Modal Verbs
Modal verbs are a type of Auxiliary verbs (also known as Helping verbs). That means they work alongside other verbs to give your sentence a new meaning.
They can change the tense of your main verb, or indicate the possibility, permission or necessity for something to happen.
Common English modal verbs are:
Can
USES -
· To express ability.
· To ask about someone’s ability to do something.
· To offer help or to ask for permission.
· To express the possibility of something happening.
EX -
· I can play violin.
· Can you speak English?
· I can watch your cat while you’re on vacation.
· Can you please pass the salt?
· Buildings can collapse due to structural design errors.
Could
USES -
· To express ability, but when talking about the past.
· To express possibility but for less concrete possibilities and suggestions.
EX -
· I could speak Hindi when I was a kid.
· Could you download the file for me?
· We could go to the park or we could watch a movie.
Will
USES -
· To make predictions or state facts about the future.
· To state facts about future events this way.
EX -
· It will not rain tomorrow.
· The sale will end next week.
· The sun will always rise in the east and set in the west because of our planet's rotation.
· You will never regret that you tried.
Going to
USES -
· To talk about future actions and happenings.
· To make plans or express intentions.
EX -
· I’m going to workout tomorrow.
Would
USES -
· To talk about a habitual action in the past.
· To show a willingness to do something in the future.
· To ask someone to do something (‘can’ is also acceptable for this purpose, however, using ‘would’ sounds more polite).
· To show that something depends on something else.
· To express a desire (to do this we pair it up with the verb – wish).
EX -
· When I was a kid, I would play videogames every day.
· He would like to talk to you.
· Would you please close the door?
· She would help if you asked her.
· He would become an excellent pianist if he practiced more often.
· I wish you would stop tapping your feet.
May
USES -
· To express or ask for permission (It is often considered the most formal and polite way to do so).
· To describe a possibility.
EX -
· May I keep you company while you wait?
· You may pour yourself a cup of hot chocolate.
· We may go to Hawaii next year.
Might
USES -
· To present a possibility (may and might are used interchangeably when presenting possibilities, although may is slightly more formal).
· To suggest something.
EX -
· He might get the job.
· I might as well go home since the concert has been cancelled.
Must
USES -
· It is a way of saying “have to” or “need to,” though it’s more formal than either of those.
· To express a strong suggestion.
· It can also be used as a guess (but only if the guess is correct or if there is evidence to back it up).
EX -
· You must finish your project by Friday.
· You must go to the Palolem Beach while you’re in Goa!
· He must be traumatised because of the accident.
Shall
· Its use is similar to will but it’s rarely used in everyday language because it feels so formal and polite.
EX -
· I shall report this incident to the authorities.
· We shall arrive at 10 in the morning.
Should
USES -
· To talk about necessary actions or things that people ought to do.
· To give or ask for advice or an opinion.
· To describe something necessary but perhaps not wanted.
· To show an expectation.
EX -
· You should do your chores.
· We should file our taxes.
· Should I meet you at the cafe?
· She should see a doctor but she doesn’t want to.
· He should be back by 11 p.m.
· The museum should be empty at this time of night.
Ought
Should or Ought to are used to talk about obligation or compulsion. There is no difference in meaning between should and ought to.
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