NDWU 2082 / ENGLISH III – GRAMMAR NOTES

MODAL VERBS
Modal verbs are used to express functions such as:

 Permission.
 Ability.
 Obligation.
 Prohibition.
 Lack of necessity.
 Advice.
 Possibility.
 Probability.

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Modal verbs and their meaning

What are modal verbs?

Modals (also called modal verbs, modal auxiliary verbs, modal auxiliaries) are special
verbs which behave irregularly in English. They are different from normal verbs like "work,
play, visit..." They give additional information about the function of the main verb that
follows it. They have a great variety of communicative functions.

Here are some characteristics of modal verbs:

 They never change their form. You can't add "s", "ed", "ing"...
 They are always followed by an infinitive without "to" (e.i. the bare infinitive.)
 They are used to indicate modality allow speakers to express certainty, possibility,
willingness, obligation, necessity, ability

List of modal verbs

Here is a list of modal verbs:

can, could, may, might, will, would, shall, should, must

The verbs or expressions dare, ought to, had better, and need not behave like modal
auxiliaries to a large extent and may be added to the above list
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Use of modal verbs:

Modal verbs are used to express functions such as:

1. Permission
2. Ability
3. Obligation
4. Prohibition
5. Lack of necessity
6. Advice
7. possibility
8. probability

Examples of modal verbs

Here is a list of modals with examples:

MODAL VERB EXPRESSING EXAMPLE

Strong obligation You must stop when the traffic lights turn
red.

must
logical conclusion / Certainty He must be very tired. He's been working
all day long.

prohibition You must not smoke in the hospital.

must not

ability I can swim.

permission Can I use your phone please?

can

possibility Smoking can cause cancer.

ability in the past When I was younger I could run fast.

polite permission Excuse me, could I just say something?

could

possibility It could rain tomorrow!

permission May I use your phone please?

may
possibility, probability It may rain tomorrow!

polite permission Might I suggest an idea?

might
possibility, probability I might go on holiday to Australia next
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year.

lack of necessity/absence of I need not buy tomatoes. There are plenty

need not obligation of tomatoes in the fridge.

50 % obligation I should / ought to see a doctor. I have a

terrible headache.

should/ought advice You should / ought to revise your lessons

to
logical conclusion He should / ought to be very tired. He's
been working all day long.

advice You 'd better revise your lessons

had better

Remember

Modal verbs are followed by an infinitive without "to", also called the bare infinitive.

Examples:

 You must stop when the traffic lights turn red.

 You should see to the doctor.
 There are a lot of tomatoes in the fridge. You need not buy any.
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past.php

Modals in the Present and Past

Modals in the present and past

Generally speaking modals in the past have the following form:

 modal + have + past participle

Example:

 Present:
You should see a doctor.
 Past:
You should have seen a doctor

Except for modals that express obligation,ability and lack of necessity:

 Obligation:
Present = I must / have to work hard. -- Past = I had to work hard.
 Ability:
Present = I can run fast. -- Past = I could run fast when I was young.
 Lack of necessity:
Present = You don't have to / needn't take your umbrella. -- Past = You didn't have
to / didn't need to take your umbrella.

MODALS IN THE PRESENT MODALS IN THE PAST

You must / have to stop when the

Obligation You had to stop.
traffic lights are red.

Advice You should see a doctor. You should have seen a doctor

You mustn't have

Prohibition You mustn't smoke here.
smoked there.

Ability I can run fast. I could run fast. now I am old.

He must have been rich. He had

He has a Rolls Royce. He must be very
a big house and an expensive
rich.
Certainty car.
He can't be American. His English is
He can't have written that
terrible.
poem. He was illiterate.
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She could drive her father's car

Permission Can I go out?
when she was only 15.

I guess it may / can / could /

It may / can / could / might rain. It's
Possibility might have been Lacy on the
cloudy.
phone.

You don't have to / needn't buy any

Lack of You didn't have to / didn't
tomatoes. There are plenty in the
necessity need to buy tomatoes.
fridge.
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to.php

Must and Have to

What's the difference between must and have to?

Must and have to, are modal verbs in English. This page will guide you to the proper use
of these modals.

Must

1. We use must to make a logical deduction based on evidence. It indicates that the
speaker is certain about something:

Examples:

 It has rained all day, it must be very wet outside.

 The weather is fantastic in California. It must a lot fun to live there.

2. Must is also used to express a strong obligation.

Examples:

 Students must arrive in class on time.

 You must stop when the traffic lights are red.
 I must go to bed.

Have to

Like must, have to is used to express strong obligation, but when we use have to there is
usually a sense of external obligation. Some external circumstance makes the obligation
necessary.

Examples:

 I have to send an urgent email.

 I have to take this book back to the library.
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Shall and Will

What is the difference between shall and will?

Shall is not used often in modern English especially in American English. In

fact, shall and will have the same meaning and are used to refer to the simple future.
They are use as follows:

 will is used with all persons

I, you, he, she, it, we, they will go there

 shall is used with the first person singular and plural

I, we shall go

 The short form of will and shall is 'll

I, you, he, she, it, we, they will or 'll call you

I, we shall or 'll call you

 In the negative, the short forms of will not and shall

not are won't and shan't respectively

I, you, he, she, it, we, they won't give up

I, we shan't give up

Uses of shall

It should be noted that shall is often used to make suggestions, offers or ask for advice. It
is used in questions as follows:
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 Shall we stay or go out?

 Shall we dance?
 Shall I get his phone number if I meet him?
 What shall I do to get rid of my acne?

