Modal Verbs

Here's a list of the modal verbs in English:

can could may might will

would must shall should ought to

Modals are different from normal verbs:

1: They don't use an 's' for the third person singular.

2: They make questions by inversion ('she can go' becomes 'can she go?').
3: They are followed directly by the infinitive of another verb (without 'to').

Probability:

First, they can be used when we want to say how sure we are that something happened / is happening /
will happen. We often call these 'modals of deduction' or 'speculation' or 'certainty' or 'probability'.

For example:

 It's snowing, so it must be very cold outside.

 I don't know where John is. He could have missed the train.

 This bill can't be right. £200 for two cups of coffee!

Modal Verbs of Probability

We can use these modal verbs (also called modals of deduction, speculation or certainty) when we want
to make a guess about something. We choose the verb depending on how sure we are.

1: Talking about the present:

must / might / could / may / can't + infinitive

For example:

I am waiting for Julie with another friend, David.

I ask: 'Where is Julie?'
David guesses:

 She must be on the bus. (I'm fairly sure this is a good guess)

 She might come soon. (maybe)

 She could be lost. (maybe)

 She may be in the wrong room. (maybe)

  She can't be at home. (I'm fairly sure this isn't true)

Notice that the opposite of 'must' is 'can't in this case.

Will / won't

We use will and won't when we are very sure:

 She'll be at work now.

Should / shouldn't

Should and shouldn't are used to make an assumption about what is probably true, if everything is as we

expect:

 They should be there by now.

 It shouldn't take long to drive here.

This use of should isn't usually used for negative events. Instead, it's a better idea to use will:

 The underground will be very busy now (not: 'should be').

Can

Can is used for something that is generally possible, something we know sometimes happens:

 Prices can be high in London.

Can is not used to talk about specific possibilities:

 He could be on the bus (not: 'can be').

Ability

We use 'can' and 'could' to talk about a skill or ability.

For example:

 She can speak six languages.

 My grandfather could play golf very well.

 I can't drive.

Modal Verbs of Ability

When we talk about ability, we mean two things.

First, we mean general ability. This is something that once you have learned you can do any time you
want, like being able to read or swim or speak a language, for example.
The other kind of ability is specific ability. This mean something that you can or can't do in one
particular situation. For example, being able to lift something heavy, or find somewhere you are looking
for.

Present:

can / can't (for both general and specific ability)

 I can play the piano.

 She can speak English.

 He can't drive – he's too tired.

 We can't come now.

Past:

could / couldn't (for general ability)

 I could read when I was four.

 She could speak French when she was a child, but now she has forgotten it.

 He couldn't dance at all until he took lessons.

 My grandfather couldn't swim.

was able to / couldn't (for specific ability)

 When the computer crashed yesterday, I was able to fix it.(not 'I could fix it')

 She was able to pass the exam, even though she hadn't studied much.(not 'she could pass')

 He called us because he couldn't find the house.

 I couldn't open the window.

could + have + past participle (an ability someone had in the past, but didn't use)

 I could have played the piano well but I didn't practise enough.

 We could have come earlier.

 She could have studied law, but she preferred to become a secretary.

Future:

will / won't be able to (general ability)

 At the end of the course, you will be able to make your own website.

 He won't be able to speak Japanese in a week! It will take months.

can / can't (specific ability)

  I can help you tomorrow

 I can't come to the party

Obligation and Advice

We can use verbs such as 'must' or 'should' to say when something is necessary or unnecessary, or to
give advice.

For example:

 Children must do their homework.

 We have to wear a uniform at work.

 You should stop smoking.

Modal Verbs of Obligation

We can use have to + infinitive, must + infinitive and should + infinitive to express obligation

(something you have to do).

Present Positive Negative

have to / strong obligation (possibly from no obligation

don't have to outside)
 I don't have to work on
 Children have to go to school. Sundays.

(sometimes 'have got to')

 You don't have to eat anything

you don't like.

must / mustn't strong obligation (possibly based on negative obligation

the speaker's opinion)
 You mustn't smoke here.
 I must study today.

should / shouldn't mild obligation or advice mild negative obligation or advice

 You should save some money.  You shouldn't smoke so much.

Be careful about the difference between mustn't and don't have to!

