Modal Verbs

Modal Verbs of Obligation
We can use have to + infinitive, must + infinitive and should + infinitive to express
obligation (something you have to do).
Present Positive Negative

have to / strong obligation (possibly from no obligation
don't have to outside)
 I don't have to work on Sundays.
 Children have to go to school.
(sometimes 'have got to')

 You don't have to eat anything
you don't like.
must / mustn't strong obligation (possibly based negative obligation

on the speaker's opinion)
 You mustn't smoke here.
 I must study today.
should / mild obligation or advice mild negative obligation or advice

shouldn't
 You should save some money.  You shouldn't smoke so much.
Be careful about the difference between mustn't and don't have to!
Mustn't means it's not allowed, or it's a bad idea:
 You mustn't eat so much chocolate, you'll be sick
Don't have to means you don't need to do something, but it's fine if you want to do it:
 I don't have to get up early at the weekend(of course, if I want to get up early, that's fine,
but I can stay in bed if I want).
Past Positive Negative

had to / didn't obligation in the past no obligation in the past
have to
 I had to wear a school uniform  We didn't have to go to school on
when I was a child. Saturdays.
must* changes to 'had to' -

should have + a past action which didn't happen: a past action which didn't happen:
pp / shouldn't the advice / regret is too late the advice / regret is too late
have + pp
 You should have gone to bed  You shouldn't have taken that
earlier, now you have missed the job., it was a bad idea.
train.
Modal Verbs of Probability/Deduction
Modal Verbs of Ability
When we talk about ability, we mean two things.
First, we mean general ability. This is something that once you have learned you can do any
time you want, like being able to read or swim or speak a language, for example.
The other kind of ability is specific ability. This mean something that you can or can't do in one
particular situation. For example, being able to lift something heavy, or find somewhere you are
looking for.
can / can't (for both general and specific ability)
 I can play the piano.

 She can speak English.
 He can't drive – he's too tired.
 We can't come now.
could / couldn't (for general ability)
 I could read when I was four.

 She could speak French when she was a child, but now she has forgotten it.
 He couldn't dance at all until he took lessons.
 My grandfather couldn't swim.
was able to / couldn't (for specific ability)

be able to = can
 When the computer crashed yesterday, I was able to fix it.(not 'I could fix it')
 She was able to pass the exam, even though she hadn't studied much.(not 'she could
pass')
 He called us because he couldn't find the house.
 I couldn't open the window.
Ability
We use can/could to describe ability, and we use can’t/couldn’t to describe absence of
ability.
• She could play the piano very well.
• Children can’t concentrate for long periods of time.
• I can speak Chinese.

Possibility
We also use can to talk about possibility.
• Anyone can win this competition. All the participants are very good.
• I can’t come to the party next week.
Permission
We use can/could to talk about something that is or was allowed and we
use can’t/couldn’t to talk about something that is not allowed.
• You can’t smoke in the house, but you can smoke in the terrace if you want.
We also use can to ask for permission.
• Can I come in?
Requests
We us can/could in requests, i.e. when we ask somebody to do something.
• Can you help me?
• Could you speak more slowly, please? Polite version
see, smell, hear, feel, taste

Verbs of perception (see, smell, hear, etc.) are stative verbs and cannot be used in a
continuous form. Instead, we use can.
• Can you hear that? (NOT Are you hearing that?)
• I can smell gas! (NOT I’m smelling gas!)
be able to Can –Present , could – past form

Be able to is often similar to can and we may use it instead of can to talk about ability.
But be able to is more formal and is not as common.
• They are able to do the job faster than anyone else.

