Theoritical Review
Modals auxiliary verbs are a very complex area of English
grammar, so in this quick guide we will not be able to go into much detail, but
we will at least get an overall idea of what their function is in a sentence.
In an earlier section of this guide we looked at how the verb phrase can be
broken down into its constituent parts and we noted that one of these parts was
called a modal
auxiliary verb.
Modals (also called modal verbs, modal auxiliary
verbs, modal
auxiliaries) are special verbs which behave irregularly in
English. They are different from normal verbs like "work, play,
visit..." They give additional information about the function of
the main verb that follows it. They have a great variety of communicative functions.
List of Modal
Here is a list of modal verbs:
can, could, may, might, will, would, shall,
should, must
The verbs or expressions dare, ought to, had
better, and need not behave like modal auxiliaries to a large extent and my be
added to the above list.
Be able to
We use this semi-modal to express possibility or the
ability to do something, but unlike the pure modals, be able to has
a full range of tenses and also needs to inflect to show agreement with its
subject. For example:
· He is able to offer you the best
price possible.
· We were able to get in to see the
film.
· They haven't been able to find the
missing document.
· So, you aren't able to help.
Notice that the negative is carried either by the be element
or the auxiliary verb that is closest to the subject of the sentence. It can
also be accompanied by any of the pure modals:
· I will be able to see you after
lunch.
· They might not be able to put us up
for the night.
Has/have (got) to
This is used to express necessity or obligation to do
something and shares some of the features ofbe able to discussed
above. The have element of the form has to change to agree
with its subject. Although it is normally used in the present tense, it also
has its own past (had to) and can be used with pure modals to show the
future or the attitude of the speaker:
· They have to be more punctual.
· He has to take responsibility for
the accident.
· I had to help my father repair his
car.
· We will have to put this off until
tomorrow.
· You shouldn't have to suffer in
silence.
· You don't have to come if you don't
want to.
· He didn't have to do all the
shopping.
From these few examples it should be clear that the
negative not again attaches itself to the auxiliary verb
(modal or main) that comes immediately after the subject of the sentence.
Ought to
It is usually claimed that the meaning of ought to is
the same as should whether it refers to giving advice or
making a logical deduction. So, to most native speakers the following sentences
withought to and should feel the same:
· You ought to see a doctor.
· You should see a doctor.
· They ought to have got back home by
now.
· They should have got back home by
now.
In practice, most speakers tend to prefer should for
negatives and questions because the ought toand oughtn't
... to forms can sound rather clumsy and awkward.
· Ought you to be doing that?
· They oughtn't to (ought not to) do
that.
· Oughtn't we to leave now?
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Uses of Shall and Will and Should
In England, shall is used to express the simple future
for first person Iand we, as in "Shall we meet
by the river?" Will would be used in the simple future
for all other persons. Using will in the first person would express
determination on the part of the speaker, as in "We will finish this
project by tonight, by golly!" Using shall in second and third persons would
indicate some kind of promise about the subject, as in "This shall be
revealed to you in good time." This usage is certainly acceptable in the
U.S., although shallis
used far less frequently. The distinction between the two is often obscured
by the contraction 'll, which is the same for both verbs.
In the United States, we seldom use shall for anything other than polite
questions (suggesting an element of permission) in the first-person:
· "Shall we go now?"
· "Shall I call a doctor for
you?"
(In the second sentence, many writers would
use should instead, althoughshould is somewhat more tentative than shall.) In the U.S., to express the future
tense, the verb will is used in all other cases.
Shall is often used in formal situations (legal or legalistic
documents, minutes to meetings, etc.) to express obligation, even with
third-person and second-person constructions:
· The board of directors shall be
responsible for payment to stockholders.
· The college president shall report
financial shortfalls to the executive director each semester."
Should is usually replaced, nowadays, by would. It is still used,
however, to mean "ought to" as in
· You really shouldn't do that.
· If you think that was amazing, you
should have seen it last night.
In British English and very formal American
English, one is apt to hear or read should with the first-person pronouns in
expressions of liking such as "I should prefer iced tea" and in
tentative expressions of opinion such as
· I should imagine they'll vote
Conservative.
· I should have thought so.
