MODALS

(and semi-modals)
all are followed by infinitive without to

ABILITY
Can, Be able to

PERMISSION
Can, Could, May (formal, first person), Might (old fashioned)

OBLIGATION
It is necessary
Must, Have to, Have got to, Need to
It is not allowed / It is prohibited
Mustn’t, Can’t,
It is not necessary / it is optional
Don’t have to, Don’t need to
It is a good idea / ‘the right thing to do’
Should, Ought to
It is a bad idea / ‘the wrong thing to do’
Shouldn’t

POSSIBILITY or PROBABILITY
Logically certain / 90-100% certainty
Must
Possibly true
May, Might, Could
Possibly not true
May not, Might not (NOTICE “Couldn’t” does not belong here)
Logically impossible / 0-25% certainty
Can’t
General possibility (when probability doesn't matter)
Can example: It’s very hot in the summer but it can be
freezing in the winter
this is in general, NOT about specific possibilities in
the present or in the future, just in general NOT:
“Look in the closet, it can be in there.” <—this is a
specific instance (now) so we need to use may/
might/could

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 PAST MODALS
(and semi-modals)

ABILITY
General Ability
Could / Couldn’t +inf
- past tense of can, general ability
Managed to / Didn't manage to +inf
- implies difficulty, refers to one event
Was able to / Wasn’t able to +inf
- can refer to general ability in the past:
I was able to speak French when I was young OR one
specific moment: Were you able to see Kelly before
she left?

OBLIGATION
It was necessary
Had to +inf, Needed to +inf
It wasn’t necessary / there was an option
Didn’t have to +inf, Didn’t need to +inf, Needn’t have +pp
Something was a good idea but didn’t happen
Should (not) have +pp, Ought to have +pp
Something that was necessary but didn’t happen in the end
Had to have +pp, Needed to have +pp

POSSIBILITY
Something that seems logically certain
Must have +pp,
Something that seems logically possible
May have +pp, Might have +pp, Could have +pp
Something that seems unlikely
May not have +pp, Might not have +pp,
Something that seems logically impossible
Can’t have +pp, Couldn’t have +pp, Mustn’t have +pp

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