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One of the auxiliary verbs used to show and add the different meanings connected with particular
expressions
MODALAUXILIARY
Pattern:
Modals + Be
Modals + Verb 1
Can
o Present/future ability
To show present and future ability
e.g. I can do my homework
o Request
To show request
e.g. Can I borrow your car?
o Offering
To express an offering
e.g. Can I do something for you?
Could
o Past ability
To show ability in the past
e.g. I could play basket ball when I was a child
o Polite request
To show a polite request.
e.g. Could I borrow your pen, please?-
May
o Possibility
To show possibility in the present or future.
e.g. He may go to the library now.
o Polite request
To show a polite request
e.g. May I borrow your pen?
o Offering
To show offering
e.g. May I help you?
o Hopes and wishes
To show hopes and wishes about future
e.g. May God be with you. May you rest in peace.
Might
o Possibility
To show possibility in the present or future
e.g. He might be at the library now.
o Polite request
To show a polite request
e.g. Might I borrow your pen?
Must – Have/Has/Had to
o Obligation
To show obligation
e.g. You must study hard.
o Prohibition
To show prohibition
e.g. You must not step on the grass.
o Certainty
To show certainty
e.g. John is absent, he must be sick today.
Should/Ought to
o Advisability
To show advisability
e.g. He should take a rest now.
o Essence/recommendation
To show essence/recommendation
e.g. It is essential that you should go home early.
Would
o Past willingness
To show past willingness
e.g. I would come to the party last night.
o Offering
To show offering
e.g. Would you like some tea?
o Request
To show a request
e.g. Would you mind closing the door?
Will/Shall
o Willingness
To show about willingness in the present or future.
e.g. I’ll call you when I get back.
o Request
To show a request
e.g. Will you go with me?
EXERCISES
B. Complete the following sentences using can/may/must/should. Sometimes you need the
negatives.
C. Situational exercise 1
Give your responses or opinions to the following situations with the suitable modal auxiliaries. Use your
own words to express your ideas.
1. You want to go or study abroad. What must you do?
_______________________________________________________
2. Your father gives you a lot of money. What can you do?
_______________________________________________________
3. Your mother is sick today. What should you do?
_______________________________________________________
4. You come late and don’t see any friends in the class. Tell the possibilities about it.
_______________________________________________________
5. You’ll have the exams next week. What you must you do?
_______________________________________________________
6. Ann finds difficult to understand the lesson. What can you do?
_______________________________________________________
7. Jane looks tired. She’s been working for ten hours. What is your suggestion?
_______________________________________________________
8. Your teacher is coming late today. This never happens before. What do you think of possibilities about him?
_______________________________________________________
MODAL PERFECT
Unimplemented past ability
To show unimplemented ability in the past
Pattern:
Could + Have + Been/Verb III
e.g. I could have gone home on time but the bus was late last night.
Past possibility
To show possibility in the past
Pattern:
Might + Have + Been/Verb III
e.g. She was not here yesterday, she might have been sick.
Past certainty
To show certainty in the past
Pattern:
e.g. There was so much noise last night; our neighbor must have come back from their holiday.
Past advisability
To show advisability in the past
Pattern:
Should + Have + Been/Verb III
e.g. She did not pass her exams last term, she should have studied hard.
Expressions
Special occasion
e.g. Everybody was died on the fire but she was able to escape.
Preference
e.g. I would rather tell you about the news.
Strong advice
e.g. You had better go home now.
Strong expectation
e.g. She is to be here, the class will start soon.
Typical suggestion
e.g. The play is boring; I may go home as well.
Mind cases
e.g. Would you mind if I closed the door? (offering/permission)
Would you mind closing the door? (request)
Dare and Need case
Dare and Ned can used as modals.
e.g. I need to drink some water. (Modal)
I need water (Verb)
I dare not see the body. (Modal)
I dare you play this game. (Verb)
EXERCISES
1. The ground was wet this morning. It __________ (rain) last night.
2. John was absent yesterday. He __________ (be) sick.
3. Tom woke up late this morning. He ________ (sleep) earlier last night.
4. Susan __________ (win) the contest but she got an accident on the way to the stage last month.
5. John got lost to my house last week. He __________ (take) the wrong bus.
6. I didn’t see Peter at home last night. He __________ (go) to the hall.
7. Jane got failed in her interview because of being late last week. She __________ (come) earlier to the interview.
8. Kim __________ (help) me do my homework but she was very busy last night.
B. Use Modal Perfect to give your responses or opinions about the following situations.
1. I didn’t see my jacket in the class this morning. I had left it there last night.
(might)__________________________________________________
2. I didn’t think that we would get lost to the museum yesterday. The bus was not in the way to go there.
(must) __________________________________________________
3. Tom got accident last month. He drove his car 100 kilometers an hour.
(should)_________________________________________________
4. I promised to come home earlier but the bus was 30 minutes late last night.
(could) __________________________________________________
5. Tom was absent from school yesterday. Nobody knew where Tom was.
(might) __________________________________________________
6. It was raining hard when I wanted to leave home. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring my umbrella with me.
(should)_________________________________________________
7. I planned to take some pictures when I climbed the mountain. But I lost my camera on the way to get the top of the
mountain.
(could)__________________________________________________
8. Everyone laughed when the film started. They watched a comedy show in the theatre last night.
(must) __________________________________________________
INTEGRATED EXERCISE
Choose the best choice to the following questions.
1. We ____ when the traffic light shows red.
a. must stop b. may stop c. can stop d. ought to stop
2. He asked me whether he ____ my car to go to the party
a. must borrow b. might borrow c. may borrow d. would borrow
3. I could not find the museum you told me about. I ____ the wrong bus
a. must have taken c. might have taken
b. should have taken d. could have taken