VIDEO OF MODAL VERBS

As well as making simple statements or asking questions, we may sometimes want to express our intentions and attitudes, talk about necessity and possibility, or make offers, requests, or suggestions. In English these uses of language are usually expressed by a set of verbs called modals. Modals always occur with other verbs, and can be thought of as a special kind of auxiliary verb, e.g.:

I must go to the post office.

Can I borrow your umbrella?

The most commonly used modals in English are:

Can / could / will / would / may / might / must / ought to / should

Modals are mainly used when we want to indicate our attitude to what we are saying, or when we are considering how what we say will affect the person we are communicating with. Compare:

She’s the oldest. vs. She might be the oldest.

(Here the modal shows that the speaker is not absolutely sure that the statement is true.)

Close the door. vs. Could/would/will you close the door?

(Here the modals turn an instruction into a polite request.)

 2. Some basic characteristics of modals:

a) Modals are always followed by the base form of the verb, e.g.:

I might play tennis tomorrow.

You ought to tell her.

Sometimes a modal is followed by the base form of auxiliaries have or be, followed by a participle, e.g.:

I might be playing tennis tomorrow.

You ought to have told her.

In passive structures, a modal is followed by be or have been and a past participle, e.g.:

She ought to be disqualified.

The door might have been locked.

b) Modals never inflect, i.e.: they have no –ing or –ed forms, and do not take –s in the third person singular present.

Note: the modal form could is sometimes thought of as the past tense of can when it refers to the ability to do something, e.g.:

Louise can read. = Louise could read when she was three.

and also in reported speech, when the modal form would is also thought of as the past tense of will:

“Jackie can come.” = She said that Jackie could come.

“You will be late.”= I told her that she would be late.

c) Unlike other verbs, modals do not use do and did to form negatives. Negatives are formed by putting not immediately after the modal, except in the case of ought to, where the negative form is ought not to (which is sometimes abbreviated to oughtn’t to). The negative of can is written as one word cannot, more usually shortened to can’t. Shall not and will not are usually abbreviated to shan’t and won’t respectively. Could not and would not usually appear as couldn’t and wouldn’t, e.g.:

I might not play tennis tomorrow.

You ought not to tell her.

She can’t come.

We won’t be ready until five.

d) Modals do not use do and did to form questions. Questions are formed by placing the modal before the subject. In the case of ought to, ought is placed before the subject and to after it, e.g.:

Can she speak Spanish?

Ought you to tell her?

Wouldn’t he help you?

When will and would are used after a pronoun, they are often shortened to the contracted forms ’ll and ’d and joined to the pronoun, e.g.:

I’ll help, if you want.

I’m sure she’ll agree.

It’d be better if you told her yourself.

He said that he’d walk home.