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Modal Verbs

“Tenses” of modal verbs — [1]

Depending on the context, tenses of modal verbs can be expressed as follows (see source link for more details):

Can

  • ability: I can ride a horse.
  • opportunity: We can stay with my brother when we are in Paris.
  • permission: She cannot stay out after 10 PM.
  • request: Can you hand me the stapler?
  • possibility: Any child can grow up to be president.

Present Positive: can

Present Negative: can’t

Past Positive: could, was able to, was allowed to

Past Negative: couldn’t, wasn’t able to, wasn’t allowed to

Future Positive: will be able to, can

Future Negative: won’t be able to, can’t

Could

  • possibility: Extreme rain could cause the river to flood the city.
  • past ability: Nancy could ski like a pro by the age of 11.
  • suggestion: You could see a movie or go out to dinner.
  • request: Could I use your computer to email my boss?
  • conditional: We could go on the trip if I didn’t have to work this weekend.

Present Positive: could

Present Negative: couldn’t

Past Positive: could have traveled

Past Negative: couldn’t have traveled

Future Positive: could

Future Negative: couldn’t

Have to

  • certainty: This answer has to be correct.
  • necessity: The soup has to be stirred continuously to prevent burning.
  • obligation: They have to leave early.

Present Positive: have to

Present Negative: must not, doesn’t have to

Past Positive: ???, had to

Past Negative: ???, did not have

Future Positive: will have to

Future Negative: won’t have to

Must

  • certainty: This must be the right address!
  • necessity: Students must pass an entrance examination to study at this school.
  • strong recommendation: You must take some medicine for that cough.
  • prohibition: Jenny, you must not play in the street!

Present Positive: must

Present Negative: must not, don’t have to

Past Positive: must have been, should have taken, had to have

Past Negative: must not have been, shouldn’t have drunk, didn’t have to get

Future Positive: should, must

Future Negative: shouldn’t, won’t have to get

Might

  • possibility: Your purse might be in the living room.
  • conditional: If I didn’t have to work, I might go with you.
  • suggestion: You might visit the botanical gardens during your visit.
  • request: Might I borrow your pen?

Present Positive: might

Present Negative: might not

Past Positive: might have taken

Past Negative: might not have taken

Future Positive: might

Future Negative: might not

Should

  • recommendation: When you go to Berlin, you should visit the palaces in Potsdam.
  • advice: You should focus more on your family and less on work.
  • obligation: I really should be in the office by 7:00 AM.
  • expectation: By now, they should already be in Dubai.

Present Positive: should

Present Negative: shouldn’t

Past Positive: should have eaten

Past Negative: shouldn’t have smoked

Future Positive: should

Future Negative: shouldn’t

May

  • possibility: Cheryl may be at home, or perhaps at work.
  • give permission: Johnny, you may leave the table when you have finished your dinner.
  • request permission: May I use your bathroom?

Present Positive: may

Present Negative: may not

Past Positive: may have been, were allowed to

Past Negative: may not have been, were not allowed

Future Positive: may

Future Negative: may not

Shall

Uses1: Offers, suggestions and advice. We use shall I and shall we to make offers and suggestions, and to ask for advice.

Uses2: Predictions and intentions. We use shall instead of will with I and we in rather formal contexts to make predictions and to talk about intentions or decisions. It is much less common than will.

  • suggestion: Shall I help you?
  • promise: I shall never forget where I came from.
  • predestination: He shall become our next king.
  • inevitability: I’m afraid Mr. Smith shall become our new director.

Ought to — [1], [2].

  • recommendation: You ought to stop smoking.
  • expected because he deserves it: Jim ought to get the promotion.
  • probability: This stock ought to increase in value.
  • advice against something (notice there is no “to”): Mark ought not drink so much.

Present Positive: ought

Present Negative:

Past Positive: ought to have exercised

Past Negative:

Future Positive: ought to

Future Negative:

Uses1

What is desired or ideal. We use ought to when talking about things which are desired or ideal:

  • They ought to have more parks in the city centre.
  • We ought to eat lots of fruit and vegetables every day.

We use ought to have + V3 form to talk about things that were desired or ideal in the past but which didn’t happen. It can express regret:

  • We ought to have locked the gate. Then the dog wouldn’t have got out. (The ideal or desired thing was that we locked the gate, but we didn’t.)
  • I often think that I ought to have studied medicine not pharmacy. (I would be happier now if I had studied medicine.)
Uses2

What is likely. We can use ought to when we talk about what is likely or probable:

  • The concert ought to only take about two hours so we’ll be home by 12 pm.
  • There ought to be some good films at the cinema this weekend.
The negative

The negative is formed by adding ‘not’ after ought (ought not to). It can be contracted to oughtn’t to. The negative of ought to is not common. We usually use shouldn’t or should not instead.

Ought to or should?

Ought to and should are similar in meaning. Should is more common than ought to. Ought to is more formal than should:

to be to. to be to + have V3

to be to expresses arrangements, plans:

  • We are to meet our friend at the station.
  • The meeting is to be held tomorrow.
  • They were to meet outside the cinema. (It is unknown whether they succeeded in meeting or not)

Use to be to + have V3 when previously scheduled plans were abandoned: * They were to have met outside the cinema. (They did not meet)

need

Need can also play a role of modal verb.

  • You needn’t go into details
  • You needn’t have waited for the manager, the secretary could have signed the papers

Simple

A fact is stated. No time is specified.

Active:

  • I should clean the room once a day.
  • I should go home.

Passive:

  • The room should be cleaned once a day.

Continuous

We use modal verbs to make a guess or draw a logical conclusion about an activity in progress at the present time (ie during the time of speaking).

The action should have already started or should right now start.

Active:

  • I should be cleaning the room now.
  • I should be going home.
  • Person A: What’s all that noise?
  • Person B: The neighbour’s son is in a rock band. They must be practicing.

Passive:

  • The room should be being cleaned now.

Perfect

These past modal verbs are all used hypothetically, to talk about things that didn’t really happen in the past.

Active:

  • I should have cleaned the room yesterday.
  • Julie could have bought the book, but she borrowed it from the library instead.

Some notes about would as modal verb.

Part of the third conditional:

  • If I had had enough money, I would have bought a car (but I didn’t have enough money, so I didn’t buy a car).

Because would (and will) can also be used to show if you want to do something or not (volition), we can also use would have + past participle to talk about something you wanted to do but didn’t. This is very similar to the third conditional, but we don’t need an ‘if clause’:

  • I would have called you, but I didn’t know your number.
  • A: Nobody volunteered to help us with the fair.
  • B: I would have helped you. I didn’t know you needed help.

Passive:

  • The room should have been cleaned yesterday.

Perfect Continuous

Active:

  • I should have been cleaning the room instead of watching TV.
  • Person A: I didn’t hear a sound when I passed by the children’s room earlier.
  • Person B: They must have been sleeping.

Passive:

  • The room should have been being cleaned but nobody was there.