2M Modal Verbs 

Important rules :
- They do not have « to » in their infinitive form
- « must » and « can » do not take -s in the present simple form of the the 3rd person
singular.
- They are followed by another verb in the infinitive form without « to »
- “To be able to” and “to be allowed to” are substitutes for “can”  so that you can
use them in all the different tenses.
- “to have to” is a substitute for “must”  in order to be able to use it with all tenses.
- They do not take the -ing form.
- In the negative form, we just add “not” to the verb  cannot (can’t), must not
( mustn’t), should not ( shouldn’t), could not ( couldn’t) etc.
- In the interrogative form, we inverse the modal verb and subject because there is no
need for an extra auxiliary verb.
o Example: Must I really do my homework?
o Could you pass me the salt, please?

ABILITY (capacité) Can – can’t – to be able to – to be allowed to (avoir la permission de)

PROBABILITY Could (50%) – may (30%) – might (10%)
EXPECTATION Should – ought to (oughtn’t – ought not)
(attente)
OBLIGATION Must (when I impose something on myself) – to have to (when
someone else tells you to do something)
Am / is / are to do something (Ex: You are not to leave the room
before the bell rings)  formal
STH FORBIDDEN Mustn’t
(interdiction)
Absence of Not to have to (I don’t have to make dinner tonight) – not to need to
obligation (I don’t need to clean up my room).  pas besoin de
OPINION & ADVICE Should – shouldn’t – ought to – oughtn’t to  I think you should …
STRONG OPINION Had better ( ferai mieux de) (+infinitive verb without to) Ex: You had
better leave now.
CERTAINTY In a positive sentence: MUST // In negative sentence: CAN’T
Example: Where is he? He must be late, as usual.
That can’t be Jim because he’s abroad at the moment.
 Past Modals:

ABILITY (capacité) In the past and COULD HAVE + past participle.

hypothetical Ex: I couldn’t have done this without you.
situations  Je n’aurais pas pu le faire sans toi.
CERTAINTY In the past MUST HAVE + past participle (in positive sentences)
(certitude) CAN’T HAVE + past participle (in negative sentences)
COULDN’T HAVE + past participle (in negative sentences)
For something that we were sure was going to happen in
the future we use: WAS / WERE BOUND TO + past
participle
Ex: It must have been there because there because that’s
where I left it.
You can’t have missed the train because we dropped you
off really early.
I was bound to have done it right.  J’aurais dû le faire
correctement.
PROBABILITY Expressing COULD HAVE / MAY HAVE / MIGHT HAVE + past participle.
(probabilité) probability Ex: I’m not sure but he may have walked to school since
about the real his bike was stolen the week before.
past.
EXPECTATION Expressing SHOULD HAVE / OUGHT TO HAVE + past participle
(s’attendre à qqc) probability in Ex: She ought to have arrived because her plane landed 3
the past, or hours ago.
something we
expected to
happen
OBLIGATION Expressing a HAD TO + infinitive verb
(obligation) past obligation Ex: We had to prepare for the presentation.
Expressing a NEEDN’T HAVE + past participle (when you did something
lack of even though it wasn’t necessary)
obligation in the DIDN’T HAVE TO / DIDN’T NEED TO + infinitive (you didn’t
past do something because you knew it wasn’t necessary).
Ex: We needn’t have bought sandwiches because mom
made dinner. (We bought the sandwiches because we
didn’t know mom was cooking that night).
CRITICISM Criticize a past SHOULD HAVE / OUGHT TO HAVE + past participle.
(critique) behavior. Ex: You ought to have seen a dentist for your teeth.