Modal Verbs

General facts

Modals are different from normal verbs:

1: They don't use an 's' for the third person singular.

2: They make questions by inversion ('she can go' becomes 'can
she go?').
3: They are followed directly by the infinitive of another verb
(without 'to').
Modal verbs express: Permission, Ability, Obligation, Prohibition,
Lack of necessity, Advice, Possibility, Probability
Permission
We use can to ask for permission to do something:
Can I ask a question, please?
Can we go home now?
could is more formal and polite than can:
Could I ask a question please?
Could we go home now?
may is another more formal and polite way of asking for permission:
May I ask a question please?
May we go home now?
We use can to give permission:
You can go home now if you like.
You can borrow my pen if you like.
may is a more formal and polite way of giving permission:
You may go home now, if you like.
We use can to say that someone has permission to do something:
We can go out whenever we want.
Students can travel free.
may is a more formal and polite way of saying that someone has permission:
Students may travel free.
Obligation
Must
We use "must" to talk about obligations. Often, when we use "must", the authority for the obligation comes from the person who is speaking.
e.g. "You must do your homework every night." (Because I say you must!)
"I must stop smoking!" (Because I think it's a good idea to stop.)
Have to
We can also use "have to" to talk about rules and regulations. The authority for the obligation doesn't come from the person who is speaking. Perhaps
the rule is a general law or obligation.
e.g. "In England you have to pay tax."
"We have to check everyone's ID."
"Have to" is a normal verb. Use "do" or "does" to make a question, and "don't" or "doesn't" to make a negative.
e.g. "Do you have to vote in an election?"
"He doesn't have to wear a uniform to school."
Have got to
"Have got to" is common in British English and is stronger than "have to".
e.g. I have got to fill in this form. The deadline is tomorrow."
"She has got to study hard to pass the exam."
To make the question and negative form, use "have", "has", "haven't" and "hasn't": "Have you got to leave early tomorrow?"
Need to
We use "need to" to talk about what is necessary.
e.g. "You need to go to the hairdresser's. Your hair is very long."
"She needs to go to the doctor. She gets headaches every day."
"Need to" is like "have to": use do / does to make questions:
e.g. "Do you need to pass an exam to get into university?"
"Does she need to get a job?"
Prohibition
To say that there is an obligation not to do something, use
"mustn't".
"You mustn't play here it's dangerous!"
"He mustn't eat peanuts. He's allergic to nuts."
We can also use "can't":
"You can't go out tonight. You've got homework."
Lack of necessity
To say there is no obligation, use "don't / doesn't have to" or "don't
/ doesn't need to".
Examples:
"You don't have to bring food on the trip."
"She doesn't have to work in the evening."
"I don't need to pay now. I can pay later."
"They don't need to speak English in their job."
Typical grammar mistake! Be careful when you use "don't
have to". It does not mean the same as "mustn't"
Ability
We use can to talk about someones skill or general abilities:
She can speak several languages.
He can swim like a fish.
They cant dance very well.
We use can to talk about the ability to do something at a given time in the present or
future:
You can make a lot of money if you are lucky.
Help. I cant breathe.
They can run but they cant hide.
We use could to talk about past time:
She could speak several languages.
They couldnt dance very well.
We use could have to say that someone had the ability/opportunity to do something, but
did not do it:
She could have learned Swahili, but she didnt have time.
I could have danced all night [but didn't].
Advice
Modal Verbs are used to give advice or suggestions. There are two modal verbs for advice: should and would.
Should - is used for advice in the present. The structure is as follows:
Subject + Should + Base Verb
You should eat healthy food.
Should is used for advice in the past. Here is the structure:
Should + Have + Past Participle
You should have gone to the party.
It is common to use should to give negative advice. In this case, add not. The contraction is shouldnt.
You should not eat too much candy.
You shouldnt drive too fast.
Would - is used to give advice. In this situation, the speaker is giving hypothetical advice as if he/she were the listener.
e.g. If I were you, I would return the book.
It is not always necessary to include If I were you.
I wouldnt eat that..
Normally, would is used to talk about yourself, and should is used to talk about someone else.
Example: I would study tonight if I were you.
You should study tonight.
It is also common to ask for advice using these modal verbs:
What should I do?
What would you do?
Probability
Probability
Possibility
We use the modals could, might and may to show that something is possible in the future,
but not certain:
They might come later. (= Perhaps/Maybe they will come later.)
They may come by car. (= Perhaps/Maybe they will come by car.)
If we dont hurry we could be late. (= Perhaps/Maybe we will be late)
We use could have, might have and may have to show that something was possiblenow
or at some time in the past:
Its ten oclock. They might have arrived now.
They could have arrived hours ago.
We use the modal can to make general statements about what is possible:
It can be very cold in winter. (= It is sometimes very cold in winter)
You can easily lose your way in the dark. (= People often lose their way in the dark)
We use the modal could as the past tense of can:
It could be very cold in winter. (= Sometimes it was very cold in winter.)
You could lose your way in the dark. (= People often lost their way in the dark)