Mustn't means it's not allowed, or it's a bad idea:
  You mustn't eat so much chocolate, you'll be sick

Don't have to means you don't need to do something, but it's fine if you want to do it:

 I don't have to get up early at the weekend(of course, if I want to get up early, that's fine, but I
can stay in bed if I want).

Past Positive Negative

had to / didn't obligation in the past no obligation in the past

have to
 I had to wear a school uniform  We didn't have to go to school
when I was a child. on Saturdays.

must* changes to 'had to' -

should have + pp / a past action which didn't happen: the

a past action which didn't happen: the
shouldn't have + advice / regret is too late
advice / regret is too late
pp
 You should have gone to bed
 You shouldn't have taken that
earlier, now you have missed
job., it was a bad idea.
the train.

* Remember 'must have done' is a modal verb of deduction or speculation, not obligation in the past.
For example: Julie must have left. Her coat's not here. See modals of probabilty for more information.

Permission

We can use verbs such as 'can', 'could' and 'may' to ask for and give permission. We also use modal
verbs to say something is not allowed.

For example:

 Could I leave early today, please?

 You may not use the car tonight.

 Can we swim in the lake?

Habits

We can use 'will' and 'would' to talk about habits or things we usually do, or did in the past.

For example:
  When I lived in Italy, we would often eat in the restaurant next to my flat.

 John will always be late!

Past modals

The past modals 'could have + past participle', 'should have + past participle' and 'would have + past
participle' can be confusing.

Could have, should have, would have

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

Could have + past participle

1: Could have + past participle means that something was possible in the past, or you had the ability to
do something in the past, but that you didn't do it. (See also modals of ability.)

 I could have stayed up late, but I decided to go to bed early.

 They could have won the race, but they didn't try hard enough.

 Julie could have bought the book, but she borrowed it from the library instead.

 He could have studied harder, but he was too lazy and that's why he failed the exam.

Couldn't have + past participle means that something wasn't possible in the past, even if you had
wanted to do it.

 I couldn't have arrived any earlier. There was a terrible traffic jam (= it was impossible for me to
have arrived any earlier).

 He couldn't have passed the exam, even if he had studied harder. It's a really, really difficult
exam.

2: We use could have + past participle when we want to make a guess about something that happened
in the past. (See also modals of probability.) In this case, we don't know if what we're saying is true or
not true. We're just talking about our opinion of what maybe happened.

Why is John late?

 He could have got stuck in traffic.

 He could have forgotten that we were meeting today.

 He could have overslept.

We can also choose to use might have + past participle to mean the same thing:

 He might have got stuck in traffic.

  He might have forgotten that we were meeting today.

 He might have overslept.

Should have + past participle

1: Should have + past participle can mean something that would have been a good idea, but that you
didn't do it. It's like giving advice about the past when you say it to someone else, or regretting what you
did or didn't do when you're talking about yourself.

Shouldn't have + past participle means that something wasn't a good idea, but you did it anyway.

 I should have studied harder! (= I didn't study very hard and so I failed the exam. I'm sorry about
this now.)

 I should have gone to bed early (= I didn't go to bed early and now I'm tired).

 I shouldn't have eaten so much cake! (= I did eat a lot of cake and now I don't feel good.)

 You should have called me when you arrived (= you didn't call me and I was worried. I wish that
you had called me).

 John should have left early, then he wouldn't have missed the plane (= but he didn't leave early
and so he did miss the plane).

2: We can also use should have + past participle to talk about something that, if everything is normal
and okay, we think has already happened. But we're not certain that everything is fine, so we use
'should have' and not the present perfect or past simple. It's often used with 'by now'.

 His plane should have arrived by now (= if everything is fine, the plane has arrived).

 John should have finished work by now (= if everything is normal, John has finished work).

We can also use this to talk about something that would have happened if everything was fine, but
hasn't happened.

 Lucy should have arrived by now, but she hasn't.

Would have + past participle

1: 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).

2: 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 gone to the party, but I was really busy.
(= I wanted to go to the party, but I didn't because I was busy. If I hadn't been so busy, I would
have gone to the party.)

 I would have called you, but I didn't know your number.

(= I wanted to call you but I didn't know your number, so I didn't call you.)

 A: Nobody volunteered to help us with the fair

B: I would have helped you. I didn't know you needed help.
(= If I had known that you needed help, I would have helped you.)