MODAL VERBS

English – I : Unit - III

 MODAL VERBS
• VERB – Two types
1. MAIN VERBS or ROOT VERBS
– MEANINGFUL UNIT
- OPEN SET

1. AUXILIARY VERBS
- MEANINGLESS UNIT
- CLOSED SET
1. AUXILIARY VERBS or HELPING VERBS
TWO TYPES
PRIMARY AUXILIARY
SECONDARY AUXILIARY

2. SECONDARY AUXILIARIES
MODAL VERBS
1. AUXILIARY VERBS or HELPING VERBS
1. PRIMARY AUXILIARIES – 3 TYPES
1. ‘BE’ FORM – AM / IS – SINGULAR PRESENT / was ARE –
PLURAL PRESENT / were

2. ‘DO’ FORM – Do & Does in Present ; ‘Did’ in Past tense

3. Perfect Tense – Have & has in Present ; ‘had’ in Past

1. SECONDARY AUXILIARIES or
MODALS
1. Can – Could
2. Will – Would
3. Shall – Should
4. May – Might
5. must
6. Ought to (have to)
7. Need to
8. Dare to
9. Used to
Many modal verbs cannot be used in the
past tenses or the future tenses.

EXAMPLES:

He will can go with us. WRONG

She must studied very hard. WRONG

Modal Verbs and their substitutes

• Many modal verbs cannot be used in all of the English

tenses. That's why we need to know their meaning
and the substitute for these modal verbs.
will- will not - won’t

We use this modal to speak about future actions

that we are sure/ convinced about.
will- will not(=won’t)
Today is Tuesday. Tomorrow will be
Wednesday.
= I know it because this is a known fact.

We will not be in the office

tomorrow.
= I know it because he is going on vacation.
Can – Could –Be able to

We use these modals to express:

• General ability/ disability
• possibility / impossibility
• opportunity
• Permission
• request
Can
I can walk.
= I have the general ability to do
the action of walking.

I can’t hear you, it is too noisy.

=I don’t have the ability to hear what you are saying
because of the noise.
Can Could
In the past, can changes to could.

He could speak only Hebrew when

he was a kid. He couldn’t speak to
his neighbor who speaks only English.
(General ability)

Practice time-can/could
may
=future possibility/get permission
may
• I may choose to wear the red dress to the party.
=I have two dresses. There is a chance that I will choose to
wear the red dress and not the blue one.

• Today, he may come on time.

=Although usually he comes late,
There is a possibility that today he will come on time.
may

• May I come to visit you at 5 o’clock?

=I want to come to you but I’m not sure that you want me to
come/that you will be at home/that you will let me enter .

• You may take only one candy.

=Although there are more candies, I permit you to take only
one of them!
might
=possibility
might
• We may come on time, but if you miss the bus, we
might be late.
=I plan to come on time and this is why I I want to catch the
7:15 bus.
If I catch the 7:30 bus, I can come on time or not, I’m not
sure.

• If you advertise on the Internet you might get a lot of

spam to your e-mail box.
=Although you don’t want to get spam, there’s a risk that you
will get it.
should
= advice or a strong suggestion.
• If you want to be a champion you should practice every
day.
=You don’t have to practice but then, you will
not get better.

• When you make a cheese cake, you should first check

that you have cheese.
-or else, it will not be a cheese cake
must - mustn’t
Must – very strong advice/ obligation
Mustn't – things you're not allowed to do.‫אסור‬
• She is sick. She has high fever. She must take a pill.
= very strong advice/ obligation

• You mustn’t ride your bike without a helmet!