(The New Fowler's Modern English Usage edited by R.W. Burchfield. Clarendon
Press: Oxford, England. 1996. Used with the permission of Oxford University
Press. Examples our own.)
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In the simple present tense, do will function as an auxiliary to express the negative and to
ask questions. (Does, however, is substituted for third-person,
singular subjects in the present tense. The past tense did works with all persons, singular and
plural.)
· I don't study at night.
· She doesn't work here anymore.
· Do you attend this school?
· Does he work here?
These verbs also work as "short
answers," with the main verb omitted.
· Does she work here? No, she doesn't
With "yes-no" questions, the form
of do goes in front of the subject and the
main verb comes after the subject:
· Did your grandmother know Truman?
· Do wildflowers grow in your back yard?
Forms of do are useful in expressing similarity and differences in conjunction with so and neither.
· My wife hates spinach and so does my
son.
· My wife doesn't like spinach;
neither do I.
Do is also helpful because it means you don't have to
repeat the verb:
· Larry excelled in language studies;
so did his brother.
· Raoul studies as hard as his sister does.
The so-called emphatic do has many uses in English.
a. To add emphasis to an entire
sentence: "He does like spinach. He really does!"
b. To add emphasis to an imperative:
"Do come in."
(actually softens the command)
c. To add emphasis to a frequency adverb:
"He never didunderstand
his father." "She always does manage to hurt her mother's
feelings."
d. To contradict a negative statement:
"You didn't do your homework, did you?" "Oh, but I did finish it."
e. To ask a clarifying question about a
previous negative statement: "Ridwell didn't take the tools."
"Then who did take the tools?"
f. To indicate a strong concession:
"Although the Clintons denied any wrong-doing, they did return some of the gifts."
In the absence of other modal auxiliaries,
a form of do is used in question and negative
constructions known as the get
passive:
· Did Rinaldo get selected by the
committee?
· The audience didn't get riled up by the
politician.
Based on descriptions in Grammar Dimensions: Form, Meaning,
and Use 2nd Ed. by Jan
Frodesen and Janet Eyring. Heinle & Heinle: Boston. 1997. Examples our
own.
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Forms of the verb to have are used to create tenses known as
thepresent perfect and past perfect. The perfect
tenses indicate that something has happened in the past; the present perfect
indicating that something happened and might be continuing to happen, the
past perfect indicating that something happened prior to something else
happening. (That sounds worse than it really is!) See the section on Verb Tenses
in the Active Voice for
further explanation; also review material in the Directory of
English Tenses.
To have is also in combination with other modal verbs to
express probability and possibility in the past.
· As an affirmative statement, to have can express how certain you are that
something happened (when combined with an appropriate modal + have + a past participle): "Georgia
must have left already." "Clinton might have known about the
gifts." "They may have voted already."
· As a negative statement, a modal is
combined with not + have + a past participle to express how
certain you are that something did not happen: "Clinton might not have
known about the gifts." "I may not have been there at the time of
the crime."
· To ask about possibility or
probability in the past, a modal is combined with the subject + have + past participle: "Could
Clinton have known about the gifts?"
· For short answers, a modal is
combined with have:
"Did Clinton know about this?" "I don't know. He may
have." "The evidence is pretty positive. He must have."
To have (sometimes combined with to get) is used to express a
logical inference:
· It's been raining all week; the
basement has to be flooded by now.
· He hit his head on the doorway. He
has got to be over seven feet tall!
Have is often combined with an infinitive to form an
auxiliary whose meaning is similar to "must."
· I have to have a car like that!
· She has to pay her own tuition at
college.
· He has to have been the first
student to try that.
Based on the analysis in Grammar Dimensions: Form,
Meaning, and Use 2nd Ed. by
Jan Frodesen and Janet Eyring. Heinle & Heinle: Boston. 1997. Examples
our own.
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The modal auxiliary can is used
· to express ability (in the sense of
being able to do something or knowing how to do something):
He can speak Spanish but he can't write it very well.
· to expression permission (in the
sense of being allowed or permitted to do something):
Can I talk to my friends in the library waiting room? (Note thatcan is less formal than may. Also, some writers will object to the use of can in this context.)
· to express theoretical possibility:
American automobile makers can make better cars if they think there's a profit in it.
The modal auxiliary could is used
· to express an ability in the past:
I could always beat you at tennis when we were kids.
