MODAL VERBS

OF POSSIBILITY, PROBABILITY AND CERTAINTY

In English, there are 10 modal (or modal auxiliary) verbs: will, would, shall, should, must, ought to, can,
could, may and might. These verbs are defective, in that they exist in only the one form (they cannot be
conjugated), they take no ‘s’ in the third person singular (present simple tense), and they have no infinitive
or participles. They are always followed by an infinitive without ‘to’. They serve various communicative
functions, for example making offers, suggestions, requests, prohibitions, giving advice and permission, and
indicating ability.

Modal verbs can also be used to express differing degrees of possibility, probability and certainty, and they
are frequently preferred by native English speakers to other words and expressions (such as perhaps,
possibly, probably, maybe, and the verbs to be sure, to be certain, to believe, to think etc.) when conveying
possibility, probability and certainty.

The use of modals to indicate possibility, probability and certainty is generally subjective, and so is
influenced by the speaker’s opinion or point of view.

POSSIBILITY (MAY, MIGHT, COULD):

I may be late for the meeting if my plane doesn’t get in on time.

They could win the talent competition if they sing like that on Saturday night.
The weather forecast says that it might snow at the weekend.
These three modals can be used indifferently to indicate or express possibility. Note that can is used only
when speaking about habitual/general or theoretical possibility, and not future or hypothetical possibility:

Portugal can be very nice at this time of year.

Smoking can cause cancer.
You can get stamps from the local newsagents.
PROBABILITY (SHOULD, OUGHT TO):

They should be visiting Madrid at the end of the month.

My dry cleaning should be ready this afternoon.
We ought to be able to change some money at the airport.
He ought to be home by seven o’clock.
Both of these modals can be used indifferently.

CERTAINTY (MUST, CANNOT / CAN’T, COULD NOT):

You must be tired. You’ve been driving for hours.

There’s no wine left. We must have drunk it all.
 Look at those people waiting at the bus stop; they can’t have heard about the
transport strike.
She cannot be thirty! She has a twenty-year-old daughter.
They couldn’t be hungry. They’ve eaten five pizzas between the two of them.
Must indicates certainty only in affirmative sentences, while can’t (or cannot) or couldn’t express certainty
only in negative sentences. Note that mustn’t and can do not normally express certainty.

CERTAINTY (WILL, WOULD, WON’T, WOULD NOT):

(telephone ringing) That will be Jane. She said she’d ring around 7.00.
Shall I take the suitcase? It will be too heavy for you.
Ah, yes, that would be David. He’s the only one who has a tattoo on his neck.

Will and would (and their negative forms) can also be used to indicate certainty, but only when they can be
equated with must or cannot (can’t or couldn’t).

In contexts where will is used to refer to the future, it states a fact or a truth rather than expressing certainty.

Tomorrow will be Monday.

I’ll be arriving on the 3.47 train from Paddington.

CERTAINTY (SHALL):

Shall is sometimes used in formal and legal documents to indicate certainty, but such usage done not
normally extend to spoken language:

All clients shall receive a refund.

The webs of each set of movable webs shall, inter se, be strictly parallel, and the two
sets shall be strictly at right angles to each other.

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Modals are always followed by an infinitive without ‘to’, but any kind of infinitive is possible. For example:

Normal or present infinitive:

You ought to realise that you won’t pass the exam.

Perfect infinitive (used to refer to a completed action in the past):

They can’t have sold their house yet; the sign is still in the garden.
Continuous infinitive (used to refer to an action in progress):

Jenny may be studying. She told me she was going to the library.
Passive infinitive:
All the tickets might be sold; we should have bought some last week.
Passive perfect infinitive:
She must have been worried when she heard that her husband had had a car accident.
Perfect continuous infinitive:

