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GAMMAR: MODAL VERBS

What Are Modal Verbs?

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Modal verbs show possibility, intent, ability, or necessity. Because they’re a type of auxiliary verb (helper verb), they’re used together with the main verb of the sentence. Common examples include can, should, and must.

Modal verbs can be tricky, especially when it comes to using them in a sentence. The good news is that they’re simple once you learn how they work. Below, we explain everything you need to know to use modal verbs with ease.

What are modal verbs?

Modal verbs are used to express certain hypothetical conditions, such as advice, capability, or requests (there’s a full list in the next section). They’re used alongside a main verb to change its meaning slightly. Because they’re auxiliary verbs, they can’t necessarily be used on their own. (A modal verb should only appear alone if it’s clear from context what the main verb is.)

Consider the difference between these two examples:

I swim every Tuesday.

I can swim every Tuesday.

The first example is a simple factual statement. The speaker participates in a swimming activity every week on Tuesdays.

The second example uses the modal verb can. Notice how the meaning changes slightly. The speaker does not swim every Tuesday; they’re saying they are capable of swimming every Tuesday if they need to. It’s hypothetical.

Modal verbs are quite common in English, and you’ve probably seen them hundreds of times without actually knowing their name. The most frequently used ones are:

can
may
might
could
should
would
will
must

There are more modal verbs, although the ones above are the most common. Some modal verbs are outdated and rarely used—like shall and ought to—while others are more colloquial—such as got to, need to, or have to. Some express very specific conditions that don’t come up often, like dare, for example, “I dare say.” The phrase used to, as in “I used to be an English student, too,” also behaves like a modal verb.

When are modal verbs used?

What special conditions do modal verbs show? Here’s a list of when to use modal verbs, along with examples:

Likelihood

Some things seem likely, but we don’t know for sure. In these cases, you can use the modal verbs should and must to show probability without certainty.

Her parents must be so proud.

My baby brother should be asleep by now.

Possibility

In situations when something is possible but not certain, use the modal verbs could, may, or might.

Judging by the clouds, it might rain today.

She may become the youngest pro soccer player ever.

Ability

The modal verb can shows whether or not the subject is able to do something, such as perform an action or demonstrate an ability. Likewise, the negative form, cannot or can’t, shows that the subject is unable to do something.

She can speak three languages, but none of them well.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.

Asking permission

If you want to ask permission to do something, start your question with can, may, or could. Traditionally, in more formal and polite usage, may is better for permission; if you ask “can I go to the bathroom?” it could be misinterpreted as, “do I have the ability to go to the bathroom?” (However, in modern usage mayand can are both perfectly acceptable options when describing possibility or permission.)

May I leave early today?

Could I play too?

Request

Similarly, if you want to ask someone else to do something, start your question with will, would, can, or could.

Would you get that box off the top shelf?

Will you turn that music down?

Suggestion/advice

What if you want to recommend something, but not command it? If you’re giving suggestions or advice without ordering someone around, you can use the modal verb should.

You should try the lasagna.

That guy should wear less cologne.

Command

On the other hand, if you want to command someone, use the modal verbs must, have to, or need to.

You must wash your hands before cooking.

You need to be here before 8:00.

Obligation or necessity

Modal verbs can express a necessary action, such as an obligation, duty, or requirement. Likewise, the negative form expresses that an action is not necessary. Use the same modal verbs as with commands: must, have to, or need to.

We have to wait for our boss to arrive before we open.

You don’t need to come if you don’t want to.

Habit

To show an ongoing or habitual action—something the subject does regularly—you can use the modal verb would for the past tense and will for the present and future. The phrase used to is also acceptable if you’re talking about a habit that no longer exists.

When I lived alone, I would fall asleep with music.

I will arrive early and leave late to every meeting.

How to use modal verbs (with examples)

Luckily, using modal verbs in a sentence is pretty simple. For basic sentences—the simple present tense—just remember these rules:

Modal verbs always come directly before the main verb (except for questions).
With modal verbs, use the infinitive form of the main verb without “to”.

So, if you want to brag about your ability to eat an entire pizza, you take the infinitive form of “eat” without “to”—which is simply “eat”—and add the modal verb “can” in front of it. The rest of the sentence continues as normal.

I can eat an entire pizza.

For questions, you still use the infinitive form of the main verb, but the order is a little different:

[modal verb] + [subject] + [main verb]

So let’s rephrase the example above as a question:

Can you eat an entire pizza?

Because modal verbs largely deal with general situations or hypotheticals that haven’t actually happened, most of them are in the present tenses. However, some of them can be used in different verb tenses, so let’s talk a little about how to construct them.

Present tenses

We already covered the simple present above, but you can also use modal verbs in the present continuous and present perfect continuous tenses.

Present continuous

After the modal verb, use the word be followed by the –ing form of the main verb.

