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MODAL VERBS 101
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They might have left already, I would have said "hi", you could have warned me, it must have been a great party,... What do these sentences HAVE in common?
MODAL + HAVE + PARTICIPLE (past tense for many modal verbs)
COMPLETE THIS OBLIGATION: We __________ watch an old video at school today. So dull!
HAD TO. No past tense for MUST. No: "musted" doesn't exist! Duh
COMPLETE THIS PASSIONAL RECOMMENDATION: You __________ try fish and chips! Amazing!
MUST. Yes, if you want to emphasize your recommendation, it's a MUST!
COMPLETE THIS SUGGESTION WITH 1 WORD: If you want to get better at singing, you ____________ to practise a lot.
OUGHT (did you notice the "to"?)
COMPLETE THIS SUGGESTION WITH 1 WORD. You ____________ get your eyes tested.
should
MAY, MIGHT AND COULD can be used to express doubt and uncertainty.
Yes! You might be a good student after all ;)
The "d" in the following sentence stands for "would": YOU'D BETTER!
Nope! It's YOU HAD BETTER (més et val). Very informal and rather threatening!
"SHOULD + HAVE + PARTICIPLE" expresses regret or critisism. True or false?
YES! You should have listened to me, I told you so... ;)
Can you come up with a rephrasing for "You mustn't park here".
Parking here is forbidden. You are not allowed to park here.
Is this sentence correct? I must leave the hotel room by noon.
Yes! When speaking about RULES/THE LAW, you ought to use "must".
HAVE TO and MUST have the exact same use. True or false?
False. When expressing obligation, "MUST" is used exclusively in the present tense, for self-imposed obligations and laws/rules.
SHOULD and OUGHT TO have the same meaning
Yes... but not exactly. "Ought to" is a bit more formal. Perfect for your essays, reports and letters of application.
We can use 2 MV together to make a sentence. True or false?
FAAALSE! Never ever ever. A baby Koala dies everytime you put 2 modals together. (I will can come to your party... OMG)
They are always followed by the bare infinitive ("play": not "to play")
Yes... but not exactly! Remember we have a couple of exceptions "OUGHT TO" AND "HAVE TO"
Questions with MV use the "inversion". You put the modal at the the front. True or false?
True: CAN you believe this? ;)
Form the negative by simply adding NOT. True or false?
TRUE! You must NOT forget this! YOU CAN'T! (You can also use the contraction)
MV conjugations are tough to learn. True or false?
FALSE! There are no conjugations for MV. No musting, no canning, no woulding ;)
A MV SOMETIMES requires another verb. True or false?
FALSE! A MODal verb MODifies another verb. So you ALWAYS need a MV + Verb. (I SHOULD DRINK more water).
SHALL is only used with "We" and "I". True or false?
True. It's often used to make an offer/suggestion. SHALL WE continue?
FACT ABOUT MODAL VERBS: Shall, ought to and may aren't very popular nowadays. True or false?
TRUE. The use of these 3 modal verbs has dropped dramatically in the last 40 years. Curious fact: they all are very FORMAL
Name as many MODAL VERBS as you CAN
1CAN 2COULD 3MAY 4MIGHT 5MUST 6HAVE TO 7 OUGHT TO 8SHALL 9SHOULD 10WOULD 11 WILL