ITTT 018

Unit 18
Modals, phrasal verbs
and passive voice

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Unit 18
Modals, phrasal verbs and
passive voice
Grammar
In this unit we will finish our look at English grammar.
Please be aware that you will have only covered the
essential basic grammar that is commonly taught in
EFL. To cover the whole grammatical system you
would need at least four years of full time study. What
has been covered in this course should allow you to
cover the vast majority of grammatical issues that you
will probably face as an English teacher of foreign
students. As you progress through your teaching
career you will probably pick up more grammar and
may want to do more reading on the subject. A good
grammar reference book is a useful tool for teachers
(see the introductory unit for recommended reading
on this subject).

In this unit we will examine modal auxiliary verbs and

the passive voice in detail, as well as a brief overview of
phrasal verbs and relative clauses.

Modal Auxiliary Verbs

Basic rules

The 'modals' are: can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must, have to, have got to, need to, needn't and ought
to. They are used before other verbs to add meaning to the main verb. Modals can be used to express a number of
different ideas, such as:

n Obligation – I really must go now, my friend's expecting me.

n Possibility/probability – I might go shopping tomorrow.
n Permission/prohibition – You may leave now.
n Ability – I can speak six languages.
n Advice – You should see a doctor about that.

Modal auxiliary verbs can also be used to express differing degrees of formality. Compare “Can I borrow some money?”
with “May I borrow some money?”. Even though they have similar meanings, they would be used in different situations,
as the second sentence is more polite than the other.

Modal verbs don't change in form according to person. Compare the modal I can play/he can play with the present
simple I play/he plays.

Modal verbs are followed by a verb in its base form – I might go. This applies for both present and future meanings. To
use modals to express ideas in the past the situation is somewhat more complicated; modals with more than one
meaning may express past ideas in different ways according to meaning.

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Unit 18
Modals, phrasal verbs and
passive voice

Have a look at the chart below for more information. Please note that not all of the expressions below are 'true' modals
but do express similar ideas.

AUXILIARY USES PRESENT/FUTURE PAST

1. polite request May I borrow your pen?
2. formal permission You may leave the room.
may
3. less than 50% certainty Where's the doctor? He may have been at the
He may be at the surgery. surgery.

1. much less than 50% Where's John? He might have been at the
might certainty He might be at the library. library.

2. polite requests (rare) Might I borrow your pen?

1. need or necessity You need to see a doctor. You needed to see a doctor.
2. lack of need or necessity You don't need to see a You didn't need to see a
need to doctor. doctor.

3. optional need or You needn't see a doctor. You didn't need to see a
necessity doctor.

1. obligation I must go to class today.

2. prohibition (negative You must not open that
must only) door.

3. 95% certainty or Mary isn't in class. She Mary must have been sick
assumption must be sick. (present only) yesterday.

1. necessity or obligation I have to go to class today. I had to go to class

yesterday.

have to 2. lack of necessity or I don't have to go to class I didn't have to go to class

obligation today. yesterday.
(negative only)

have got to 1. strong necessity I've got to go to class today.

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Unit 18
Modals, phrasal verbs and
passive voice

AUXILIARY USES PRESENT/FUTURE PAST

1. advisability or moral I should let them know I should have let them
obligation you're not coming tonight. know you weren't coming.
should/
ought to 2. 90% certainty She should do well on the She should have done well
test. (talking about the on the test. (an assumption
future only) about the present or past)
3. Unexpected past result She should have done well
should
on the test. (but she didn't!)
1. ability/possibility I can run fast. I could run fast when I was
young, but now I can't.

2. informal permission You can use my car

can tomorrow.

3. informal polite request Can I borrow your pen?

4. assumed impossibility That can't be true! That can't have been true!
(rare)
1. past ability I could run fast when I was
a child.
2. polite request Could you help me?

3. suggestion You could talk to your You could have talked to

could teacher if you need help. your teacher. (but you
didn't!)
4. less than 50% certainty Where's John? He could have been at
He could be at home. home.
5. improbability That couldn't be true! That couldn't have been
true!

be able to 1. ability I am able to help you. I will I was able to help you.
be able to help you.
1. polite request Would you please pass the
salt?
2. preference I would rather go to the I would rather have gone to
would
park than stay home. the park.
3. repeated past action When I was a child, I would
visit my grandparents every
weekend.

