NAME ____________________________________________________________________________1

English five first partial (MODAL VERBS & PAST PERFECT)

Full name: _______________________________________________ group: ________________

Modal Verbs
Here's a list of the modal verbs in English:
Can _____________ could ______________ may _____________ might _____________
Will _____________ would ______________ must _____________ shall _______________
Should ______________ ought to_____________ have 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:
1: It's snowing, so it must be very cold outside.
Spanish: _________________________________________________________________
2: I don't know where John is. He could have missed the train.
Spanish: _________________________________________________________________
3: This bill can't be right. £200 for two cups of coffee!
Spanish: _________________________________________________________________

Ability
We use 'can' and 'could' to talk about a skill or ability.
For example:
1: She can speak six languages.
Spanish: _________________________________________________________________
2: My grandfather could play golf very well.
Spanish: _________________________________________________________________
3: I can't drive.
Spanish: _________________________________________________________________
 NAME ____________________________________________________________________________2

1: Children must do their homework.

Spanish: _________________________________________________________________
2: We have to wear a uniform at work.
Spanish: _________________________________________________________________
3: You should stop smoking.
Spanish: _________________________________________________________________

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:
1: Could I leave early today, please?
Spanish: _________________________________________________________________
2: You may not use the car tonight.
Spanish: _________________________________________________________________
3: Can we swim in the lake?
Spanish: _________________________________________________________________

Habits
We can use 'will' and 'would' to talk about habits or things we usually do, or did in the past.
For example:
1: When I lived in Italy, we would often eat in the restaurant next to my flat.
Spanish: _________________________________________________________________
2: John will always be late!
Spanish: _________________________________________________________________

Modals of Obligation 1 (reading / writing) (write the unknown words on the whiteboard,
Put in ‘mustn’t’ or ‘don’t / doesn’t have to’: then copy them to your notebook)
1. We have a lot of work tomorrow. You _______________ be late.
2. You _______________ tell anyone what I just told you. It’s a secret.
3. The museum is free. You _______________ pay to get in.
4. Children _______________ tell lies. It’s very naughty.
5. John’s a millionaire. He _______________ go to work.
6. I _______________ do my washing, because my mother does it for me.
7. We _______________ rush. We’ve got plenty of time.
 NAME ____________________________________________________________________________3

8. You _______________ smoke inside the school.

9. You can borrow my new dress but you _______________ get it dirty.
10. We _______________ miss the train, it’s the last one tonight.
11. She _______________ do this work today, because she can do it tomorrow.
12. I _______________ clean the floor today because I cleaned it yesterday.
13. We _______________ forget to lock all the doors before we leave.
14. We _______________ stay in a hotel in London, we can stay with my brother.
15. I _______________ spend too much money today. I’ve only got a little left.
16. They _______________ get up early today, because it’s Sunday.
17. I _______________ eat too much cake, or I’ll get fat!
18. We _______________ be late for the exam.
19. You _______________ tidy up now. I’ll do it later.
20. He _______________ cook tonight because he’s going to a restaurant.
 NAME ____________________________________________________________________________4

Modals of Ability Exercise 1 (reading / writing)

(write the unknown words on the whiteboard, then copy them to your notebook)
Put in 'can' / 'can't' / 'could' / 'couldn't'. If none is possible, use 'be able to' in the correct tense.
1. _________________ you swim when you were 10?
2. We _________________ get to the meeting on time yesterday because the train was delayed by
one hour.
3. He _________________ arrive at the party on time, even after missing the train, so he was very
pleased.
4. He's amazing. He _________________ speak 5 languages including Chinese.
5. I _________________ drive a car until I was 34, then I moved to the countryside so I had to learn.
6. I looked everywhere for my glasses but I _________________ find them anywhere.
7. I searched for your house for ages. Luckily, I _________________ find it in the end.
8. She's 7 years old but she _________________ read yet – her parents are getting her extra
lessons.
9. I read the book three times but I _________________ understand it.
10. James _________________ speak Japanese when he lived in Japan, but he's forgotten most of it
now.
11. I _________________ understand the chapter we had to read for homework. It was so difficult.
12. I _________________ lift this box – it's too heavy! Would you help me?
13. Lucy _________________ make it to our meeting after all. She's stuck in traffic at the moment.
14. John _________________ play tennis really well. He's champion of his club.
15. Unfortunately, I really _________________ sing at all! No-one in my family is musical either.
16. When the car broke down, I was really pleased because I _________________ solve the
problem.
17. Julian _________________ play excellent golf when he was only ten.
18. My grandmother _________________ use a computer until last month. Since then, she's been
taking lessons at the library.
19. I _________________ open this window. I think it's stuck!
20. Gill _________________ play the piano. She's never studied it.