= you're not allowed to do.
Semi modals
have to - has to
had to – will have to
= it is necessary
=shows obligation and giving advice.

have to/has to –in the present/near future

had to –in the past
will have to –in the future
• I have to clean my room.
(My mother forces me to do it.)
• She has to finish the test before the bell rings.
(After the bell rings, you can’t go on answering the
questions.)
• Gail Devers had to take radiation therapy for her
decease.
(…to get well.)
• At the end of the 8th grade we will have to leave our
school.
(…and go to high school.)
 don’t have to
doesn’t have to

Don't have to / Doesn't have to

= it isn't necessary

Practice time-have/has to
Ought to – be supposed to – be
allowed to
• Ought to =‫חייב‬
• be supposed to= we expect him/her to
• be allowed to = permission someone will let/permit
him do it.
• That’s a great movie. You ought to see it! (or You must see it.)
• The teacher is supposed to base the grades on the tests and
assignments.
• On Friday, the students in our school don’t have to wear the school
uniform. They are allowed to wear any color they want. (They are
permitted to / They can even wear a pink shirt with yellow stripes.)
(be) able to
be able to show an ability.
-I don’t know when I will be ready. I will be able to
give you an answer later.
-Is he able to do it? Yes, he knows how to do it and
has time to do it.
(=Can he do it?)
negative contractions
(short form)

http://www.english-zone.com/spelling/cont-02.html
Modal Verbs and their substitutes

• Many modal verbs cannot be used in all of the English

tenses. That's why we need to know their meaning
and the substitute for these modal verbs.
Practice time
• Exercise on modal verbs and their substitutes

• Exercise - modal verb or substitute

• Exercise on 'must not' and 'need not' (for soccer fans)

• http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-1/exercise-
english-476.php

• http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-1/exercise-
english-443.php

• http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/auxiliary-verbs/exercises

• http://www.agendaweb.org/verb/modals.html
 Dr. S. Beryl Darling Violet
Assistant Professor
PG & Research Department of
English
Government Arts
College(Autonomous)
Coimbatore - 18
MODALS
 Auxiliary Verbs

Primary verbs Modal verbs

Forms Present Past Can, could Have to

“Be” Forms am, is, are was, were, Must, Ought to

be May,might

“Do” Forms do , does did Shall, should Will, would

“Have” have, has had Had better Have got to

Forms
 Basic Rules of Modal Verbs

● Modal verbs should be used as it is , without changing to present, past

and future tenses

Eg. He can speak German

● Use the base verb after modal - don’t use “to”

Eg. He might join us

● Can use “not” to make modal verbs negative in simple present tense
and simple past tense

Eg.He should not be late / They might not come to the party
 Functions of Modal Auxiliaries

Can Ability, opportunity, to request, offer permission,

possibility, impossibility

Could Possibility, past ability, suggestions, requests,

conditionals

Have to Certainty, necessity, obligation

Must Certainty (compulsion), strong recommendation

May Possibility,give or request permission

Might Possibility in past, conditionals, suggestions

Ought to Advise (duty), make recommendation, probability

Shall Future action, suggestion, promises or voluntary

actions

Should Obligation (duty), give advice, make

recommendation, expectation

Will Promises or voluntary actions in future

Would Polite request, past habitual action, past tense of

will, create conditional verb forms

Had better Make recommendations, express desperate hope,

warn people

Have got to Necessity and obligation

 Can

● I can sing well. (ability)

● We can visit the temple when we are in Madurai. (opportunity)
● Any child can grow up to be a President. (possibility)
● Can I borrow your pen? (permission)
● Can you please post this letter for me? (request)
● I cannot attend the class today. (impossibility)
Could

● Heavy rains could cause a landslide in the hill stations. (Possibility)

● Nina could swim when she was 5 years old. (Past ability)
● You could watch a movie or go out for dinner. (Suggestion)
● Could you please tell me where the bank is ? (Request)
● We could go for a movie if I didn’t have to prepare for the test this
weekend. (Conditional )
Have to

● This answer has to be correct for that sum. (Certainty)

● Plants have to be watered daily to prevent from frying in the summer. (
Necessity)
● I have to be in the office at 10 a.m. (Obligation/duty)
Must

● This must be the right medicine for Covid19. ( Certainty/compulsion)

● Students must pass the NEET examination to join MBBS course.
(Necessity)
● You must consult the doctor for your breathlessness. (Strong
recommendation)

The usage of Must not is to prohibit or stop actions.

● Children must not play with the matchbox.

