English Grammar - Modal Verbs

 A. Modals

Modals are special verbs that are used with the main verb to make the sentence more meaningful.

Modals are used to:

• indicate the possibility or necessity of an event

• make requests, offers or suggestions

• to make what you are saying more polite, to seek permission

• express ability or certainty

• express moral obligation or duty

• express willingness, promise or intention

Common Modal Verbs - (Easy to remember- 2 C, 3M, 2 W, 2S, 1O)

Can / Ought to /Could / Shall / May /Should /Might / Will /Must/ Would

Need and dare can sometimes be used as modal verbs.

Examples

1. May I borrow your notebook? (seeking permission)

2. I could ride a horse when I was five years old. (express ability)

3. Could you hold this for a while? (polite request)

4. It may rain today. (express possibility)

5. You must take better care of your health. (express necessity)

6. We ought to respect our parents. (moral obligation)

7. Shall I bring a glass of water for you? (request)

8. I will write to you as soon as I reach Ambala. (promise)

9. How dare you slap me? (negative, interrogative sense)

10. We should take care of our pets. (duty)

11. I can speak German. (express ability)

Remember:

• Modal verbs do not take ‘-s’ in the third person singular.

Example: He can speaks French. (not correct)

• They have no –ing and –ed form.

Example: She musted have danced for very long. (not correct)

• Many modal verbs cannot be used in the past tense or the future tense.

He will can go with us to the market. (not correct)

• Modals are not used alone. They are always used with the main verb that follows

them.

• We use ‘not’ after modals to make them negative.

Examples: should not (shouldn’t), will not (won’t), cannot (can’t), etc.

Exercise 1

Fill in the blanks using the correct word/s from the bracket.

1. ______ I make some coffee for you? (will/shall)

2. Mother is sleeping. I ______ disturb her. (must not/must)

3. ________ you like some tea? (could/would)

4. ______ you please shut the door? (could/should)

5. _____ I borrow your notebook? (may/might)

Exercise 2

Select the correct modal from the box and fill in the blanks.

can, could, can’t, will, would, shouldn’t, dare, ought to, must, may

1. I _______ like to meet the General Manager.

2. You scratch my back, and I ____scratch yours.

3. Beggars _______ be choosers.

4. It’s getting late. I ______ go now.

5. You ________ love your neighbours.

6. How _______ you open my letter?

7. I felt Rani _____ have done much better in the test.

8. I ______ run faster than you.

9. You _______ make fun of others.

10. ______ God be with you and bless you.

B. Present Perfect Continuous Tense and Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Present Perfect Continuous Tense

The present perfect continuous tense is used for an action

• that began in the past and is still continuing

• that has already taken place but whose effect is still there

It is written as: has/have + been + (verb + -ing)

The negative is formed by placing ‘not’ after has/have.

Examples

1. They have been working since 7 a.m.

2. He is dirty because he has been playing in the garden.

3. Amit has not been fighting.

Exercise 1

Fill in the blanks with the present perfect continuous tense of the verbs in the bracket.

1. Arti ________________ for five hours. (sleep)

2. He _____________ in this town for the last ten years. (live)

3. Mrs. Mehra _______________ to the students about the importance of time

management. (speak)

4. I __________________ for the last one hour but the bus has not come. (wait)

5. Vikram _______________ the Ramayana aloud to his ailing grandmother. (read)

Past Perfect Continuous Tense

The past perfect continuous tense is used for an action

• that began before a point in the past and continued up to that time.

It is written as: had been + (verb + -ing)

The negative is formed by placing ‘not’ after had.

Examples

1. They had been working since 7 a.m.

2. Amit had not been fighting.

Exercise 2

Fill in the blanks with the past perfect continuous tense of the verbs in the box.

get, teach, watch, eat, wait

1. We ______________ television when the lights went off.

2. Until last year Radha _____________ more than 90 per cent marks in Maths.

3. Mr. Sharma _____________chocolates every day till the doctor told him to stop.

4. Anushka_____________ for her father to come back.

5. Mr. Anant Singh _________________ for fifteen years when he decided to start a

business.

Exercise 3

Rewrite the following sentences after changing the tenses as directed.

1. We waited for Rajesh for two hours. (to present perfect continuous)

2. Anjali is washing the dishes. (to past perfect continuous)

3. Shashi is applying for different jobs. (to present perfect continuous)

4. The art gallery had exhibited his paintings. (to present perfect continuous)

5. I have been cleaning the house all day. (to past perfect continuous)

C. Requests, Orders and Instructions

Requests

When you make a request:

• you ask someone for something OR

• ask them to do something

Examples

1. Can I have my camera back?

2. Will you come with me to the market?

To make your request more effective, use ‘can’t’ or ‘couldn’t’ instead of ‘can’ or ‘could’.

Example

Can’t we have some more ketchup?

Orders

When you give an order:

• you tell someone to do something

You give orders if you have authority over that person or know that person well.

Example

1. Be quiet!

Giving orders can sound rude especially if those orders are being given to someone

older than you. You can use ‘please’ to make the order more polite.

2. Please don’t shout.

Instructions

When you give instructions:

• you tell someone how to do something.

• you tell someone what to do in a particular situation.

Example

1) Come straight down M.G. Road, turn left from the petrol pump and then take the

second turn right.

2) Take a cucumber, peel it, cut it lengthwise into four long pieces, and arrange the pieces

on a plate.

Changing an order into a request

Earlier in the lesson you studied modals. An order can be changed into a request by using

modals like ‘can’, ‘could’, ‘will’ or ‘would’. ‘Please’ or introductory phrases like ‘I wonder’

or ‘Could you possibly’ can be added to make

the request more polite.

Examples

1. Wait here until the doctor arrives.

Could you wait here until the doctor arrives?

2. Be quiet!

Will you be quiet, please?

Exercise 1

Change the following orders into polite requests. Use the correct punctuation mark at the

end of each request.

1. Buy me a wristwatch!

Could_____________________

2. Pass me the salt!

Can_________________________

3. Shut the door!

Will_____________________

4. Get a glass of water!

Can __________________

5. Clean the table.

Could you possibly______________

Exercise 2

Arun’s mother went to the market. Before leaving, she gave him instructions to prepare a

glass of lemonade (nimboo paani/shikanji).

Select appropriate words from the box and fill in the blanks.

remove, serve, add, mix, stir, take, cut, squeeze, put

1. ___________ a glass of water and _______ two tablespoons of sugar into it.

2. ___________ it well with a spoon till the sugar dissolves.

3. _________ a lemon into half.

4. Carefully ___________ the seeds from one half.

5. ____________ the lemon to get the juice and add it to the water.

6. __________ a pinch of salt.

7. __________ it well again.

8. _______ it chilled (with ice in it).

Exercise 3

Make a request using the words in the brackets.

1. Manisha has left the window open. (you, shut)

2. Mummy, I want to bake a cake. (you, help)

3. I don’t want to go to the party alone. (Could you possibly, come)

4. I have wanted to read this book for a very long time. (I wonder if, lend)

5. I want to drink lemonade. (you, make)