1. Listen to the four conversations. What are the people talking about? Answers
may vary.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/smrtenglish.com/core/ENGL110B/Unit%2011/Sound%20Fil
es/Listening%2011-1%20Could%20You%20Please%3F/110%20Listening%2011-1.mp3

Conversation #1: _____________________________________________________

Conversation #2: _____________________________________________________
 NAME ____________________________________________________________________________5

Conversation #3: _____________________________________________________

Conversation #4: _____________________________________________________

Listen to the conversations again and put the questions in the correct place:
2. Read the questions below. Then listen again and type the conversation number (1, 2, 3, 4)
that matches the questions:

can I get a taxi to 5587 Maple Street?

Could you please turn off the music?
could you please drive me to soccer practice tonight?
Can they be here at 12 o’clock?
can you please lend me five dollars?
Can you tell me your name?
could we go at around 7:30 PM?
Can I play it for twenty more minutes?
could you tell her for me?
May I eat in the car?

Conversation 1
A: It is late. ___________________________________________________________
B: It is not that late.
______________________________________________________________________________
I want to listen to it while I do my homework.
A: Okay.

Conversation 2
A: Hey, ___________________________________________________________
B: No problem. Here you go.
A: Thanks. I want to have a snack before class.
B: It’s going to start in five minutes. I can tell the teacher that you are going to be late.
A: Yes, ___________________________________________________________
B: Sure.

Conversation 3
A: Mom, ___________________________________________________________
B: Of course. I’m going to be home from work at around 6 PM. What time do you want to go?
A: Well, practice is at 8 o’clock, so
___________________________________________________________
B: Okay, see you tonight. Have a good day at school.
A: Thanks, Mom.
 NAME ____________________________________________________________________________6

Conversation 4
A: Hello, ___________________________________________________________
B: Yes, no problem. ___________________________________________________________
A: My name is Oliver.
B: Let me take a note of that and give it to the taxi driver.
A: ___________________________________________________________
B: I don’t think that is a problem. What time do you want the taxi to arrive?
A: ___________________________________________________________
B: Yes, they can.
A: Thank you.

Modals of Probability (reading / writing)

Put in 'can't' or 'must'.
1. Why is that man looking around like that? He _____________ be lost.
2. That woman _____________ be a doctor! She looks far too young.
3. John always fails the tests, even though he's clever. He _____________ study enough.
4. The food is really good at that restaurant. They _____________ have a great chef.
5. Who's that at the door? It _____________ be Susie – she'll still be at work now.
6. This _____________ be John's house. This house has a red door, and it's number 24, just like he
said.
7. Julie _____________ have much money, or she would buy a new car. Her old one is falling apart.
8. He _____________ be at work now, can he? It's nearly midnight.
9. What a lot of lovely flowers you have! You _____________ really like gardening.
10.David _____________ drink a lot of coffee. He's finished two packets already this week!
11.This _____________ be Jamie's coat. He's very tall, and this is tiny.
12.Her life _____________ be easy. She has four children and very little money.
13.Where's Lucy? She _____________ be at the library, as she often goes there at this time.
14.This bill _____________ be right! £50 for two cups of coffee!
15.Emma's amazingly good at the piano. She _____________ practise a lot.
16.The car in front is driving so slowly that I think they _____________ be looking for something.
17.You've already eaten enough for three people! You _____________ still be hungry!
18.This book _____________ belong to the library. It's certainly not mine.
19.It only takes three hours to fly from London to Sydney? That _____________ be correct!
20.There _____________ be something wrong with the fridge! It's making a very unusual noise.
 NAME ____________________________________________________________________________7

Modals of advice
Complete the exercises using (should & shouldn’t, the translate the sentences to Spanish.)
1. It’s almost eight o’clock. You ___________ go to work now.
2. A: ___________ Alex cook dinner? B: Yes, he ___________.
3. My friend ___________ try to quit smoking.
4. We should stay at home. We ___________ go out.
5. A: ___________ they watch TV all day? B: No, they __________.
6. Stewart looks very sick. He ___________ see a doctor.
7. You ___________ drive a car without wearing your seatbelt.
8. What ___________ we eat for dinner tonight?
9. There’s a fire in the kitchen! What ___________ we do?
10. Please be quiet! You ___________ make so much noise in the library!
11. When ___________ I take this medicine?
12. A: ___________ I press the red button? B: No, you ___________!
13. It’s very late. We ___________ go to bed.
14. How much money ___________ I bring with me to the store?
15. You ___________ cross the street until the light is green.
 NAME ____________________________________________________________________________8

