Modal Auxiliary Verbs
WILL
Used to predict future events which are seen as certain – a future fact
This time next week I’ll be on holiday
The term will end on the 14th
Used to express what we strongly believe to be true in the present, and is based on
knowledge and evidence
The phone’s ringing? That’ll be Amy. She said she would call.
She’ll probably be getting ready to go out
Don’t take the food out the oven! It won’t be ready yet! (NEGATIVE FORM)
Can also be used for confident, if not certain, future predictions
By 2040, robots will have taken over the world
MUST / CAN’T
Used to assert what we believe is the most rational or logical interpretation. We use
this when we have evidence, but it is less certain than ‘will’. Use MUST + INFINITIVE
Look over there – that must be Maggie’s new car!
You must be joking, I don’t believe you!
The negative is ‘can’t’
They can’t be playing very well if the score is 9-0
This can’t be the answer. It must be something else.
To speculate about the past, use MUST / CAN’T HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE
You must have been on holiday.
You can’t have studied well enough, you only got 10% on the exam.
SHOULD
Used to express what we reasonably expect to happen
The train should arrive at six. There are sometimes delays, though
Take these pills and you should be feeling better in a couple of days
Should is not used in negative ideas. It expresses what we want the prediction to
happen.
My dog should die soon. He’s pretty old
Using should in the past expresses what you expected to happen, BUT it did not.
Use SHOULD + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE
Those pills should have worked
The train should have arrived at six
I should not have said that (NEGATIVE – used for REGRET)
Should can be substituted with OUGHT TO
MAY / MIGHT / COULD
MAY expresses possibility in the present and future
We may go to Greece for our holidays. We haven’t decided yet.
We may not have enough money to go, though. (NEGATIVE)
MIGHT expresses possibility, and is often used for something you are slightly less
sure about
It might rain – you should bring an umbrella.
I might not be back in time for dinner
COULD is used in a similar way to ‘might’
It could rain, but I doubt it.
That new film could be worth seeing.
The negative ‘COULD NOT’ is NOT used to express future probability.
Use ‘might not COULDN’T is used in the same way as CAN’T
It looks like it could rain, but it could not You couldn’t have studied for your exam, you
It looks like it could rain, but it might not only got 10%
CAN
Used to express what is generally always true and logically possible
Cycling can be dangerous
It is not possible to use CAN for future possibility. Use ‘WILL BE POSSIBLE’ or ‘WILL
BE ABLE TO’ for possible future ability
In a few years time it will be possible to have holidays on the moon.
We’ll be able to travel there in rockets.
PAST MODALS
You can add HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE to express probability and possibility in the
past in varying levels of certainty
That will / would have been Uncle Tom you met at the party. He has a wooden leg.
That won’t have been Peter – he wasn’t even invited.
It must have been a great party – everyone has said that they enjoyed it.
It can’t have been a very good party, everyone left early
Henry should have arrived ages ago, he only lives around the corner.
He might have decided not to come.
He could have had an accident
CAN is a special case. It is used in questions, or with HARDLY, ONLY or NEVER
He can hardly have forgotten to come
They can only have known each other for a couple of weeks
Where can he have been?
OTHER USES OF MODALS
MUST is used for strong obligation. HAVE TO is an alternative
You must / have to listen to me!
The negative of MUST is MUST NOT
You must not go in that room! (NEGATIVE)
The negative of HAVE TO is DON’T HAVE TO (DIDN’T HAVE TO in the past)
This is used for absence of obligation, not negative obligation
You don’t have to go in that room (this means it is optional, not forbidden)
MUST does not have a past form. Use HAD TO
I had to work hard to pass my exam (past)
MUST HAVE is only used for past probability, not obligation. So this
sentence show probable obligation in the past:
You must have had to work verb hard!
MUST is often used for internal obligation. HAVE TO is often used for external
obligation
I must work harder
You have to try harder
My boss says I have to be at work early this week
NEEDN’T is a slightly more formal way of expressing an absence of obligation,
similar to ‘don’t have to’
You needn’t have a degree to do this job
NEEDN’T in the past has two forms:
NEEDN’T HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE (the action wasn’t necessary, but it was
completed anyway)
You needn’t have brought any cheese, we have plenty.
DIDN’T NEED TO + INFINITIVE (the action wasn’t necessary, but it is not clear if it
was completed)
I didn’t need to do any shopping that night because we planned to eat out
SHOULD / OUGHT TO is also used for advice or mild obligation
You should rest. You look tired.
You should be quiet in the library
You should have listened to me (past advice – used when the advice was ignored)
You ought to have listened to me (past advice – used when the advice was ignored)
CAN / COULD / MAY / MIGHT are all used to ask for permission and can be paired
with ‘please’ for extra politeness
Can I have some cheese?
Please could I have some cheese?
May I have some cheese? (more formal)
Might I have some cheese? (very formal)
The past of MAY and CAN is expressed with WAS ALLOWED TO
I was allowed to do whatever I wanted
COULD can be used to report permission in the past
My parents said I could stay out late
CAN is used to express ability. COULD is the past form
I can swim (negative ability - I can’t swim)
I could swim when I was six
To express a particular ability on one occasion in the past, do not use COULD, use BE ABLE
TO or MANAGED TO
I was able to escape from prison
I managed to fix the car
WON’T expresses refusal.
I won’t listen to her, she is always wrong
He is angry because I wouldn’t lend him any money
We also use WON’T and WOULDN’T for inanimate objects that do not function properly.
The car won’t start!
WILL can be used to express habitual or characteristic behaviour
When it’s a sunny day, she’ll sit in the garden for hours
