MODAL

VERBS

CAN COULDMAY MIGHT

WILL WOULD

SHALL SHOULD

MUSTOUGHT TO

Common Features:

1. They don’t add “s” for the 3rd Person Singular.

2. They have no –ing or –ed Forms.

3. They are followed by a 0 infinitive (except “Ought TO”).

4. They add “not” for the negative.

5. In questions, the word order changes to modal + subject + main verb.

Similar Structures

BE ABLE TOHAVE TO

NEEDHAD BETTER

USED TO

Modal Verbs express ideas such as

Possibility, Intention, Obligation and

Necessity

(More on the use of Modals and similar structures in your Textbook)

MODAL PERFECTS

FORM:Modal (+not) + HAVE + PAST

PARTICIPLEQuestions: Modal + Subject + Have + Past

Participle

USES:Certainty, Guess, Regret, Possibility,

Ability, … IN THE PAST

SOME EXAMPLES:

I may have lost my keys (Perhaps I lost them)

He must have left (I am quite sure he left)

She could have passed last year (She had the chance to pass but she didn’t)Should I have told you before? (Was

it a good idea to tell you?)