The Past Perfect Tense

We don't use the past perfect a lot in English, but it is useful, and it sounds very good if you can use
it correctly. Also, it's really easy to make - just the past simple of 'have' and the past participle.
The positive - make it with 'had' + the past participle (usually made by adding 'ed' to the infinitive,
but a few verbs have irregular past participles).

1. I had been (I'd been)

2. You had gone (you'd gone)
3. She had met (she'd met)
4. He had played (he'd played)
5. It had rained (it'd rained)
6. We had bought (we'd bought)
7. They had studied (they'd studied)

The short form for 'had' is 'd'.

(Be careful not to confuse it with 'would'. Would is followed by the infinitive - 'I'd go',
whereas had is followed by the past participle - 'I'd gone').
For the negative just add 'not':

1. I had not been (I hadn't been)

2. You had not gone (you hadn't gone)
3. She had not met (she hadn't met)
4. He had not played (he hadn't played)
5. It had not rained (it hadn't rained)
6. We had not bought (we hadn't bought)
7. They had not studied (they hadn't studied)

And to make a 'yes / no' question put 'had' before the subject:
1. Had I come?
2. Had you eaten?
3. Had she gone?
4. Had it rained?
5. Had he studied?
6. Had we met?
7. Had they left?

For 'wh' questions put the question word at the beginning:

1. When had I come?
2. Why had you eaten?
 NAME ____________________________________________________________________________9

3. Where had she gone?

4. When had it rained?
5. Why had he studied?
6. How had we met?
7. When had they left?
Past Perfect Positive and Negative
Make the past perfect.
1. When I arrived at the cinema, the film ____________________ (start).
2. She ____________________ (live) in China before she went to Thailand.
3. After they ____________________ (eat) the shellfish, they began to feel sick.
4. If you ____________________ (listen) to me, you would have got the job.
5. Julie didn't arrive until after I ____________________ (leave).
6. When we ____________________ (finish) dinner, we went out.
7. The garden was dead because it ____________________ (be) dry all summer.
8. He ____________________ (meet) her before somewhere.
9. We were late for the plane because we ____________________ (forgot) our passports.
10. She told me that she ____________________ (study) a lot before the exam.
11. The grass was yellow because it ___________________ (not / rain) all summer.
12. The lights went off because we ___________________ (not / pay) the electricity bill.
13. The children ___________________ (not / do) their homework, so they were in trouble.
14. They ___________________ (not / eat) so we went to a restaurant.
15. We couldn't go into the concert because we ___________________ (not / bring) our tickets.
16. She said that she ___________________ (not / visit) the UK before.
17. Julie and Anne ___________________ (not / meet) before the party.
18. I ___________________ (not / have) breakfast when he arrived
19. He ___________________ (not / use) email before, so I showed him how to use it.
20. You ___________________ (not / study) for the test, so you were very nervous.

Past Perfect Questions

Make past perfect simple 'yes / no' or 'wh-' questions.
1. _______________________ (you / go) there before we went together?
2. _______________________ (she / see) the film already?
3. Why _______________________ (he / forgot) about the meeting?
4. _______________________ (it / be) cold all week?
5. _______________________ (I / read) the book before the class?
 NAME ____________________________________________________________________________10

6. When she arrived, _______________________ (we / eat) already?

7. Where _______________________ (you / be) when I saw you?
8. _______________________ (they / travel) by bullet train before?
9. _______________________ (John / meet) Lucy before they went on holiday together?
10. _______________________ (you / do) your homework before I saw you?
11. Where _______________________ (she / work)?
12. _______________________ (I / pay) the bill before we left?
13. _______________________ (we / visit) my parents already that winter?
14. When you called, _______________________ (they / eat) dinner?
15. How _______________________ (he / manage) to fix the cooker?
16. _______________________ (my sister / be) sick for a long time?
17. How much _______________________ (she / study) before the exam?
18. What _______________________ (you / cook) for dinner that night?
19. When _______________________ (they / arrive)?
20. How many coffees _______________________ (she / drink) before the interview?

Create a short story using simple past and past perfect

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