3) He arrive at the party on time, even after missing the train, so he was very pleased.

4) He’s amazing, he speak five languages, including Chinese.

5) I drive a car until I was 34. Then I moved to the countryside, so I had to learn…

6) I looked everywhere for my glasses but I find them anywhere.

7) I searched for your house for ages. luckily I find it in the end.

8) She’s seven years old, but she read yet. Her parents are getting her extra lessons.

9) I read the book three times, but I understand it.

10) James speak Japanese when he lived in Japan, but he’s forgotten most of it now.

11) I understand the chapter we had to read for homework. It was so difficult.

12) I lift this box – it’s too heavy! Would you help me?

13) Lucy make it to our meeting after all. She’s stuck in traffic.

14) John play tennis really well. He’s champion of his club.

15) Unfortunately, I really sing at all. No-one in my family is musical either…

16) When the car broke down I was really pleased because I solve the problem.

17) Julian play excellent golf when he was only ten.

18) My grandmother use a computer until last month. Since then she’s been taking lessons at the library.

19) I open this window! I think it’s stuck.

20) Gill play the piano. She has never studied it.

Modals Verbs of Obligation

We can use have to + infinitive, must + infinitive and should + infinitive to express obligation (something you have to do).

Put in ‘mustn’t’ or ‘don’t / doesn’t have to’

1) We have a lot of work tomorrow. You be late.

2) You tell anyone what I just told you. It’s a secret.

3) The museum is free. You pay to get in.

4) Children tell lies. It’s very naughty.

5) John’s a millionaire. He go to work.

6) I do my washing because my mother does it for me.

7) We rush. We’ve got plenty of time.

8) You smoke inside the school.

9) You can borrow my new dress, but you get it dirty.

10) We miss the train, because it’s the last one tonight.

11) She do this work today, because she can do it tomorrow.

12) I clean the floor today because I cleaned it yesterday.

13) We forget to lock all the doors before we leave.

14) We stay in a hotel in London; we can stay with my brother.

15) I spend too much money today, as I’ve only got a little left.

16) They get up early today, because it’s Sunday.

17) I eat too much cake or I’ll get fat!.

18) We be late for the exam.

19) You tidy up now. I’ll do it later.

20) He cook tonight because he’s going to a restaurant.

Past Modal Verbs

Have you even wondered what could be? In a different universe, in a parallel universe – one where money isn’t a problem (hey, we’re dreaming here) – what does your life look like? What would you have done differently? Past Modal Verbs allow us to talk about all that could’ve been!

Modals Verbs of Probability and deduction

Some modals of deductions about the past are must have, might have/may have, and can’t have/couldn’t have. Must have + past participle is used to express certainty about something. She couldn’t find her purse. She must have left it at the restaurant.

Put in ‘must + infinitive’ or ‘must + have + past participle’:

1) Carla always does really well on exams. She (study) a lot.

2) That woman drives a very expensive car. She (have) a lot of money.

3) You (practice) a lot before you gave your speech. It was really good.

4) When Lizzie got home yesterday there were flowers on the table. Her husband (buy) them.

5) Where is my purse? I saw it earlier, so it (be) in this room.

6) Sarah couldn’t find her glasses. She thought she (leave) them at her office.

7) It (be) cold outside. That man in the street is wearing a coat.

8) All my plants (be) dead! I forgot to water them before I went on holiday.

9) Susie is so late! She (miss) the train!.

10) There’s rubbish all over my garden! A fox (be) in the bin.[ . ]

11) Anna has a huge library in her house. She (love) books.

12) Oh no, I don’t have my keys! I (leave) them in the taxi.

13) When Lucy got home, she found the ice cream had melted. It (be) too hot in the car.

14) If you haven’t eaten all day, you (be) hungry.

15) Jimmy and Louisa (be) very tired. They have a new baby.

16) It (rain) a lot in the night. There are puddles everywhere.

17) David (be) happy. His girlfriend just agreed to marry him.

18) What an amazing kitchen you’ve got! You (like) cooking.

19) John (eat) all the biscuits! There are none left.

20) When I got up this morning, the kitchen was spotless. Lily (tidy) it before she went to bed last night.

Circle the correct past modal verbs.