· to express past or future
permission:
Could I bury my cat in your back yard?
· to express present possibility:
We could always spend the afternoon just sitting around talking.
· to express possibility or ability in
contingent circumstances:
If he studied harder, he could pass this course.
In expressing ability, can and could frequently also imply willingness:
Can you help me with my homework?
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Whether the auxiliary verb can can be used to express permission or
not — "Can I leave the room now?" ["I don't know if you can,
but you may."] — depends on the level of formality of your text or
situation. As Theodore Bernstein puts it in The
Careful Writer, "a
writer who is attentive to the proprieties will preserve the traditional
distinction: can for ability or power to do
something, may for permission to do it.
The question is at what level can you
safely ignore the "proprieties." Merriam-Webster's Dictionary,
tenth edition, says the battle is over and cancan
be used in virtually any situation to express or ask for permission. Most
authorities, however, recommend a stricter adherence to the distinction, at
least in formal situations.
Authority: The Careful Writer by Theodore
Bernstein. The Free Press: New York. 1998. p. 87.
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Two of the more troublesome modal
auxiliaries are may and might. When used in the
context of granting or seeking permission, might is the past tense of may. Might is considerably more tentative than may.
· May I leave class early?
· If I've finished all my work and I'm
really quiet, might I leave early?
In the context of expressing possibility, may and might are interchangeable present and
future forms and might + have + past participle is the past form:
· She might be my advisor next
semester.
· She may be my advisor next semester.
· She might have advised me not to
take biology.
Avoid confusing the sense of possibility in may with the implication ofmight, that a hypothetical situation has
not in fact occurred. For instance, let's say there's been a helicopter crash
at the airport. In his initial report, before all the facts are gathered, a
newscaster could say that the pilot "mayhave been injured."
After we discover that the pilot is in fact all right, the newscaster can now
say that the pilot "might have
been injured" because it is a hypothetical situation that has not
occurred. Another example: a body had been identified after much work by a
detective. It was reported that "without this painstaking work, the body may have remained unidentified."
Since the body was, in fact, identified, might is clearly called for.
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In certain contexts, will and would are virtually interchangeable, but
there are differences. Notice that the contracted form 'll is very frequently used for will.
Will can be used to express willingness:
· I'll wash the dishes if you dry.
· We're going to the movies. Will you
join us?
It can also express intention (especially
in the first person):
· I'll do my exercises later on.
and prediction:
· specific: The meeting will be over
soon.
· timeless: Humidity will ruin my hairdo.
· habitual: The river will overflow
its banks every spring.
Would can also be used to express willingness:
· Would you please take off your hat?
It can also express insistence (rather
rare, and with a strong stress on the word "would"):
· Now you've ruined everything. You would act that way.
and characteristic activity:
· customary: After work, he would walk
to his home in West Hartford.
· typical (casual): She would cause
the whole family to be late, every time.
In a main clause, would can express a hypothetical meaning:
· My cocker spaniel would weigh a ton
if I let her eat what she wants.
Finally, would can express a sense of probability:
· I hear a whistle. That would be the
five o'clock train.
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The auxiliary verb construction used to is used to express an action that
took place in the past, perhaps customarily, but now that action no longer
customarily takes place:
· We used to take long vacation trips
with the whole family.
The spelling of this verb is a problem for
some people because the "-ed" ending quite naturally disappears in
speaking: "We yoostoo take long trips." But it ought not to
disappear in writing. There are exceptions, though. When the auxiliary is
combined with another auxiliary, did, the past tense is carried by the new
auxiliary and the "-ed" ending is dropped. This will often happen
in the interrogative:
· Didn't you use to go jogging every
morning before breakfast?
· It didn't use to be that way.
Used to can also be used to convey the sense of being
accustomed to or familiar with something:
· The tire factory down the road
really stinks, but we're used to it by now.
· I like these old sneakers; I'm used
to them.
Used to is best reserved for colloquial usage; it has no place
in formal or academic text.
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The Use of Modal Verbs List:
Modal verbs are used to express functions such as:
1. Permission
2. Ability
3. Obligation
4. Prohibition
5. Lack
of necessity
6. Advice
7. possibility
8. probability
Examples of Modal Verbs:
Here is a list of modals with examples:
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Modal Verb
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Expressing
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Example
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Must
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Strong
obligation
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You must
stop when the traffic lights turn red.
