The modal verbs include can, must, may, might, will, would, should. They are used with other verbs to express ability, obligation, possibility, and so on. Below is a list showing the most useful modals and their most common meanings:
| Modal | Meaning | Example |
| can | to express ability | I can speak a little Russian. |
| can | to request permission | Can I open the window? |
| may | to express possibility | I may be home late. |
| may | to request permission | May I sit down, please? |
| must | to express obligation | I must go now. |
| must | to express strong belief | She must be over 90 years old. |
| should | to give advice | You should stop smoking. |
| would | to request or offer | Would you like a cup of tea? |
| would | in if-sentences | If I were you, I would say sorry. |
Modal verbs are unlike other verbs. They do not change their form (spelling) and they have no infinitive or participle (past/present).
The modals must and can need substitute verbs to express obligation or ability in the different tenses. Here are some examples:
| Past simple | Sorry I'm late. I had to finish my math test. |
| Present perfect | She's had to return to Korea at short notice. |
| Future | You'll have to work hard if you want to pass the exams. |
| Infinitive | I don't want to have to go. |
| Past simple | I couldn't/wasn't able to walk until I was 3 years old. |
| Present perfect | I haven't been able to solve this problem. Can you help? |
| Future | I'm not sure if I will be able to come to your party. |
| Infinitive | I would love to be able to play the piano.
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Modals are
auxiliary verbs. They do not need an additional auxiliary in negatives or questions. For example:
Must I come? (
Do I must come?), or:
He shouldn't smoke (
He doesn't should smoke).
A quiz on modals:
1. Did you know that in the 1970s, Henry Smolinski and Harold Blake invented the AVE Mizar, a flying Ford Pinto? It could fly up to 12,000 feet and reach up to 130 miles an hour. One minor problem was the car's right wing, it failed one trial run in 1973, then it failed later again that year in a crash that killed both inventors. And that is the first of many failed inventions, either practically or commercially,..
2. , Mattel's game console Intellivision was released in 1979 to compete with the Atari 2600.
