MODAL AUXILIARIES
The
verbs can, could, will, would, should, may, might, must, ought and shall
are verbs which 'help' other verbs to express a meaning: it is important to
realise that these "modal verbs" have no meaning by themselves. A
modal verb such as would has several varying functions; it can be used,
for example, to help verbs express ideas about the past, the present and the
future. It is therefore wrong to simply believe that "would is the past of
will.
1.
Will
·
Making presonal predictions
I doubt if I will stay here with you.
· Talking about the present with certainly (making deductions)
I’m sure you will understand that there is
nothing can do.
2. Shall
Shall is a form of will, used
mostly in the first person. Its use, however, is decreasing, and in any case in
spoken English it would be contracted to "-ll" and be
indistinguishable from will.
·
Making offers
Shall I fetch you another glass of wine?
3. Can
& Could
·
Talking about ability
Can you
speak Japanese? (present)
She
could play the piano when she was five. (past)
·
Making request
Could
you speak up a bit please? (slightly more formal, polite or softer)
·
Asking permission
Can I ask you a question?
4. Must
(examples here refer to British English, there is some variation in American
English)
·
Must is often used to indicate
'personal' obligation; what you think you yourself or other people/things must
do. If the obligation comes from outside (eg a rule or law), then have to
is often (but not always) preferred: People
must try to be more tolerant of each other.
5.
Would
·
As the past of will
He said the next meeting would be in a month’s
time.
6. May
·
Talking
about things that can happen in certain situations
Each nurse may be responsible
for up to twenty patients.
7. Might
·
Saying
that something was possible, but did not actually happen
You saw me standing at
the bust stop! You might have stopped and given me a lift!
Modal
verbs are NEVER used with other auxiliary verbs such as do, does, did etc. The
negative is formed simply by adding "not" after the verb; questions
are formed by inversion of the verb and subject:
a. You
should not do that.
b. Could
you pick me up when I’ve finished?
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