[modal verb] + be + [verb in -ing form]

I should be going.

Present perfect continuous

You can add a modal verb before a verb in the present perfect continuous tense without changing much. However, when using a modal verb, you must always use “have,” never “had,” even if the subject is third-person.

[modal verb] + have been + [verb in -ing form]

She must have been sleeping.

Past tenses and present perfect

Putting a modal verb in the simple past, past continuous, and perfect tenses is a little trickier.

For starters, two modal verbs in particular have a simple past tense: can and will. If you want to use either of those in any of the past tenses, you must first conjugate them into their past-tense form:

can -> could
will -> would

All the others remain the same, although some can’t be used in the past at all. Modal verbs often deal with hypotheticals, but if an action already happened in the past, it can’t be hypothetical. These are mostly for speculating about the past, such as wondering “what if . . .”

None of the modal verbs can be used in the past perfect or past perfect continuous.

Simple past

Of the main modal verbs listed at the top, only can and will can be used in the simple past. Have to and need to can also be used, as long as they’re conjugated accordingly as had to and needed to. Other modal verbs use the present perfect to discuss events in the past.

Can and will use their past tense form plus the infinitive form of the main verb without “to,” just like in the present.

could/would + [verb in infinitive]

I could do a handstand when I was a kid.

During exam season in college, I would not sleep much.

Past continuous

Again, only can and will can be used in the past continuous. It’s formed just like the present continuous, except with the past form of the modal verb.

could/would + be + [verb in -ing form]

I could be working right now.

Present perfect

Instead of using the infinitive form of the main verb, just use the present perfect form, which is “have” plus the past participle. As before, you must always use “have,” even if the subject is third-person.

If you’re using can, be sure to use its past tense form of could.

[modal verb] + have + [past participle]

I might have gone to the party, but I forgot.

Future tenses

The truth is that most of the future tenses already use modal verbs because they use “will.” If you want to use different modal verb, such as “can” or “should,” you can use it normally with the infinitive form of the verb, and without will.

I can hang out tomorrow.

Should I major in law next year?

