Noelia Fantili Picchio MODAL VERBS ABILITY CAN: We use can to talk about present and future ability.

I am afraid I cant come to your party on Friday. Cant you ride a bicycle? Can you speak any foreign languages? COULD: We use could to talk about general past ability. Sometimes could is the past of can. I could read before I started school. We went into the house, we could smell something burning. She spoke in a very soft voice, but I could understand what she said. We tried hard, but we couldnt persuade them to come with us. BE ABLE TO / MANAGED TO: We use them if we are talking about what happened in a particular situation. (effort) The fire spread through the building quickly, but everybody was able to escape. They didnt want to come with us at first, but we managed to persuade them. Sue wasnt at home when I called, but I was able to contact her at her office.

ASKING FOR AND GIVING PERMISSION CAN: We use can to ask for and give permission. (on the phone) Hello, can I speak to Tom, please? Can I borrow your calculator for a few minutes? You can stay up and watch the late night film, but then you have to go to bed. COULD: we use could to ask for permission when you are not sure what the answer will be. Could I ask you a few questions? Yes, of course you can. Could I use your phone? Yes, of course. Do you think I could borrow your bike? MAY: We use may to ask for or give permission in formal situations. May I come in? Yes, please do. May I leave early today? Ive got a dentists appointment. You may leave the exam room after the examiner has collected your paper.

ASKING PEOPLE TO DO THINGS Can or could / Will or would (less usual) Can you wait for a minute, please? OR Could you wait for a minute, please? Liz, can you do me a favor? Can you give me a ride home, please? Excuse me, could you tell me how to get to the airport? I wonder if you could help me. Do you think you could lend me some money until next week? Liz, will you do me a favor? Would you please be quiet? Im trying to concentrate.

ASKING FOR THINGS Can I have? / Could I have? / May I have? (less usual) (in a gift shop) Can I have these postcards, please? (during a meal) Could I have the salt, please? May I have the salt, please?

OFFERING TO DO THINGS Can I? / May I? (more formal) Can I get you a cup of coffee? Yes, that would be very nice. (in a store) May I help you? Yes. I would like to see that dress, please. 10

Noelia Fantili Picchio OFFERING AND INVITING Would you like? Would you like a cup of coffee? Yes, please. Would you like to go to the movies with us Saturday night? Yes, Id love to. I would like it is a polite way of saying what you want. (at a tourist information office) Id like some information about hotels, please. (in a store) I would like to try on this jacket, please.

POSSIBILITY THEORETICAL POSSIBILITY (SPECULATIVE): CAN / COULD We use CAN to: 1. Say that things are possible without saying what chance there is that they will happen. Anyone can learn to use a word processor. Talk about typical behaviour of people or things. Dogs can be jealous of small babies. Speculate or guess about past events (only in questions and negative sentences). Form: Cant + have + past participle Can + subject + have + past participle Wh- word + can + subject + have + past participle She cant have understood what you meant. Can he have thought wed left already? Where can they have gone?

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We use COULD to talk about theoretical possibility in the past. Uncle Tony could be very funny sometimes.

FACTUAL POSSIBILITY (BASED ON FACTS): COULD / MAY / MIGHT We use COULD, MAY and MIGHT to: 1. Say there is a chance that something might happen in the future. We may go to Australia next Christmas. It could snow tonight. She might stay for a few days. Usually it doesnt matter whether you use may or might, but we only use MIGHT when the situation is not real: If I knew them better, I might invite them to dinner. (The situation here is not real because I dont know them very well, so Im not going to invite them. MAY is not possible in this example.) There is a continuous form: MAY/MIGHT BE + -ING. We use it for possible plans: Dont phone me at 8:30. I might be watching the baseball game on TV. I may be going to Mexico in July. MIGHT AS WELL/ MAY AS WELL: We should o something because there is nothing better to do and there is no reason not to do it: Rents are so high these days, you may as well buy a house. What time are you going? Well, Im ready, so I might as well go now. We also use COULD to talk about possible actions now or in the future (especially to make a suggestion). What would you like to do tonight? We could go to the movies. Its a nice day. We could go for a walk. When you go to New York next month, you could stay with Candice. CAN is also possible in these sentences, but COULD is less sure than CAN. Use COULD when you dont really mean what you say. Im so angry with him. I could kill him! Im so tired. I could sleep for a week." 11

Noelia Fantili Picchio 2. Say that something is possibly true at the moment of speaking. She might be angry about something you said. He may be away for the weekend. We could be wrong. Talk about the possibility that past events happened. Form: could/may/might + have + past participle They may have decided to stay the night there. He might have met her at Joes party. She could have seen him leaving the building. BUT couldnt is different from may/might not. Compare: He was too far away, so he couldnt have seen you. (its not possible that he saw you) I wonder why she didnt say hello. She might not have seen you (perhaps she didnt see you; perhaps she did) We normally use could + have + past participle for things that were true but didnt happen: Why did you stay at a hotel when you went to New York? You could have stayed with Candice. (You have the opportunity to stay with her, but you didnt) Dave fell off a ladder yesterday, but hes all right. He is lucky. He could have hurt himself badly. (but he didnt hurt himself) The situation was bad, but it could have been worse. Sometimes COULD means would be able to: We could take a trip if we had enough money. (we would be able to go away) I dont know how you work so hard. I couldnt do it. Sometimes COULD + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE means would have been able to: Why didnt Liz apply for the job? She could have got it. We could have taken a trip if wed had enough money. He couldnt have lent him $50 because he ran out of money last week. The trip was cancelled last week. I couldnt have gone anyway because I was sick. (I wouldnt have been able to go)