Nobody knows exactly why he died. But we think it should have might have can have been an accident.
I could have might have should have revised more for the exam. I was lazy, and now I’ll fail!
Sarah looked very happy. She should have must have can’t have passed her driving test.
I didn’t know you were going to Phil’s party yesterday. You must have should have can’t have told me!
I can’t believe Jim hasn’t arrived yet. He should have must have can have taken the wrong train.
I can’t believe Jim hasn’t arrived yet. He mustn’t have shouldn’t have can’t have taken the correct train.
You mustn’t have may not have couldn’t have been ill yesterday. Jessie saw you at the bowling alley.
I don’t know where they went but they must have could have can have gone to Paris or Marseilles.
You ought to have can’t have must have paid more attention. Now we are lost.
The window was broken, so the thieves should have may have must have got in through that window.

Choose the correct answer.

I’m sorry but Mr. Banks isn’t here. He _______ left.

a.can’t have
b.might have
c.must have
d.should have

We really enjoyed the movie. You _______ come with us.

a.might have
b.can’t have
c.must have
d.should have

They _______ bought a new house. They are both unemployed.

a.can’t have
b.might not have
c.mustn’t have
d.could have

He studied nothing and passed the exam, so he ________ cheated.

a.can have
b.must have
c.ought to have
d.might have

My car isn’t there any more! It _______ stolen while I was shopping

Complete the sentences using the verbs in brackets with a past modal verb form.

Old Mr McGraw had been murdered and everybody was wondering who 1 (do) it. Two police officers were speculating about the murder.

SEBASTIAN: It 2 (be) Mrs McGraw. I’m totally convinced it was her. She absolutely hated him. She 3 (use) a kitchen knife as the murder weapon, or maybe an axe from the garden tools.

JESSICA: It 4 (be) Mrs McGraw. She isn’t strong enough to drag the body and put it in the car boot. It 5 (be) their older son; I would bet all my money it was him. He had motive, because Mr McGraw had disinherited him long ago, and everybody knew they hated each other.

SEBASTIAN: Impossible. It 6 (be) their older son because he has a plausible alibi. He was fishing with his brother at the time of the crime, he testified.

JESSICA: Then the younger son 7 (lie) to protect his brother. They 8 (agree) on an alibi after the murder. If you think about it, they 9 (plan) the murder together. It’s a reasonable possibility. Maybe the younger son was afraid that his father would disinherit him too; they had a difficult relationship.

SEBASTIAN: That makes sense. They killed him so that at least one of them could get the inheritance.

JESSICA: Well, if they wanted to get the money from the inheritance, they 10 (kill) their father. Because now we’ll catch them and they will be in prison and without a penny.

1) I (buy) bread but I didn’t know we needed it. (past possibility)

2) We (invite) so many people to our party! I’m worried that we won’t have enough room for everyone. (past negative advice / regret)

3) I (start) saving money years ago! (past advice / regret)

4) We (join) you at the restaurant, but we couldn’t get a babysitter. (past willingness)

5) The weather (be) any worse! (past negative possibility)

6) I (arrive) on time, even if I’d left earlier. There were dreadful traffic jams all the way. (past negative possibility)

7) They (win) the football match, but John hurt his ankle. (past possibility)

8) Amanda (finish) the work, but she felt ill and had to go home. (past willingness)

9) Lucy (leave) earlier. She missed her flight. (past advice / regret)

10) We (finish) the game, even if we’d wanted to. It was raining very hard and we had to stop. (past negative possibility)

11) I (eat) so much chocolate! I feel sick! (past negative advice / regret)

12) Luke (pass) the exam if he’d studied a bit more. (past possibility)

13) John (call) Amy, but he didn’t have her number. (past willingness)

14) You (be) rude to him. He’s going to be really angry now. (past negative advice / regret)

15) She (come) to the restaurant if she’d left work earlier. (past possibility)

16) You (take) this job. I can see you’re not enjoying it. (past negative advice / regret)

17) The race was really difficult. She (win) because she’s not fit enough. (past negative possibility)

18) Our neighbors (cut) down the tree in their garden. It was a really beautiful tree. (past negative advice / regret)

19) The children (do) their homework last night. Then they wouldn’t be panicking on the way to school. (past advice / regret)

20) I’m really cold! I (bring) my coat. (past advice / regret)

21) I (come) to see you! I didn’t know you were ill. (past willingness)

22) Andrew (go) to Cambridge University, but he decided to travel instead. (past possibility)

23) They (be) kinder to me. They were absolutely lovely. (past negative possibility)

24) You (buy) some milk at the shops. We don’t have any milk. (past advice / regret)

25) They (come) to have breakfast with us, but they went to bed too late the night before. (past willingness)

Past Modal Verbs

Could have should have would have

Make the correct past modal form (use could have / would have / should have + past participle)