But can only has present and past forms: can–could. For all other verb forms (infinitive,
gerund, present perfect, etc.) we should use be able to. CAN - COULD
• I haven’t been able to study for the exam. (present perfect)
• I’d like to be able to talk to her more often. (to-infinitive; NOT to can) I WOULD LIKE
TO I`D
• I don’t like loud music in pubs. I like being able to talk with my friends. (-ing form) I
LIKE DOING STH\
• Will we be able to talk to the singer after the concert? (infinitive)
can/could vs be able to
We can use can and be able to to talk about general ability in the present.
• She can speak five languages.
• She’s able to speak five languages.
We can use could and be able to to talk about general ability in the past.
• My son could walk when he was 11 months old.
• My son was able to walk when he was 11 months old.
But if we want to say that someone did something in a specific situation, we must use
was/were able to, or managed to + infinitive.
• There was a fire in the office but all the workers were able to/managed to escape.
(NOT could escape)
• He lost his maps but after driving around for a long time, he was able to/managed to
find the place. (NOT could find)
In negative sentences, both could and be able to can be used to say that we were not
capable of doing something on a specific occasion.
• It was very dark and they couldn’t find the exit. (Or They weren’t able to find the exit.)
 Let’s start with expressing ability! We use can, be able
to and could to show that someone has (or doesn’t have) an ability
to do something.
 Look at these examples:
Present/Future Ability Negative Past Ability
Alan can swim well. Jackie cannot play piano. Paul could speak Chinese when he was a child.
I can meet you after school. We can’t visit Vancouver Last night, there were no clouds in the sky and they
this weekend. see all the stars.
I am able to speak two I am not able to speak When I was a young child, I wasn’t able to tie my sho
languages. Arabic.
Brenda is able to run Stacey isn’t able to finish a Shaun was able to complete the assignment.
quickly. marathon.
You are able to program a We aren’t able to make a They were able to catch six fish on their trip.
computer. reservation tonight.
 Did you notice that the verbs after “can/could/be able to” are
always in the simple form? For example:
 Alan can swim well. (subject + auxiliary verb + simple verb + ...)
 Do NOT change the modal auxiliary OR the main verb
for he/she/it subjects. In addition, do not add “ing” or “ed”.
 Alan can swims well. Wrong!
 Alan can to swim well. Wrong!
 Alan can swimming well. Wrong!
 Alan could swam well. Wrong!
 How can we make questions about ability? It’s easy!

 Modal auxiliary + subject + main verb + ... ?
 Can she play guitar?
Could you speak English when you were a child?
 BE + subject + able to + main verb + ... ?
 Are you able to understand the homework?
Were you able to finish the test?
Was he able to pass the exam?
 Notice that we do not need the verbs “do/does/did” when we make
questions!
The modal verb “be able to” includes the word “to”; the “to” is not an
infinitive.

Modal Verbs

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Modal Verbs

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Modal Verbs of Obligation

Present Positive Negative

(sometimes 'have got to')

must / mustn't strong obligation (possibly based negative obligation

should / mild obligation or advice mild negative obligation or advice

 You mustn't eat so much chocolate, you'll be sick

Past Positive Negative

must* changes to 'had to' -

When we talk about ability, we mean two things.

can / can't (for both general and specific ability)

 I can play the piano.

could / couldn't (for general ability)

 I could read when I was four.

was able to / couldn't (for specific ability)

• She could play the piano very well.

• Children can’t concentrate for long periods of time.

• I can speak Chinese.

• I can’t come to the party next week.

We also use can to ask for permission.

• Can I come in?

• Can you help me?

• Could you speak more slowly, please? Polite version

see, smell, hear, feel, taste

• Can you hear that? (NOT Are you hearing that?)

• I can smell gas! (NOT I’m smelling gas!)

be able to Can –Present , could – past form

• They are able to do the job faster than anyone else.

• I haven’t been able to study for the exam. (present perfect)

• Will we be able to talk to the singer after the concert? (infinitive)

• She can speak five languages.

• She’s able to speak five languages.

• My son could walk when he was 11 months old.

• My son was able to walk when he was 11 months old.

Present/Future Ability Negative Past Ability

 How can we make questions about ability? It’s easy!

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