What are you saying? Seriously, I don’t understand you. Is it a question, a request, a suggestion, an obligation, an invitation, some advice, a complaint……..?????!!!!! Oh no, I have a headache! Help me, help me: where are the aspirin?
I DON’T UNDERSTAND MODAL VERBS
The English language is often very difficult to understand and sometimes seems to be completely illogical. Well don’t worry, as the British Government said after World War 2: ‘Keep Calm and Carry On.’
What are Modal Verbs?
Modal Verbs are auxiliary verbs that modify another verb in order to change the meaning of the expression: (i.e. what is being said)
Examples of Modal Verbs include:
- Can, Could, Must, May, Might, Should, Shouldn’t, Ought To, Would
When do you use them?
To express the following language functions:
- Requests, Permission, Offers and Invitations
- Advice and Recommendations, Suggestions and Prohibition
- Obligations, Duties, Necessities and Ability
- The likelihood: Certainty, Possibility
- A complaint
- They do not have infinitives
- They don’t take s, ing or ed suffixes
- They are followed by the bare infinitive. The infinitive without To, for example: walk, eat, drink. Not: To walk, To eat, To drink
- They come before the subject in questions
EXAMPLES OF LANGUAGE FUNCTIONS
Look, learn and use: