MODAL VERBS now: Mother may be sleeping now.

CHARACTERISTICS May followed by Perfect Infinitive expresses the possibility that an action took place in the past: The little
Such concepts as capability, possibility, necessity and obligation are expressed, in English, by the so- girl may have lost the key. (It is possible that she lost the key.)
called “modal-auxiliary” verbs: can, could, shall, should, will, would, may, might, must, need, ought to, 3. To express prohibition (especially in official notices): Candidates may not bring dictionaries into the
used to. examination room.
It must be underlined that could, might, should and would are not proper Past Tense forms of can, may, 4. To express doubt, uncertainty: Who may that old man be? (Archaic form)
shall and will respectively. 5. To express wish, hope: May all your dreams come true! May good luck attend you!
She could come tomorrow. They might be at home now. You should see this film. 6. In subordinate c1auses of concession: However difficult / No matter how difficult these exercises mar
be, you must do them all.
Can may be used: 7. In direct object c1auses following the verbs' to hope, to trust, etc.: She hopes/trusts that you may find
1. To express a present or future physical or mental ability: tickets for this performance.
My sister can speak three foreign languages.Martin can help us tomorrow. 8. In subordinate c1auses of purpose: Speak louder so that all of us may hear you.
2. To express continuity with verbs of perception (to hear; to see): Mention must be made of the fact that the examples 5, 7 and 8 are considered to be formal.
I can hear that noise now. Henry can see the plane now.
3. To express permission in informal English. Might can be used :
Can I borrow your umbrella? (informal) May I borrow your umbrella? (formal) 1. To express permission connected with the past: I understood then that he might go out of the room
4. To express possibility when certain circumstances permit: whenever he wanted.
If my cousins come to my village, we can swim. (There is a big river near the village.) 2. To express present/future/past possibility. This possibility is a little mare remote than the possibility
If my cousins come to my village, we may swim. (But we may also do other things, too: we may play in the expressed by may : Your cousin might be in the garden now. (present)
fields, we may feed the animals, we may go to the forest, etc.) Granny might arrive on Thursday. (future) The foreigner thought that he might find the way to the
5. To express impossibility or disbelief. In this case can may be followed by Present or Perfect Infinitive: museum by himself. (past)
Can Jane make such a mistake? It’s only 7 o’clock; they can’t be at school now. The boy can’t Might followed by a Continuous Infinitive expresses the possibility of something to continue: Your sister
have given a better answer than this one. might still be sleeping.
6. To express polite requests: Can we call on you later? When might is followed by Perfect Infinitive, it expresses a past possibility : Our neighbours might have
heard some noises when our car was stolen.
Could may be used: The construction made up of might .and a Perfect Infinitive Continuous expresses a possible action which
1. To express a past physical or mental ability: was continuing at a certain moment in the past :
When she was young, she could skate very well. The kids might have been watching a cartoon at that time.
With this meaning of capability, can / could may be replaced by to be able to: 3. To express a Present Conditional: If you speak English, you might get that job.
We can / are able to understand him very well. 4. To express a persuasive request: You might go there at once. (Please, go there at once)
She knew the town well so she could / was able to advise us what to visit. 1. To express irritation, indignation, reproach: You might look at me when I am talking to you. She
But, when the meaning is that of achievement, to manage to, to succeed in, to be able to and not can / might have let us know about their arrival in advance.
could must be used: 2. In subordinate clauses of concession: However / No matter how badly he might speak of me, don’t
I am sure that, if you are attentive, you are able to do such a difficult exercise. Although the driver was believe him!
badly hurt, he was able to get out of the car before the engine exploded. 3. In direct object clauses following the verbs to hope, to trust, etc. They hoped that I might give them
2. To express a Present Conditional: You could get there in time if you took a taxi. some good advice.
3. To express a polite request: Could you show me the way to the railway station? 4. In subordinate clauses of purpose: Peter finished his composition in the morning so that he might be
4. To express past occurrences which are no longer possible today: Before World War II such cars could free in the afternoon.
often be seen in the streets. 5. To express uncertainty: I wonder who that tall boy might be. You shouldn’t have spoken so loud; she
5. To express a past possibility depending on certain circumstances: At the seaside we could buy a lot of might have heard you.
souvenirs. (There were a lot of shops near the beach.)
