Grammar 2.1
Modals:
- Could - Must
- Can - Should
- Be able to - Ought to
- May - Will/ Shall
- Might - Needn’t
What can modals mean:
Ability Permission
Guess Advice
Possibility Rules
Speculation Criticism
Request Suggestions
Certainty Offers
Expectation Promises
Necessary Warnings
Types of Verbs:
Modals are:
Auxiliary verbs
: They always occur with a full verb, never on their own
...With dictionary meaning
: Often opinion/ attitude of speaker
They have only one fixed form
Negatives & questions formed without ‘do/does/did’
, Take a bare infinitive ( An infinitive without ‘to’)
Only one modal in each verb group
Contracted forms
: We will/shall = We’ll
One modal can often express more than one meaning.
‘can’ = ability, permission or possibility
Different Modals can be used to express the same idea
May, must & should, are used for speculation, but they express varying degrees of certainty
Module 9 Modal Verbs
Unit 46 Ability and possibility; can, could, be able to
- We use a Modal verb with another verb to show that an action is possible, necessary or
certain.
- We also use modal verbs to ask permission or to give advice
Modal verbs are different from other verbs
We use them + infinitive without ‘to’
They have the same form for all subjects
We form negatives with ‘not’ or ‘ n’t’
They don’t have infinitive or –ing forms
They don’t have participle (-ed, -ing) forms, so we can’t make continuous or perfect tenses
with them, instead we change the main verb
To make a Modal passive:
Modal verb + a form of be + past participle
We use be able to, when something is surprising or requires some effort.
We use can/can’t with verbs of the senses (see smell, etc.) and some verbs of thinking (believe,
forget, remember) to describe an action happening now.
To talk about what we can do in the future:
Be able to: For situations that are certain
Can: For future personal arrangements
Could: For situations that are possible but unlikely
Could or Would be able to: For conditional situations
If we’re making a positive statement about a single event in the past, or asking a question about it,
we use were able to.
If something was particularly difficult we use managed to.
For something that is generally possible we use can.
For general truths in the past we use could.
Unit 47 Making a guess (1); May, might, could, must, can’t should
Modals:
- Could - Must
- Can - Should
- Be able to - Ought to
- May - Will/ Shall
- Might - Needn’t
What can modals mean:
Ability Permission
Guess Advice
Possibility Rules
Speculation Criticism
Request Suggestions
Certainty Offers
Expectation Promises
Necessary Warnings
Types of Verbs:
Modals are:
Auxiliary verbs
: They always occur with a full verb, never on their own
...With dictionary meaning
: Often opinion/ attitude of speaker
They have only one fixed form
Negatives & questions formed without ‘do/does/did’
, Take a bare infinitive ( An infinitive without ‘to’)
Only one modal in each verb group
Contracted forms
: We will/shall = We’ll
One modal can often express more than one meaning.
‘can’ = ability, permission or possibility
Different Modals can be used to express the same idea
May, must & should, are used for speculation, but they express varying degrees of certainty
Module 9 Modal Verbs
Unit 46 Ability and possibility; can, could, be able to
- We use a Modal verb with another verb to show that an action is possible, necessary or
certain.
- We also use modal verbs to ask permission or to give advice
Modal verbs are different from other verbs
We use them + infinitive without ‘to’
They have the same form for all subjects
We form negatives with ‘not’ or ‘ n’t’
They don’t have infinitive or –ing forms
They don’t have participle (-ed, -ing) forms, so we can’t make continuous or perfect tenses
with them, instead we change the main verb
To make a Modal passive:
Modal verb + a form of be + past participle
We use be able to, when something is surprising or requires some effort.
We use can/can’t with verbs of the senses (see smell, etc.) and some verbs of thinking (believe,
forget, remember) to describe an action happening now.
To talk about what we can do in the future:
Be able to: For situations that are certain
Can: For future personal arrangements
Could: For situations that are possible but unlikely
Could or Would be able to: For conditional situations
If we’re making a positive statement about a single event in the past, or asking a question about it,
we use were able to.
If something was particularly difficult we use managed to.
For something that is generally possible we use can.
For general truths in the past we use could.
Unit 47 Making a guess (1); May, might, could, must, can’t should
