REVIEW OF MODALS AND
VERBS WITH SIMILAR MEANINGS
Modals are studied in every single English course since I
remember. However, we have to give them the importance they deserve.
Let’s review the basic uses of each modal auxiliary:
Modal
|
Use
|
Example
|
Have
to / Don’t have to
|
Obligation
|
We don’t have to go until 2:30
|
Must / Must not
|
Strong obligation / Certainty
|
You musn’t talk to him like that / They must be hungry by now
|
Should or ought to / shouldn’t
|
Advice/ Recommendation/polite
obligation/uncertainty/expectation
|
You ought to see the castle / Guests shouldn’t smoke in the bedrooms
|
Can / Can’t
|
Permission / Possibility
|
Can I use your telephone? / This can’t be the right place
|
Will / Won’t
|
Assumption / Refusal
|
They’ll be there in a minute / I won’t
stop until I get what I want
|
Might as well
|
The last option, when the speaker is
not enthusiastic
|
We might as well just pay the bill
|
Be supposed to
|
Obligation
|
They were supposed to deliver the package this morning.
|
Be bound to
|
Prediction of certainty
|
He’s
bound to get the job
|
Be likely to
|
Probability
|
Children living in rural
areas are likely to move to the
city as adults
|
Must have (been)
|
Certain (past)
|
The crash must have been terrifying.
|
Might have (been)
|
Possibility (past)
|
I might have left my keys in the car
|
Can’t have or couldn’t have (been)
|
Impossibility (past)
|
He can’t have finished already! / They couldn’t have come this far.
|
Could have or may have been
|
Possibility
|
We could have been left there for a long time. There may have been a good reason for the
delay, but we were angry anyway.
|
Source:
Pearson Education, Inc. (2012). English
in Common 6: Activebook. Unit 10 Reference. Pg.136
Extra practice done
out of class:
English does not have to be boring. I also played lyrics
training and having looked for a nice song with several modals to practice, I
found a masterpiece from one of my favorite bands, I am talking about “In my
place” by Coldplay. Then if you are interested as well in this page, you can
access by this link http://lyricstraining.com/play/coldplay/in-my-place/HK5ofqYmBK
The game involves typing the words in the blanks while
listening to the song. So if you do not like Coldplay at all, you can also
search for a song according to your preferences.
Returning to the main point, modals are used with other
verbs to express ability, obligation, possibility, and so forth. Since they
enrich the intentionality of the speaker, learning this topic helps us establishing
a more assertive communication.
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