MODAL VERB	FUNCTION	PRESENT/ FUTURE CONTEXT
CAN + BASE	INTELLECTUAL ABILITY	He can speak three languages.
	PHYSICAL ABILITY	The athletes can run the mile in under four minutes.
	POSSIBILITY= be able to / in position to / be possible to	I can lend you some money if you haven’t enough. Can you attend the conference next week? It can be very cold in winter.
	PERMISSION= be allowed to	Daddy says we can go swimming. Can I go to the birthday party?
	ABILITY TO PERCIEVE= with hear, smell, feel, taste, see)	I can smell something burning. Can you see anyone in the garden?
CAN’T + BASE	PHYSICAL/ INTELECTUAL INABILITY (=be unable to/ not be able to / not know how to)	Women can’t run as fast as men. He can’t remember all the irregular verbs. I can’t swim.
	IMPOSSIBILITY	I can’t buy a new car this year. He can’t come to the meeting.
	DEDUCTION	It can’t be true. They can’t be home yet; it is only four o’clock.
	INTERDICTION/ PROHIBITION= not be allowed to	You can’t borrow more than three books at a time. People can’t smoke inside the cinema. You were not allowed to use the swimming pool yesterday. She has never been allowed to travel alone.
CAN’T + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE	IMPROBABILITY IN A PAST CONTEXT	He can’t have taken his father car. He doesn’t know how to drive. They can’t have given him the result. They haven’t finished marking the exam papers.
COULD + BASE	ABILITY IN THE PAST	When I was young, I could swim for hours. But now I can’t. When he lived in France, he could speak French very well. (But he can’tnow.) To refer to a specific action in the past, be able to or managed toreplace could: He was able to mend the garage door alone. They managed to get a good seat for the show.
	POSSIBILITY (present and future)	It’s late, but the shop could still beopen. Look at the clouds. It could rain later on. That noise could be the neighbor’s motorbike.
	SUGGESTION (present and future)	If you miss the train, you could get a taxi. We need a ladder. We could ask the neighbor to lend us his.
	A POLITE REQUEST (present context)	Could you open the door for me, please? Could I borrow your newspaper?
	ABILITY TO PERCIEVE (past context) with see, smell, taste, hear)	We could hear them coming down the road. I could smell the lunch cooking.
	REPOROACH (present context) =expressing disapproval	You could do better than this, you know.
COULDN’T + BASE	INABILITY IN THE PAST	I couldn’t walk until I was a year old. We couldn’t visit our grandfather when we were young. He lived too far away.
	INABILITY ON A SPECIFIC OCCASION IN THE PAST	He couldn’t remember my address. She couldn’t mend the lamp.
	A SUGGESTION (present or future context)	If you need a ladder, couldn’t you borrow your neighbor’s? Couldn’t you repair the chair instead of throwing it away?
	INABILITY TO PRECIEVE (past context)	It was so dark that we couldn’t seeanything. I couldn’t taste the lemon in the cake. Could you?
COULD + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE	POSSIBILITY (in past context)	I could have finished the exercises if I had had more time. She’s lucky to be alive. She could have killed herself.
COULD + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE	REPROACH AND REGRET (past context)	She could have told us she wasn’t coming! (Why didn’t she?). You could have made more effort! (Why didn’t you?)
EXERCISE
SHALL + BASE	AN OFFER= would you like me/ us to... .?	Shall I get you another cup of tea? Shall we do the shopping for you?
SHALL + BASE	A SUGGESTION= I suggest….	Shall we invite our neighbor in for a drink? Let’s invite our neighbors in for a drink, shall we? Shall we try and get tickets for the cup Final? Let’s try and get tickets for the Cup Final, shall we?
SHOULD + BASE	ADVISE/ DESIRABILITY (present or future context)	You should try to understand his point of view. He is too fat. He should lose weight.
SHOULD + BASE	PROBABILITY (future context	They have trained hard for the match. They should win. She has had good marks all the year. She should pass the exam.
OUGHT TO + BASE	DESIRABILITY/ MORAL OBLIGATION (present or future context)	He ought to apologize for what he said. She ought to visit her sick grandmother.
	PROBABILITY	He left early this morning, so he ought to be there by now. Monica Seles ought to beat the unknown English girl in tomorrow’s match.
SHOULDN’T / OUGHTN’T TO + BASE	ADVICE / UNDESIRABILITY (present context)	Parents shouldn’t/ oughtn’t to lettheir children watch TV all day. He shouldn’t/ oughtn’t to be so cruel to the cat.
SHOULDN’T / OUGHTN’T TO + BASE	PROBABILITY	I don’t know where he is, but he shouldn’t be far away. You shouldn’t have any trouble finding his house.
HAD BETTER (NOT) + BASE	ADVICE / UNDESIRABILITY (present or future context)	You had better leave now if you want to catch the early bus. You’d better not to forget your umbrella. It’s going to rain again.
SHOULD / OUGHT TO + HAVE + PAST PARTICPLE	A PAST OBLIGATTION THAT WAS NOT FULFILLED / REGRET	I should / ought to have apologizedto them. But I didn’t. We should / ought to have gone to the meeting. But we didn’t.
SHOULD / OUGHT TO + HAVE + PAST PARTICPLE	DISAPPROVAL / REPROACH (PAST CONTEXT)	You should/ ought to have offeredher something to drink. (Why didn’t you? You should/ ought to have told us you were coming. Why didn’t you?
SHOULDN’T / OUGHTN’T TO + HAVE+ PAST PARTICIPLE	DISAPPROVAL/ REPROACH/ REGRET (past context)	You shouldn’t have been so cruel to the cat. (but he was). You oughtn’t to have been so cruel to the cat. (but he was). They shouldn’t have left the gate open. (Why did you?) They oughtn’t to have left the gate open. (Why did you?) I shouldn’t have said that. (But I did) I oughtn’t to have said that. (But I did)
SHOULDN’T / OUGHTN’T TO + HAVE+ PAST PARTICIPLE	PROBABILITY	I expect they have already arrived. It shouldn’t have taken long to get there.
EXERCISE
WILL + BASE	STRONG PROBABILITY/ ASSUMPTION (present or future context).	The phone rings. “That’ll be Jan. She said she’d phone this evening.” I’m going to ask the secretary. She will know where the manager is
	OFFER	Will you have a cup of coffee? Will you help yourself to another cake?
	REQUEST /INVITATION	Will you lend me your book, please? Lend me you book, will you? Will you come to the theatre with me tomorrow?
	DETERMINATION	I will never go to that restaurant again! We will go, whether our parents like or not!
	PROMISE	I’ll give it back to you tomorrow. (I promise) Don’t worry. I will help you.
WON’T + BASE	STRONG PROBABILITY (present or future	It’s no use phoning Mary now. She won’t be home from work yet. Don’t buy Tom that shirt. He won’t wear it.
	REFUSAL	I won’t marry that awful man! He won’t do anything for me.
	PROMISE	I won’t be rude to you again. (I promise) We won’t get into any more mischief.
WOULD + BASE	REQUEST	Would you lend me your pen, please? Lend me your pen, would you? Would you open the door, please? Open the door, would you?
	DETERMINATION	We tried to stop him, but he would go there. (He insisted on going) I told her the peach wasn’t ripe, but she would eat it.
	HABIT OR REPEATED ACTION (past context)	When he was a child, he would often stand on the bridge and watch the trains go by. Her grandfather would often take her to the cinema when she was young.
WOULDN’T + BASE	REFUSAL (past context)	I invited her to the party, but she wouldn’t come. I wanted to have a ride on his motorbike, but he wouldn’t let me.
WOULD + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE

WOULDN’T + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE

MAY (NOT) + BASE	PERMISSION	May I borrow your ruler? You may come in now.
	PROHIBITION	Students may not take reference books out of the library. Learners may not use the swimming pool after 7 p.m.
	POSSIBILITY/ UNCERTAINTY (present or future context)	I’m not sure what to do on Sunday. I may go to the country. He doesn’t know where his wife is. She may be in the garden. You may or you may not be right.
MAY + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE	POSSIBILITY (deduction about the past)	Betty didn’t come to our party yesterday. She may have forgotten about it. She may not have arrived home from work early enough. She may have had something urgent to do. (We don’t know the reason yet.)
MIGHT + BASE	UNCERTAINTY (present or future context)	I might go to the country on Sunday. (But I doubt it) She might be in the garden. but I doubt it)
	RISK	Don’t touch that dog. It might biteyou! Don’t stay too long. You might missthe last train.
	REPROACH	You might ask me when you want to borrow the car! You might tell me when you know you’re going to be late!
MIGHT + HAVE+PAST PARTICIPLE	UNCERTAINTY (past context)	He might have arrived by now, but I doubt it. She might have phoned earlier, but I doubt it.
	POSSIBILITY IN THE PAST WHICH DIDN’T MATERIALIZE	He was lucky to escape unharmed. He might have killed himself. He might have won, but he didn’t play as well as usual.
	REPROACH	You might at least have told me you were leaving! You might have asked him what he wanted for his birthday instead of wasting your money on that awful tie!
EXERCISE
MUST + BASE	OBLIGATION/ NECESSITY (=have to)	Candidates must obtain an average mark of 10/20 to pass. You must write your name clearly. Must I finish this exercise now?
	CERTAINTY/ DEDUCTION (present context)	The phone is ringing. It must beSusan. She usually phones at this time. You must be tired after such a long journey!
	Have to replaces must in other tenses	I will have to go to the doctor’s if I don’t feel better tomorrow. I’ve had to buy a new watch. Somebody stole my other one. He’d (would) have to borrow money from his parents if he didn’t have enough.
MUSTN’T + BASE	PROHIBITION/ INTERDICTION (=not be allowed to/ be forbidden to) (present and future context)	You mustn’t drive on the right-hand side of the road in England. You mustn’t park your car in a no-parking zone.
MUSTN’T + BASE	Not be allowed to replace mustn’t in other tenses	They weren’t allowed to park in front of the theatre. You won’t be allowed to visit him until he’s better.
NEEDN’T + BASE	ABSENCE OF OBLIGATION OR NECESSITY (present or future context)	You needn’t attend this meeting if you don’t want to. We needn’t take our coats. It isn’t cold. Must we finish the work today? Yes, you must OR No, you needn’t. Need we finish the work today? Yes, you must OR No, you needn’t.
NEEDN’T + BASE	Doesn’t/ don’t have to may be used in place of needn’t	You don’t have to attend this meeting if you don’t want to. He doesn’t have to work in the evening if he doesn’t want to.
EXERCISE
MUST+ HAVE+ PAST PARTICIPLE	PROBABILITY / DEDUCTION (past context)	He must have been very tired after his long journey yesterday. They must have finished by now; it’s midnight!
MUST+ HAVE+ PAST PARTICIPLE	Had to + base is used to denote obligation in the past	He must have gone to the doctors. (I’m almost certain he has gone to the doctor’s). He had to go to the doctor’s. (He went to the doctor’s because he was ill- it was necessary). She must have paid a lot of money for this vase. (It looks expensive, so I suppose she paid a lot for it). She had to pay a lot of money for this vase. (It was, in fact, expensive, so she paid a lot for it).
NEEDN’T + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE	ACTIONS PEROFRMED UNNECESSARILY IN THE PAST	The train was late, so he needn’t have run to the station this morning. (But he did). We have got plenty of milk. She needn’t have bought this bottle. (But she did).
	Didn’t need to denote an action that wasn’t performed because it wasn’t necessary.	He had some cash, so he needn’t have gone to the bank. (But he did). He had some cash, so he didn’t need to go to the bank. (And he didn’t go). I have solved the problem, so I needn’t have bothered you. (But I did). I have solved the problem, so I didn’t need to bother you. (And I didn’t).
DARE + BASE	= HAVE THE COURAGE TO It is used mainly in the interrogative and negative forms	I daren’t dive from this board. It is too high! He daren’t disobey his father. Dare we borrow the care without permission? How dare he speak to me like that? No one dare ask what really happened. (The verb is affirmative, but the implication is negative.)

English Within Reach

MODAL VERBS

GAMMAR: MODAL VERBS

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