MODAL VERB

In english language, a modal verb is an auxiliary verb that can be used to change the grammatical mood of a sentence. The key way to indentify a modal verb is by its devectiveness (they have neither participles nor infinitives).

The modal verb in english are as follows, paired as present and preterite forms:

• Shall and should
• Will and would
• May and might
• Can and could
• Mote (archaic) and must

The following are not modal verbs but may be used for a similar purpose:

Ought to and had better

• Used to
• Dare and need
• Do
• Going to
• Have to

Some expressions like had better, have to, and have got to are not modal. These expressions are closely related to modals in meaning and are often interchanged with them.

 

Shall and Will

General form : S + shall / will + V + TS/PS

Shall is used in many of the same senses as will, though not all dialects use shall productively, and those that use both shall and will generally draw a distinction (though different dialects tend to draw different distinctions). In standard, perhaps old-fashioned English, shall in the first person, singular or plural, indicates mere futurity, but in other person shows an order, command or prophecy: “Cinderella, you shall go to the ball!” It is, therefore, impossible to make shall question in these person. Shall we? Makes sense, shall you? Does not.

For example : - “I will check your PC tomorrow”

- “He shall pick you up on 3 o’clock”

Should

General form : S + should + V + TS / PS

Should can describe an ideal behavior or occurrence and imparts a normative meaning to the sentence.

For example : -“ you should never close your task without save it first”

- “you should never lie”

Both of sentences above mens roughly. In some dialects, it is common to form the subjunctive mood by using should.

For example : - “ it is important that the law should be passed” ( where the other dialect would say, “it is important that the law be passed” ) or “if it should happen, we are prepared for it”

Would

General form : S + would + V + TS / PS

Would can be used in some forms that are viewed as more formal or polite.

For example : -“I would like a glass of water” compared with “I want a glass of water”

-“would you get me a glass of water?” compared with the bare “get me a glass of water.”

Would can also be used for the imperfect tense .

For example : “back then, I would at early and would walk to school.”

In the sentence above would signifies not the conditional mood, but rather, repeated past action of imperfect tense in english.

May and Might

General form : S + may / might + V + O + TS / PS

May and might do not have common negative contractions (equivalents to shan’t, won’t, can’t, couldn’t, shouldn’t etc).

Both forms can be used to express a present time possibility or uncertainty ( that may be...). May is also used to expres irrelevance in spite of certain ot likely truth.

For example : -“he may be taller than I am, but he is certainly not stronger”

In the sentence above may mean roughly. (however, it may also mean, “I am not sure whether he is taller than I am, but I am sure he I not stronger.”)

Might can be used in the first person to express that future actions are being considered.

For example : -“I might go to the mall later” (means that the speaker is thinking about going o the mall.)

May and might can be used in a question to ask for permission. One who saying “May I use your phone?” is asking for permission to use the phone of the person being spoken to.

Can and could

General form : S + can / could + V + O + TS / PS
 
The negation of can is the single word “cannot”, occasionally written as two words “can not” or the contraction “can’t”. The negation of could is “could not”, or “couldn’t”.

Can is used to express ability. It is also used to express that some state of affair is possible,

For example : “I can speak English” (means “I am able to speak English “)

Cannot and can't can be used to express beliefs about situations.

For example : -"He cannot have left already; why would he want to get there so early?" (expresses with less certainty the same proposition as "He has not left already" does).

Both can and could can be used to make requests: "Can you pass me the cheese?” means "Please pass me the cheese". Could can be used in the same way, and might be considered more polite.

Must

General form : S + must + V + O +TS / PS

The negation is "must not" or "mustn't". Must and have to are used to express that something is obligatory.

For example : -"He must leave"

-“you must not smoke here”

-“I mustn’t make that mistake again”

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