6. To express past permission: As we had all our papers in order, we could pass through the customs very
rapidly. MUST
1.To express obligation, command, necessity. In this case its substitute is to have to :
May can be used: Today is Thursday, so Mike must go to school. He had to go to school yesterday and he will have to go
1. To express formal permission: May I open this window? Yes, you may. No, you may not / must there tomorrow, too. (obligation)
not. You must show me your identity card. (command)
With this meaning, may can be replaced by to be allowed to / to be permitted to: They must write all the exercises if they want to understand this theorem well. (necessity)
You may go to the cinema this week, you were allowed / permitted to go to the cinema last week, and you Must expresses an obligation imposed by the speaker. But, when this obligation is external, that is it is
will be allowed / permitted to go there next week, too. imposed by external authority or circumstances which the speaker cannot control, to have to is employed :
2. To express possibility: You may know her. It may rain in the afternoon. I have to tell my little daughter a story whenever she asks me.
In this case may can be replace by it is possible / maybe / perhaps: The negative form, must not, expresses prohibition, an obligation not to do something: Cars must not stop
It is possible for you to know her. Perhaps / Maybe you know her. It is possible it will rain in the at the crossings. The absence of obligation is never rendered by must not, but by don't have to, haven't
afternoon. Perhaps / Maybe it will rain in the afternoon. (got) to or needn't :
When may is followed by a Continuous Infinitive, it expresses possibility of something that continues Pupil: "Must we do exercise 5, too?" Teacher: a) "Yes, you must."

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 a) "No, you don't have to / haven't got to / needn't."
2. To express deduction, a logical conclusion, probability: If she left home at 7, she must be at the airport
now. It is very cold; it must have snowed in the mountains.
The negative deduction is expressed by can't / couldn't + Present / Perfect Infinitive : If she hasn't learnt
anything up to now, she can't pass / can't have passed such a difficult exam.
Must expressing probability in such a sentence as : She must be at school now.
can be replaced by :
I’m sure / certain / positive she is at school now. Certainly / Obviously she is at school now.
It's likely / probable that she is at school now. Probably she is at school now.
She is likely to be at school now.
NEED
There are two verbs need. One of them is a full verb, meaning "to require" or "to be in need of". With this
meaning it is a regular verb and may be followed by a direct object expressed by a noun / pronoun, by a
Gerund or by a Long Infinitive : My brother needs a new pair of shoes. The windows needed washing.
They don't need to hurry.
In this case, the interrogative and negative is made up with the help of do or did : Did she need her
umbrella yesterday? Tom doesn't need his car today.
The other need is a modal auxiliary, meaning "to have to". It has the same form for all persons, and is
chiefly used in the interrogative and negative : "Need she get up early?" - "Yes, she must." We needn't
come to the office tomorrow, but the manager must.
However, need can occur in affirmative sentences with such words as never, hardly and scarcely, which
have negative implications : She hardly /scarcely need mention his name, since we already know it.
Although both Do I need to...? and Need I...? express necessity or obligation, there is a slight difference
between them: the former expresses a habitual action while the latter is generally used for one particular
occasion : Do I need to go there every day? Need I go there now?
Another c1ear-cut distinction must be made between the two ways of expressing past actions with the help
of need: didn't need to... and needn't have + Past Participle: I didn't need to knock at the door since it
was open. (so, 1 didn't knock) I needn't have knocked at the door since, in this way, I awoke the
baby. (but 1 knocked) _
SHOULD
This modal verb is used:
1. To express obligation, advice, recommendation in the opinion of the speaker. But this obligation is
weaker than the one expressed by must. Compare:
She must learn this poem by heart. (She has no other choice.)
She should learn this poem by heart. (1 recommend this thing to her.)
In the second example ought to may be used as an alternative to should.
When should is followed by Perfect Infinitive, it indicates that the past obligation was not fulfilled or
carried out:
You should have locked the door before leaving the house. (But you didn't lock it.)
2. To express surprise in rhetorical questions: Whom should he meet there but his former classmate?
3. To express supposition: If he is eight years old, he should be taller than your daughter. The children
should have finished their homework by now.
4. In direct object c1auses after: to suggest, to propose, to insist, to recommend, to advise, etc. that... : I
suggest that you should be present there.
5. In subject c1auses after impersonal constructions like: it is / was advisable / essential / better / fair /
important / natural / necessary / right / etc. that... : It is important that she should arrive here before noon.
6. In subordinate c1auses of purpose after' so that / in order that / lest / for fear that : I woke her early so
that she should nor miss the train. We switched off the lights in order that nobody should notice that we
were there. You closed the door lest / for fear that mother should hear you.
7. In conditional clauses to stress the improbability of the condition : If you should meet him there, tell
him to ring me tip. (= If you happened to meet...)
8. To omit if in conditional sentences: You would read that novel if she lent it to you. Should she lend you
that novel, you would read it.
9. After verbs of emotion (to feel sorry, to be delighted, to be annoyed, etc.): He feels sorry that he should
give her such bad news.
10. After: don't know why, see no reason why, can't think why: She doesn 't know why you should ask her
such questions.
IL In Indirect Speech to build up the Future-in-the-Past: I explained to Lucy that I should go on an
interesting trip in July.
WOULD
1. In polite requests :
Would you pass me the salt, please?
Would you please lock the door when you Leave the house?
Would you be so kind as to explain this rule to me?
Would you find repeating the question?
The requests built up with would are considered to be more polite than the ones with will.
2. Followed by the verbs to like or to care being regarded as a more polite form than the latter: I would
like to read that book. (I want to read it.) Would you like to visit this museum? (Do you want to visit... ?)
Would care has the same meaning but it is used on1y in interrogative and negative forms:
Would you care to call on him? (Would' you like to call on him ?)
She wouldn't care for another piece .of cake.
3. Followed by rather / sooner to express preference: I would rather / sooner watch the TV programme
than go for a walk.
4. To express a habit, a repeated action in the past : I would meet that man whenever I crossed the road. (I
used to meet...)
Would is preferred when there is a time phrase or when Willingness is implied. So, it would be
inappropriate to substitute would for used to in a sentence like: Last week it used to rain every day.
5. After the verb wish or after if only: I wish it would stop snowing. If only it would stop snowing.
6. To build up Future-in-the-Past: The boy promised he would be here at noon.
7. To express willingness: I explained to her that she had to go there whether she would or would not,
(wanted / didn’t want to)
USED TO
Used to pronounced / 'ju:stu / or /'ju:stu:/ - is a modal verb which occurs only for past actions having no
Present Tense form. It usually expresses a past habit or condition which now has ceased : We used to live
in this house when we were young (We no longer live there). The interrogative and negative of this verb
may be formed either with do or without it, but the forms with do are more formal :
Did Jack use to smoke a lot when in the army?
Used Jack to smoke a lot when in the army?
Father didn't use to come home late.
Father usedn't / ju:snt/ to come home late.
Used to may express :
1. Either discontinued habit : When she was a student, she used to eat in this restaurant. (She does not
eat there any longer.)
2. Or a past routine, not necessarily discontinued: My sister used to go to the concert every Friday
evening. (It is very likely that she still goes there every Friday evening.)
Note:
One should not confuse used to (expressing a past habit) and to be/get used to meaning to be/get
accustomed to followed by a noun or a Gerund: She is / gets used to such noises.
Years ago most people used to spend their holiday at the seaside, but now, because of the high prices they
are / get used to spending their holiday not very far form their homes.