As said above shall is used with first person singular and plural (I and we.) But there is a
very special use of shall with other persons to make a promise, command or threat as
noted below:

 You shall not get in! (Command)

 You shall pay for it. (Threat)
 You shall get your money back soon. (Promise)

In American English shall is mainly used in formal or legal documents:

 You shall abide by the law.

 There shall be no trespassing on this property.
 Students shall not enter this room.
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GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES

 A GERUND is a noun made from a verb by adding "-ing."

 INFINITIVES are the "to" form of the verb.

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GERUND VS. INFINITIVE

1. A gerund is a noun made from a verb by adding "-ing."
2. Infinitives are the "to" form of the verb.
3. It can be tricky to remember which verbs are followed by the infinitive (the to form)
of the verb and which are followed by the gerund (the ing form) of the verb.
4. Try to remember that:
a. Gerunds are often used when actions are real, fixed, or completed.
"I enjoy cooking."
b. Infinitives are often used when actions are unreal, abstract, or future:
"He wants to swim."
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USING GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES

Gerunds and infinitives are verb forms that can take the place of a noun in a sentence. The
following guidelines and lists will help you figure out whether a gerund or infinitive is needed.

Following a verb (gerund or infinitive)

Both gerunds and infinitives can replace a noun as the object of a verb. Whether you use a
gerund or an infinitive depends on the main verb in the sentence. Consult the lists below to
find out which form to use following which verbs.

I expect to have the report done by Friday. [INFINITIVE]

I anticipate having the report done by Friday. [GERUND]

Some common verbs followed by a gerund (note that

phrasal verbs, marked here with *, always fall into this
category):
acknowledge She acknowledged receiving assistance.

* accuse of He was accused of smuggling contraband goods.

admit They admitted falsifying the data.

advise The author advises undertaking further study.

anticipate He anticipates having trouble with his

supervisor.

appreciate I appreciated having a chance to read your

draft.

avoid He avoided answering my question.

complete I finally completed writing my thesis.

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consider They will consider granting you money.

defer She deferred writing her report.

delay We delayed reporting the results until we were

sure.

deny They denied copying the information.

discuss They discussed running the experiments again.

entail This review procedure entails repeating the

test.

* look after He will look after mailing the tickets.

* insist on He insisted on proofreading the article again.

involve This procedure involves testing each sample

twice.

justify My results justify taking drastic action.

mention The author mentions seeing this event.

* plan on They had planned on attending the conference.

postpone The committee has postponed writing the

report.

recall I cannot recall getting those results before.

resent He resented spending so much time on the

project.

recommend She recommends reading Marx.

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resist The writer resists giving any easy answers.

risk She risks losing her viewing time.

sanction They will not sanction copying without

permission.

suggest I suggest repeating the experiment.

* take care of He will take care of sending it to you.

tolerate She can’t tolerate waiting for results.

Some common verbs followed by an infinitive:

afford We cannot afford to hesitate.

agree The professors agreed to disagree.

appear The results appear to support your theory.

arrange They had arranged to meet at noon.

beg I beg to differ with you.

care Would you care to respond?

claim She claims to have new data.

consent Will you consent to run for office?

decide When did he decide to withdraw?

demand I demand to see the results of the survey.

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deserve She deserves to have a fair hearing.

expect The committee expects to decide by tomorrow.

fail The trial failed to confirm his hypothesis.

hesitate I hesitate to try the experiment again.

hope What do you hope to accomplish?

learn We have learned to proceed with caution.

manage How did she manage to find the solution?

neglect The author neglected to provide an index.

need Do we need to find new subjects?

offer We could offer to change the time of the

meeting.

plan They had planned to attend the conference.

prepare He was not prepared to give a lecture.

pretend I do not pretend to know the answer.

promise They promise to demonstrate the new

equipment.

refuse She refused to cooperate any longer.

seem Something seems to be wrong with your design.

struggle We struggled to understand her point of view.

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swear He swears to tell the truth.

threaten The team threatened to stop their research.

volunteer Will you volunteer to lead the group?

wait We could not wait to hear the outcome.

want She did not want to go first.

wish Do you wish to participate?

Following a preposition (gerund only)

Gerunds can follow a preposition; infinitives cannot.
Can you touch your toes without bending your knees?
He was fined for driving over the speed limit.
She got the money by selling the car.
A corkscrew is a tool for taking corks out of bottles.
Note: Take care not to confuse the preposition “to” with an infinitive form, or with an
auxiliary form such as have to, used to, going to

He went back to writing his paper. [PREPOSITION +

GERUND]

I used to live in Mexico. [AUXILIARY + VERB]

I want to go home. [VERB + INFINITIVE]

Following an indirect object (infinitive only)

Some verbs are followed by a pronoun or noun referring to a person, and then an infinitive.
Gerunds cannot be used in this position.
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Some common verbs followed by an indirect object plus

an infinitive:
ask I must ask you to reconsider your
statement.

beg They begged her to stay for another term.

cause His findings caused him to

investigate further.

challenge Wilkins challenged Watson to

continue the research.

convince Can we convince them to fund our study?

encourage She encouraged him to look beyond the

obvious.

expect They did not expect us to win an award.

forbid The author forbade me to change his

wording.

force They cannot force her to reveal her

sources.

hire Did the department hire him to teach the

new course?

instruct I will instruct her to prepare a handout.

invite We invite you to attend the ceremony.

need They need her to show the slides.

order He ordered the group to leave the

building.
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persuade Can we persuade you to contribute again?

remind Please remind him to check the

references.

require They will require you to submit an

outline.

teach We should teach them to follow standard

procedures.

tell Did she tell him to make three copies?

urge I urge you to read the instructions before

you begin.

want I do not want you to have an accident.

warn Why didn’t they warn me to turn down

the heat?