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Agregar leyendaModals - English Grammar |
1) can
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Use
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Examples
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ability to do sth. in the present (substitute form: to be able to)
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I can speak English.
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permission to do sth. in the present (substitute form: to be allowed
to)
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Can I go to the cinema?
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request
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Can you wait a moment, please?
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offer
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I can lend you my car till tomorrow.
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suggestion
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Can we visit Grandma at the weekend?
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possibility
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It can get very hot in Arizona.
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2) must
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Use
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Examples
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force, necessity
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I must go to
the supermarket today.
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Possibility
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You must be tired.
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advice, recommendation
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You must see the new film with Brad Pitt.
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3) will
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Use
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Examples
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wish, request, demand, order (less polite
than would)
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Will you
please shut the door?
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prediction, assumption
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I think it will rain on Friday.
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promise
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I will stop smoking.
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spontaneous decision
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Can somebody drive me to the station? - I will.
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habits
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She's strange, she'll sit for hours without talking.
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4) should
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Use
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Examples
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advice
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You should drive carefully in bad weather.
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obligation
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You should switch off the light when you leave the
room.
5) may
6) must not/may not
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7) might
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Use
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Examples
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possibility (less possible than may) *
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It might rain today.
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hesitant offer *
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Might I help you?
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8) could
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Use
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Examples
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ability to do sth. in the past (substitute
form: to be able to)
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I could speak English.
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permission to do sth. in the past (substitute
form: to be allowed to)
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I could go to
the cinema.
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polite question *
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Could I go to
the cinema, please?
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polite request *
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Could you wait a moment, please?
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polite offer *
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I could lend you my car till tomorrow.
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polite suggestion *
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Could we visit Grandma at the weekend?
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possibility *
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It could get very hot in Montana.
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9) would
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Use
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Examples
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wish, request (more polite than will)
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Would you shut the door, please?
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habits in the past
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Sometimes he would bring me some flowers.
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10) ought to
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Use
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Examples
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advice
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You ought
to drive carefully in bad weather.
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obligation
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You ought
to switch off the light when you leave the
room.
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11) shall
instead of will in the 1st person
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Use
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Examples
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suggestion
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Shall I carry your bag?
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12) need not
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Use
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Examples
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not necessary
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I needn't go to
the supermarket, we're going to the restaurant tonight.
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EXERCISE
1. I play the piano when I was four.
2. They to get to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, but it took them six days.3. Eventually Luis convince me that there’s no future in teaching English.
4. Mark wanted to see the final of the European Cup, but he get tickets.
5. Henry was so advanced for his age that he burn music CD’s when he was 8 months old.
6. Val and John were amazed that they to drive over the Pyrenees in such an old car.
7. I spoke to her for more than an hour, bought her a drink, and finally get her phone number.
8. Carlos speak English when he was six years old. His parents are from Liverpool.
9. Cathy grew up near the beach in South Africa. She swim, sail and dive when she was very young.
10. Danny lost his job at the clock factory because he get up on time in the mornings.
Examples of Modal Verbs in Texts
The Story of Helen Keller, The Girl Who Could Not See, Hear or Speak
I’d like you to know the story of Helen Keller, who could neither see nor hear from the time she was a baby. Yet the brilliant girl was able to overcome all those handicaps, to graduate from a college with honors and become a useful citizen.I must say there was nothing wrong with Helen Keller when she was born. Her father and mother were very proud of their pretty baby, who tried to say “pa-pa” and “ma-ma”.
For nineteen months Helen grew bigger and stronger. She was able to walk when she was a year old; she could say a few words.
But one day the child fell ill. She must have been very ill. For days she was laid up with a high fever and soon the parents learned that their darling would never be able to see and hear.
The little child was now doomed to a life of silence and darkness. She could not hear what was said to her and did not know how to talk, she was unable to play with other children.
When Helen was 6 years old her parents took her to Baltimore and then to Washington to famous doctors to find out if they could do something to make her hear and see again, but the doctors could do nothing. The child was hopelessly deaf. Dr. Bell said the Kellers should address the Perkins Institution for the blind in Boston and ask if they could send someone to help the child.
It was a wonderful day for Helen Keller when Ann Sullivan arrived in March 1887 to take charge of the child who could neither hear nor speak. Helen was nearly seven, Ann Sullivan was past twenty.
When Miss Sullivan later spelled into the little girl’s hand the word “w-a-t-e-r” and then let the water from the pumps run over her hand, a new light seemed to brighten the face of the child. During the next 3 months, she learned 300 words and could even put some of them into sentences.
Miss Sullivan loved her pupil who was so quick to learn. She lived with Helen, played with her and worked with her every hour of the day. By means of the hand language, Helen and her teacher were able to talk to each other.
Helen learned to read books that were printed for the blind with raised letters. She also learned to use the typewriter to write what she wanted to say.
When Helen was 10 she was determined that she would learn to speak.
At first she learned only the sounds of the letters of the alphabet, but soon she was able to say words and sentences.
In the story of her life Helen Keller writes, “I shall never forget the surprise and delight I felt when I uttered my first connected sentence: “It is warm.”
At first she had much difficulty with her speech, but Ann Sullivan understood what Helen trying to say. Helen practised speaking day after day until at last she developed a clear voice.
Later she was able to speak before large crowds which came to hear her whenever she lectured.
(From "Short Stories of Famous Women")