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logical
conclusion / Certainty
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He must be
very tired. He's been working all day long.
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must not
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Prohibition
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You must not
smoke in the hospital.
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Can
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Ability
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I can swim.
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Permission
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Can I use
your phone please?
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Possibility
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Smoking can
cause cancer.
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could
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ability in
the past
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When I was
younger I could run fast.
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polite
permission
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Excuse me,
could I just say something?
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Possibility
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It could
rain tomorrow!
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may
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Permission
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May I use
your phone please?
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possibility,
probability
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It may rain
tomorrow!
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might
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polite
permission
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Might I
suggest an idea?
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possibility,
probability
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I might go
on holiday to Australia next year.
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need not
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lack of
necessity/absence of obligation
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I need not
buy tomatoes. There are plenty of tomatoes in the fridge.
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should/ought to
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50 %
obligation
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I should /
ought to see a doctor. I have a terrible headache.
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Advice
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You should /
ought to revise your lessons
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logical
conclusion
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He should /
ought to be very tired. He's been working all day long.
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had better
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Advice
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You 'd
better revise your lessons
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The Form of Modal
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Subject
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+
Modal
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+
Basic Verb
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I
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They
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You
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We
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She
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He
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It
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All subjects are followed by modal and basic verb
Examples:
*I can cook
*She can cook
*You must study
Modal verbs are followed by an infinitive without "to",
also called the bare infinitive.
Examples:
· You must stop when
the traffic lights turn red.
· You should see to
the doctor.
· There
are a lot of tomatoes in the fridge. You need not buy any.
Examples of Modal Auxiliary Verbs
Before we look at some of the possible meanings
of modal auxiliary verbs we need to have some idea of what constitutes a modal
in English and where they occur in a sentence. A few more examples should
enable us to answer the second of these points fairly quickly and easily - the
modals are in bold:
· He should be here by now.
· I could swim quite well
when I was younger.
· You mustn't blame
yourself for this.
· You might have discussed
it with me first.
· You can't be serious!
· Could you open the window
please?
· Must you make so much noise?
· She had to take her
brother along with her.
· We ought to be going.
Past Time With Modals
We noted earlier that the pure modals do not
change to show tense. Most of these modals do in fact have either present or
future reference, but sometimes we need to refer back to the past. With the
semi-modals there is little problem, but how can we do this for pure modal
verbs? You may have picked up from some of the previous examples that one way to
do this is to insert haveimmediately after the pure modal. But this is not
always the case since can has its own past tensecould when it
refers to general ability. Some examples should help:
· I can
speak German.
· I could
speak German when I was seven years old.
· You
should see this film.
· You
should have seen this film.
· Indonesia
must be hot.
· Indonesia
must have been hot.
· He could
find his wallet.
· He
could have found his wallet.
Notice that in the third pair of sentences the
meaning of must is logical deduction not obligation. If we want to
use must for obligation then the past tense is had to.
· She
must visit her mother.
· She had
to visit her mother
Exercises:
1. There are plenty of tomatoes in the fridge. You .................... buy
any.
2. It's a hospital. You ............. smoke.
3. He had been working for more than 11 hours. He ......... be tired after such hard work. He ............ prefer
to get some rest.
4. I ...........speak
Arabic fluently when I was a child and we lived in Morocco. But after we moved
back to Canada, I had very little exposure to the language and forgot almost
everything I knew as a child. Now, I ....... just
say a few things in the language.
5. The teacher said we ............... read
this book for our own pleasure as it is optional. But we ............... read it if
we don't want to.
6. ......... you stand on your head for more than a minute? No,
I............
7. If you want to learn to speak English fluently, you ........... to work hard.
8. Take an umbrella. It .............. rain
later.
9. You ............ leave
small objects lying around . Such objects ........ be swallowed by children.
10. People ................ walk on
grass.
Answer:
1.
needn’t
2.
musn’t
3.
must, may
4.
could, can
5. can,
can
6. can
7. need
8.
might
9.
shouldn’t, may
10.
mustn’t
sources:
http://www.myenglishpages.com/
http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/
http://esl.fis.edu/
http://library.bcu.ac.uk/
hattp://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/