May

● It may rain today. (Possibility)

● May I borrow your pen please? (Request permission)
● You may all log out of teams at 9.50.a.m. (Give permission)
Might

● It might have rained heavily last night. (Possibility in past)

● If I didn’t have to work,I might join you for the movie. (Conditionals)
● You might visit the botanical gardens during your visit to Ooty.
(Suggestion)
Ought to

● We ought to plant trees. (Advice/duty)

● Doctors ought to be paid well for their hard work. (Recommendation)
● Covid 19 vaccine ought to come within 18 months. (probability)

Ought not is used to advise against doing something

● Old people and children ought not to expose themselves to virus.

Shall

● I’m afraid Mr. Smith shall become our new director. (Future)
● Shall we go for a picnic? (Suggestion)
● I shall never forget your help? (Promise)
● Shall I get you a cup of coffee? (Voluntary action)
Should

● I should be in the office by 7 a.m tomorrow. (Obligation)

● You should concentrate more on your studies that playing. (Advice)
● When you go to Agra, you should visit the Taj Mahal.
(Recommendation)
● By now, they should be already in the theatre. (Expectation)
Will

● I will take this duty. (Promise)

● I think that it will rain this evening. (Prediction of future)
Would

● Would you accompany me to the airport? (Polite request)

● Sreeja would dance well when she was a kid. (Past habitual action)
● Even as a poor boy, he knew that he would succeed in life. (Past tense
of will)
● If I were a doctor, I would be in the Covid Care Centre helping the sick.
(Conditional)
Had better

● You had better take your umbrella with you today. (Recommendation)
● The class had better got cancelled. (Desperate hope)
● You had better be careful with your diet. (Warning)
Have got to

● Drivers have got to get a license to drive. (Necessity)

● I have got to be at work by 8.30 a.m. tomorrow. (Obligation)
Certainty Have to, must

Possibility Could,can, may, might

Necessity Must, have to, have got to

Request/Permission Can, might, could, may

Conditional Could, might, would

Obligation Have to, should, have got to

Suggestion Could, might, shall

Recommendation Must,ought to, should, had better

Advice Ought to,ought not

Probability Ought to
 Dr. S. Beryl Darling Violet
Assistant Professor
PG & Research Department of English
Government Arts College (Autonomous)
Coimbatore -18
CONJUNCTIONS
 Definition of a conjunction
• A conjunction is a word that joins two nouns,
phrases, clauses and sentences.
• Two sentences are connected together with
each other with a connecting word without
changing any of the words in the original
sentences.
 Types of conjunctions
• Coordinating Conjunctions:
• Connect two verbs, two nouns or two adjectives
together
• Subordinating Conjunctions:
• Connects two clauses together(dependent and an
independent clause)
• Correlative Conjunctions:
• Used in pairs to join parts of a sentence of equal
importance
 Coordinating conjunctions

for
• Join words, phrases,
or clauses of equal
and importance and
nor
structure
but • I like tea and coffee
or • Ram likes tea, but
Anthony likes coffee
yet

so
 Rules in using Coordinating conjunctions

• While joining two words or phrases comma is

not required. (e.g) She likes to eat mangoes
and apples.
• While joining items in a sentence comma is
required. (e.g) He bought apples, oranges,
mangoes and grapes from the store.
• Joining two independent clauses comma is
required. (e.g) He doesn’t like to eat
vegetables, but loves to eat meat.
 Subordinating Conjunction
• Main or Independent Subordinate or
clause Dependent clause

We went on a picnic although it was raining

Subordinating Conjunction
 Subordinating Conjunctions
after although As • A subordinate clause
because before How
can come either at the
beginning or can after
If Once Since the main clause
than that Though • e.g. Although it was
raining, we went on a
till Until When picnic.
where whether While • We went on a picnic
although it was raining
 Correlative Conjunctions
• Both the teacher and the
Both . . . And student should be
interested in the subject.
• Ram will play either football
Either . . . Or or basket ball
• Just as there are fashion
trends, so are there food
Just as . . . So trends.
• Neither Geetha nor Priya
Neither . . . Nor wants to join the NCC
• He excelled not only in
sports but also in public
Not only . . . But also speaking
 Forms of Conjunctions
• Single compound Correlative