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Unit 18
Modals, phrasal verbs and
passive voice

To get a true appreciation of modal verbs, look at the following grouped sentences and see how the use of modal verbs
can change the formality and meaning of the main verb. In some cases there is little or no difference, in others the
difference is more notable.
a) May I use your phone? a) I will be at your house by six o'clock.
b) Could I use your phone? b) I should be at your house by six o'clock.
c) Can I use your phone? 6) Which is the most definite?
1) Which is the most polite?
There is a knock at the door. I think it is Mike.
a) You should take an English course. a) It may not be Mike.
b) You ought to take an English course. b) It couldn't be Mike.
c) You must take an English course. c) It can't be Mike.
2) Which advice is the strongest? 7) In which is the speaker least sure?

a) You should see a doctor about that cut on your arm. Where's Jack?
b) You could see a doctor about that cut on your arm. a) He might have gone home.
c) You have to see a doctor about that cut on your arm. b) He must have gone home.
3) In which is the speaker least worried? c) He had to go home.
8) Which implies a reason for Jack's departure?
a) You must not use that door.
b) You don't have to use that door. a) Each student should have a health certificate.
4) In which doesn't it matter which door you use? b) Each student ought to have a health certificate.
c) Each student must have a health certificate.
There is a knock at the door. Who do you suppose it is? 9) Which is the strongest, and how is it different
a) It might be Sally. from the sentences for question 2?
b) It may be Sally.
c) It could be Sally. a) I've got to go.
d) It must be Sally. b) I have to go.
5) In which is the speaker the most sure? c) I should go.
d) I'd better go.
e) I'd rather go.
10) How are these different?
Teaching ideas

Roleplay As modal verbs lend themselves to expressing functions

of English, role-plays are a rich source of teaching ideas.
For example a doctor – patient role-play would be quite
productive for modals that can express advice and
obligation “You should take these tablets and rest,” etc.

Rules Establishing rules and regulations for a hotel could

provide a good opportunity for usage of modals of
obligation, prohibition and permission “You can't have
overnight guests,” etc.

Signs guess meaning of traffic (or other) signs “You mustn't

park here,” etc.

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Unit 18
Modals, phrasal verbs and
passive voice

Passive voice

There are two voices used in English:

The active: And the passive:

My wife chose the wallpaper. The wallpaper was chosen by my wife.

In the passive, the object of an active verb becomes the subject of the passive verb. Both sentences basically have the
same meaning, but the focus is different. In the active voice, the focus is on the agent, i.e. my wife – she's responsible! In
the passive voice, the focus is also on the subject, (i.e. the wallpaper, this time). But in the passive voice, the agent (or
'doer' of the action) is much less important, or doesn't appear, as in the following example:

active passive
I painted the door last week. The door was painted last week. (no agent)

Only transitive verbs (verbs followed by an object, such as sell, take, buy, write, etc.) are used in the passive. It is not
possible to use verbs such as happen, sleep, come and seem (intransitive verbs) in the passive.

Form Auxiliary verb 'be' (as per table below) + past participle

For both the active voice and the passive, the tense of the
sentence always remains the same. In the passive voice
the tense is indicated by the auxiliary verb 'be', and in the
active voice, the tense is shown by the main verb.

TENSE PASSIVE FORMATION

Present simple is/are + past participle

Present continuous is/are being + past participle

Present perfect have/has been + past participle

Past Simple was/were + past participle

Past continuous was/were being + past participle

Past perfect had been + past participle

Future Simple will be + past participle

Future continuous will be being + past participle

Future perfect will have been + past participle

'Going to' future going to be + past participle

Note that perfect continuous tenses are not normally used

in the passive.

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Unit 18
Modals, phrasal verbs and
passive voice

For practice try changing the following from the active into
the passive (the first one has been done as an example):

A crocodile eats Henry – Henry is eaten by a crocodile.

A crocodile is eating Henry
A crocodile has eaten Henry
A crocodile ate Henry
A crocodile was eating Henry
A crocodile had eaten Henry
A crocodile will eat Henry
A crocodile is going to eat Henry
A crocodile will have eaten Henry

Usage The passive is most frequently used when it is not known,

not important, or we don't want to say, exactly who
performs an action.

E.g. Trespassers will be prosecuted. It is not important to

know who will prosecute you if you trespass.

Last night a man was murdered. It is not known who killed

him.

The passive may be used with a by phrase when the

speaker or writer wants the listener or reader to know who
performs the action.

E.g. Life on the Mississippi was written by Mark Twain. In

this example Mark Twain is important to the meaning and
the emphasis is on 'Life on the Mississippi'. Mark Twain
wrote Life on the Mississippi would convey the same
meaning but now the focus would be on Mark Twain.

Typical student errors/mistakes n Leaving the verb 'to be' out of the sentence.
n Using the verb 'to be' in the wrong tense.
n Overuse of 'by'.

Teaching Ideas n Cutting up varied active/passive sentences and getting

students to match them
n Students write a general knowledge quiz using passive
examples. For example “Who was 'Murder on the Orient
Express' written by?”

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Unit 18
Modals, phrasal verbs and
passive voice

Relative Clauses

A clause is a group of words containing a subject and a verb.

There are three categories of clauses:

Independent clause: An independent clause is a complete sentence. It contains the main subject and verb of a
sentence.

Dependent clause: A dependent clause is not a complete sentence. It must be connected to an independent
clause.

Relative clause: A relative clause is a dependent clause that modifies a noun. It describes, identifies, or gives
further information about a noun. It can also be referred to as an adjective clause.

A relative clause is introduced by a relative pronoun: who, which, that, whose, whom, etc or there may be no relative
pronoun. There are two types of relative clauses defining and non-defining.

The information given in a defining relative clause is essential to the meaning of the sentence. My girlfriend who lives at
number 35 has been arrested. A defining relative clause makes clear which person or thing we are talking about. This
sentence, without commas, actually strongly infers that I have several girlfriends!

The information given in a non-defining relative clause is not essential to the meaning of the sentence. In fact, that
information can be taken out without substantially changing the meaning of the sentence. My girlfriend, who lives at
number 36, has been arrested. Commas are critical in non-defining relative clauses. A comma is put before the relative
pronoun and at the end of the clause. It’s clear that I only have one girlfriend here. Should we remove the commas and
the who lives at number 36 clause, the same basic information would be conveyed by the sentence my girlfriend has
been arrested.

Examples of pronouns 1) This is the mechanic who fixes my car.

in defining relative clauses In this case the relative pronoun who refers to the
mechanic and is the subject of the verb fixes.

2) Things that bang in the night scare me.

The relative pronoun that refers to things and is the
subject of the verb bang.

3) They have arrested the man that I met last night.

They have arrested the man whom I met last night.
The relative pronouns that and whom refer to the man and
are the object of the verb met. It is more common to leave
each of these relative pronouns out completely (note that
whom is more literary, and used less nowadays).

4) I lost the pen that you gave me.

That refers to the pen and is the object of the verb gave. It's
common to leave out that completely.

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Unit 18
Modals, phrasal verbs and
passive voice

5) This is the student whose book you borrowed.

Whose indicates possession, belonging to the student,
and is the object of the verb borrowed. Whose cannot be
left out of the sentence.

Examples of pronouns 1) George, who smokes 20 cigarettes a day, still plays

in non-defining relative clauses great tennis.
In this case the relative pronoun who refers to George and
is the subject of smokes.

2) This tie, which is made of silk, has had it.

Which refers to this tie and is the subject of is.

3) Gladys, whom I adore, is married.

Whom refers to Gladys and is the object of adore.

4) This watch, which Gladys gave me, is a fake.

Which refers to this watch and is the object of gave.

5) Peter, whose book you borrowed, is a top student.

Whose refers to Peter and is the object of borrowed.

Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal verbs, or multi-word verbs, consist of a verb plus one or two particles. (A particle may be a preposition or an
adverb, or an adverb plus a preposition.) They operate as one item.

An example would be She told Paul off. = She criticized/scolded Paul.

There are three basic types of phrasal verbs:

Type 1 – Intransitive Intransitive phrasal verbs cannot be followed by a direct

object:
He didn’t turn up. (meaning that he didn’t arrive)

Type 2 - Transitive separable With type 2 phrasal verbs an object pronoun can only
come between the verb and the particle:
She took her on. correct (meaning that she opposed her)
She took on her. incorrect

An object noun can come either between the verb and the
particle or after the particle:
She took Anna on. correct
She took on Anna. correct

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Unit 18
Modals, phrasal verbs and
passive voice

Type 3 - Transitive inseparable With this type of phrasal verb, the object phrase or object
pronoun both come after the particle:
She got over the operation. (meaning that she recovered)
She got over it.

