modals

EXPLAIN THE MODAL VERB

Can I use your

laptop?
DEFINITION OF MODALS
Modal verbs are helping verbs that are used
along with main verbs to represent the ability,
possibility and probability of a subject to do
an action and emphasise the necessity of an
action.
 LET’S INTERPRET...

She could speak French fluently when she lived in

Paris.
 COULD AND COULD’T

We use could to talk about We do not normally use could

things we were able to do for something
generally in the past: that happened on a particular

I could run 100 metres in 12 occasion in the past. We use was

seconds when I was young. able to or managed to:

The boat was in difficulties,

Lucy could read when she but in the end it managed to

was three years old reach the port. (or ... it was able
to reach ...; NOT .. . it cottld
reach ...)
(be) able to
When we talk about a person's ability to do
something in the future, we use will be able to:
Example:
The baby will be able to talk soon.
MAY AND MIGHT
We use may and might for the past tense.
Example:
I might have left my phone at home.
MAY NOT AND MIGHT NOT
• Now look at this example with may not:
A: I've phoned Charlotte, but there's no
answer.
B: She may not be at home. (or She might not be
...) (= Perhaps she is not at home.)
• He might not become a doctor.
(he is doing everything he needs to do to become a
doctor, but there is a chance he will not. Maybe he
MIght as well...
-Use "as well" with "might" to convey additional
possibilities or outcomes.
Example: I might as well go to the store now since
I have some free time.
• This suggests that there is no significant
reason not to go to the store, and going would
be a practical use of the available time.
LET’S INTERPRET...

I must pay my bills by the end of the

week.
 Usage of “Must”
We use must when the speaker gives his/her opinion
on something
Example:
He's not answering his phone; he must be busy.
("must" is often used in formal contexts, and its usage
can convey a sense of strong obligation or necessity.)
 Usage of “have to”
We use have to to talk about an action that is
necessary because of rules or laws, or because someone obliges us to do it:
Example:
Doctors sometimes have to work on Sunday.
(lt is in the rules of their work.)
We make negatives, questions and short answers with a form of do:
Teachers don't have to work on Sunday. Do you have to work today? "" No,
Idon't.