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?)
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