This type also includes phrasal verbs that have two

particles: an adverb followed by a preposition.
She looks up to her grandmother.
My wife puts up with a lot of criticism of her cooking.

As the addition of the particle frequently changes the

meaning of the verb, phrasal verbs are very difficult for
students to understand, and are perhaps best learned as
vocabulary items.

Teachers should keep track of the phrasal verbs that have been taught and try to use them naturally during uncontrolled
practice/conversation. If they’re dropped in every now and then, they should become more familiar to the students.
Students will then hear them in various contexts and hopefully start using them naturally for themselves.

Choosing a particular subject can also make the process of learning phrasal verbs easier. For example, the subject could
be driving, which could cover drop off, pull over, speed up, slow down, get in, bump into, catch up with, run over, keep up
with, pull out, turn off, look out for, pull into, fill up, break down, run out of, pick up, etc.

Don’t be afraid of phrasal verbs!

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Unit 18
Modals, phrasal verbs and
passive voice
Task sheet
Check your knowledge before attempting the unit test.

Please note that this task sheet is solely for checking

that you have understood the course unit content. You
do not need to submit this task sheet – just use it to
check you have understood the major points.

MODAL AUXILIARY VERBS

Task 1 – Answer the questions on page 4 of the unit.

I)

ii)

iii)

iv)

v)

vi)

vii)

viii)

ix)

x)

Task 2 – Summarize what you learned when answering the questions on page 4.

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Unit 18
Modals, phrasal verbs and
passive voice

Task 3 – Identify the modal in each of these sentences and give the usage of each, with two activate stage teaching ideas
for each one, making sure that each teaching idea matches the modal usage in the example sentence. None of
the teaching ideas should be the same:

a) May I use your toilet?

Modal:

Usage:

Activate stage teaching idea 1:

Activate stage teaching idea 2:

b) Matthew might come to see you later.

Modal:

Usage:

Activate stage teaching idea 1:

Activate stage teaching idea 2:

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Unit 18
Modals, phrasal verbs and
passive voice

c) You really should stop smoking.

Modal:

Usage:

Activate stage teaching idea 1:

Activate stage teaching idea 2:

d) I must do my homework.

Modal:

Usage:

Activate stage teaching idea 1:

Activate stage teaching idea 2:

e) Monkeys can’t swim.

Modal:

Usage:

Activate stage teaching idea 1:

Activate stage teaching idea 2:

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Unit 18
Modals, phrasal verbs and
passive voice

PASSIVE VOICE

Task 4 – How do we form the passive voice?

Task 5 – Change the following from the active into the passive
(the first one has been done as an example):

A crocodile eats Henry – Henry is eaten by a crocodile.

A crocodile is eating Henry –

A crocodile has eaten Henry –

A crocodile ate Henry –

A crocodile was eating Henry –

A crocodile had eaten Henry –

A crocodile will eat Henry –

A crocodile is going to eat Henry –

A crocodile will have eaten Henry –

They have buried Henry (note that the agent isn’t important) –

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Unit 18
Modals, phrasal verbs and
passive voice

Task 6 – Change these active voice sentences into the passive voice.
Only include the agent/doer if you think it is important or relevant to the meaning:

a) Farmers grow rice in India.

b) I will finish the report later.

c) Scotland has never won the World Cup.

d) The American people elected George W. Bush.

e) Agatha Christie wrote ‘Murder on the Orient Express’.

Task 7 – State which tense the passive sentences below use and change them into the active voice.
Bear in mind that even though the form is different for active and passive voice, the tense is the same.

a) I will be questioned by the police tomorrow.

Tense used:

Active voice version:

b) ‘E.T.’ was directed by Spielberg.

Tense used:

Active voice version:

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Unit 18
Modals, phrasal verbs and
passive voice

c) The Band’s new song hasn’t been released yet.

Tense used:

Active voice version:

d) The report is being prepared by Mrs. Smith.

Tense used:

Active voice version:

e) 1,000,000 pints of beer are consumed daily in Germany.

Tense used:

Active voice version:

Task 8 – How would you explain the passive voice to a low level student using language they would understand?
Give as much detail as possible of the study phase of this lesson.

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Unit 18
Modals, phrasal verbs and
passive voice

PHRASAL VERBS

Task 9 – State the three types of phrasal verbs, explaining how they are different from each other.
Give two example sentences of your own for each one.

RELATIVE CLAUSES

Task 10 – State the difference between defining and non-defining relative clauses and give an example of each:

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