• and, but, in order that so … that

• Because as long as neither . . . nor
• Although provided that both . . .and
• Coordinating conjunctions – between the words or
clauses they join
• Subordinating conjunctions-beginning or between the
main clause and the subordinate clause
 Dr. S Beryl Darling Violet
Assistant Professor
PG & Research Department of English
Government Arts College (Autonomous)
Coimbatore -18
28.11.2020
Direct/Indirect Speech
 Function

2 Methods of Reporting-speaker speaks

Direct –quoting within the

Quotation marks “ ” the speaker’s actual words

Indirect – reporting what the speaker spoke

without quoting exact words of the speaker
Construction of Direct/Indirect Speech
PRINCIPAL CLAUSE Joined by SUBORDINATE
CLAUSE
SPEECH (Change of Speech)

(Reporting (Actual Speech)

Portion) (within inverted
(1) Direct (comma) commas)
He said to me “I am going.”

(Reporting (Reported
(2) Indirect Portion) Speech)
that
He said to me He was going
 Form
DIRECT INDIRECT
Quotation Marks are used to indicate The comma after the verb “said”-
the quotation marks are removed
Words said by the speaker

The subordinating conjunction

“that” is introduced

The pronoun ‘I ‘ is changed to ‘he’

The tense changes- ‘am’ to ‘was’ to

correspond to the tense of reporting
verb.
 Four Important Rules
• Punctuation • Rinku said to me, “I want your
• Pronouns English note book today.”
• Tenses
• Adverbs/Demonstrative - • Rinku said to me that she
• wanted my English book that
Adjectives/pronouns day
• (all the rules are applied)
• Rinku says, “ I want your
English note book today.”

• Rinku says that she wants my

English book that day
• (Except for tense all the rules
change)
 Tense change
DIRECT INDIRECT
Simple Past- was, were- sang, ate
Simple Present –am, is are –sing, eat He wrote a letter
He writes a letter
Past Continuous- was, were - singing
Present continuous -is, are, am- singing He was writing a letter
He is writing a letter
Past Perfect -had
Present Perfect –has/have He had written a letter
He has written a letter
Past Perfect- had been
Simple Past- was, were- sang, ate He has written a letter-had sung/eaten
He wrote a letter
Past continuous -was/were-singing
He was writing a letter Past Perfect Continuous-had been singing
He had been writing as letter
 Change of verbs in tenses
Direct Indirect
Am was
Is was
Are were
Was Had been
Were Had been
Has had
Have had
Will would
Shall could
Can might
May Had to
Must/need
 Change in Pronouns
I/you (subject)
He/she
We/you They

Me/you (object) Him/her

Us/you Them

My/your (Possessive adjective) His/her

Our/your Their

Ours/yours Theirs

Mine/yours (Possessive pronoun)

His/hers
 Change in adverbs
Thus So

Here There

Now Then
Ago Before
Today/Tonight That day/That night

Tomorrow
Next day
Yesterday Previous Day

This These

These Those
 Rules for Declarative Sentence
• Declarative - that
• (e,g) Statement
• Raju said, “I learned swimming last year.”
• Raju said that he had learnt swimming the
previous year.
 Rules for changing Exclamatory
sentence
• Exclamatory -that
• He said, “ Alas! the old man is dead.”
• He exclaimed sadly that the old man was
dead.
 Rules for changing Imperative
sentences
• Imperative – to/not to
• The teacher said, “Read your text quietly.”
• The teacher said to read their text quietly.
• The mother said, “Don’t play in the rain.”
• The mother said not to play in the rain.
• Reporting verbs like –asked, ordered,
commanded. Requested, advised, implored,
warned, etc. are used.
 Rules for changing Interrogative
sentence
• Interrogative: (i) WH questions- how
• (ii) Yes/No Questions – Whether or if
• (e.g)
• Rani said to Kamala , “How is your pet dog now?”
• Rani asked Kamala how was her pet dog then.
• Raju said to Kamala, “Will you buy me sandwich?”
• Raju said to Kamala whether she would buy him a
sandwich.