John can’t have been living in Seattle when Monica was staying there.
 MODAL VERBS
1. They ________________ be away for the weekend but I'm not sure.
2. He ________________ be French if his passport says he was born and lives in Paris.
3. They ________________ still be out!
4. With luck, tomorrow ________________ be a sunny day.
5. You ________________ be right but I'm going to check anyway.
6. The exam ________________ be easy. You never know.
7. It ________________ be true about a sauropod dinosaur living in Lake Telé in the Congo. It's
impossible.
8. Dave reckons she's from the U.S.A., but I think she ________________ be from Scandinavia.
9. I ________________ go to the party but I'm not sure yet.
10. This ________________ be the right answer but we'll have to check with your teacher to make sure.
11. I really thought that Jeff’s team ________________ lost the final; they were terrible at the beginning of
the match.
12. She's been revising 10 hours a day for 3 weeks. She ________________ be exhausted.
13. Nobody's answering the door. They ________________ be out.
14. He ________________ be from the USA. He doesn't speak English.
15. I ____________ go to London next summer.
16. There are some clouds. It ______________ rain.
17. I´m thinking of learning French. I ____________ take some lessons in the afternoons.
18. Be careful with that knife. You ______________ hurt yourself.
19. That man ______________ be the Spanish teacher. He teaches Maths.
20. Harry isn’t answering his phone. He ______________ turned it off.
21. He __________________ be very intelligent and hard-working. He always gets good marks.
22. Mary has a job interview. She _________________ get the job if she´s lucky.
23. Be careful. You _______________ drop all the books.
24. I´m not sure about Tom´s visit to Spain. It ______________ be in May or in June.
25. This book ______________ be a huge success. I really like it.
26. Keiko always did really well in exams at university. She ______________ studied a lot.
27. That woman drives a very expensive car. She ______________ have a lot of money.
28. I could hear some music coming from the upstairs window, so someone ______________ been at home!
29. “How much further do we have to go?” “Not much. Her house ______________ be very far from
here.
30. Lisa failed her driving test, so she ______________ be in a good mood right now.
31. George wasn't promoted as he had expected, so he ______________ be totally disappointed with
himself.
32. He and his sister ______________ come with us if their parents give them permission.
33. Your son is such a gifted student! He ______________ be chosen Valedictorian of his year.
34. He ______________ be from Mexico, he doesn't speak a word of Spanish!
35. Mark told me Sarah was working late today, so she ______________ be home right now.
36. (telephone ringing) That ______________ be Mum; she said she'd call me back in a minute.
37. I ______________ have left my keys in the car...or maybe at John's.
38. Sue is late for class. She ______________ have missed the bus.
39. That DVD ______________ cost more that 15€; it's an old movie!
40. Christina has already been three times to that new pizza restaurant. It ______________ be really good.
41. Robert always gets straight A's. His parents ______________ be really proud of him.
42. Her previous boyfriend was absolutely gorgeous. He ______________ been a model.
43. “What's that deafening noise out there?” “My downstairs neighbours ______________ be having
another barbecue. It's the fifth one this month!”
44. “Have you called Sam?” “ Yeah, but he ______________ have already left because nobody is
answering the phone.”
45. Mmm... Something smells delicious! My father ______________ be cooking!
46. I ______________ go to the party, but I'm not completely sure; I've got so many things to do this
weekend!
47. “Why is that car driving up and down this street like that?” “ The driver ______________ be lost.”
48. That woman ______________ be a doctor! She looks far too young.
49. The food is really good at that restaurant. They ______________ have a great chef.
50. John always fails the geography tests, even though he's clever. He ______________ study enough.
51. “Who's that at the door?” “ It ______________ be Susie - she'll still be at work now.”
52. This ______________ be John's house. This house has a red door and it's number 24, just like he said.
53. Julie ______________ have much money or she would buy a new car. Her old one is falling apart.
54. He ______________ be at work now, can he? It's nearly midnight.
55. What a lot of lovely flowers you have! You ______________ really like gardening.
56. David ______________ drink a lot of coffee. He's finished two packets already this week.
57. This ______________ be Jamie's coat. He's tall and this is tiny.
58. Her life ______________ been easy. She had four children and very little money.
59. Where's Lucy? She ______________ be at the sport centre, as she often goes there at this time.
60. This bill ______________ be right! £50 for two cups of coffee!
61. Emma's amazingly good at the piano. She ______________ practise a lot.
62. You've already eaten enough for three people! You ______________ still be hungry!
63. This book ______________ belong to the library. It's certainly not mine.
64. It only takes three hours to fly from London to Sydney? That ______________ be correct!
65. There ______________ be something wrong with the fridge! It's making a very unusual noise.