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OBLIGATION We use SHOULD and OUGHT TO to give advice or to give an opinion (it is a good thing to do or the right thing to doobligations and duties in the future, present or past) You look tired. You should go to bed. The government should do more to help homeless people. Should we invite Susan to the party? Yes, I think we should. Do you think I ought to apply for this job? You ought to treat you mother better. Oughtnt we to tell someone about the accident? (OR Shouldnt we tell someone...?) Oughtnt we to have invited Susan if we invited Charlie? (OR Shouldnt we have...?) SHOULDNT DO SOMETHING: it isnt a good thing to do. You shouldnt believe everything you read in the newspapers. We often use SHOULD and OUGHT TO with I think / I dont think / Do you think...? We also use SHOULD when something is not right or not what we expect. I wonder where Liz is. She should be here by now. (She isnt here yet, and this is not normal) The price on this package is wrong. It should be $1.29, not $1.59. Those boys shouldnt be playing football right now. They should be in school. We use SHOULD to say that we expect something to happen. She has been studying hard for the exam, so she ought to pass. (I expect her to pass) There are plenty of hotels in this city. It shouldnt be difficult to find a place to stay. (I dont expect that it will be difficult) We use SHOULD + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE to criticise your own or other peoples behaviour (you didnt do something but it would have been the right thing to do) It was a great party last night. You should have come. I wonder why they are so late. They should have been here an hour ago. She shouldnt have been listening to our conversation. It was private. I should have got some more soap when I was at the supermarket. You shouldnt have said that.

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Noelia Fantili Picchio STRONG OBLIGATION AND NECESSITY We use MUST: 1. To talk about present and future strong obligations and necessities which come from the speaker. You must check in at least two hours before your flight departs. I must remember to tell Ted about the meeting. To ask about what the listener wants you to do. Must I eat the vegetables? In written rules and instructions. You must apply by April 15. (Your application wont be accepted after that date) This medicine must be taken with food. (Or your stomach will be upset.) MUSTNT: to tell people not to do things because it is not allowed. You must keep it a secret. You mustnt tell anyone. I promised I would be on time. I mustnt be late.

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We use HAVE TO (sometimes you can use HAVE GOT TO for the present): 1. To talk about present and future strong obligations which do not come from the speaker. We have to wear uniforms at our school. Do we have to write in pen or in pencil? What do I have to do to get a drivers license? To talk about past and reported obligations of all kinds. They told us we had to check in two hours before departure. We had to wear uniforms when I was at school.

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LACK OF OBLIGATION We use DONT HAVE TO / NEEDNT / DONT NEED TO: to talk about the lack of obligation in the present or future. (You dont need to do something, but you can if you want). I havent got to go to school tomorrow. Its holiday. You dont have to tell him, but you can if you want to. You dont need to come to the airport. Ill get a taxi. (OR You neednt come to the...) We use NEEDNT HAVE: to say that somebody did something, but it was unnecessary. You neednt have written it out again. We use DIDNT NEED TO: to say that something wasnt necessary without saying whether the person did it or not. You didnt need to bring an umbrella. I didn't need to arrive early.

DEDUCTION We use MUST: 1. To say that we are sure about something in the present. You have been travelling all day. You must be tired. MUST HAVE DONE: to say that we are sure about something in the past. There is nobody at home. They must have gone out. She walked past me without speaking. She must not have seen me. We can also say: must have been (tired / hungry / noisy, etc.) must have been (doing / coming / looking, etc.) must have done/ gone / known / had, etc.) We use CANT in negative sentences not mustnt. How can you say such a thing? You cant be serious. That cant be Jack. He drives a Fiat. Alex cant have been away. The lights were on in his flat. 13

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Noelia Fantili Picchio SUBJUNCTIVE We use the subjunctive after these verbs: suggest, propose, recommend, insist, demand, etc. S + suggest / propose / recommend / insist / demand / etc. (past, present, future) + (that) + S + (not) + V (base form) I insisted (that) he have dinner with us. The doctor recommended that I not go to work for two days. Note the subjunctive be (often passive): I insisted (that) something be done about the problem. The airline recommends that passengers be two hours early. Other structures are possible after insist and suggest: They insisted on my having dinner with them. It was a beautiful evening, so I suggested going for a walk. You cannot use the infinitive (to do/buy/etc.) after suggest: She suggested that he (should) buy some new clothes. What do you suggest I (should) do?

HAD BETTER Id better (not) do something = it is advisable to do it. If I dont, there will be a problem or a danger. Had is a past form, but in this expression the meaning is present or future, not past. I have to meet Amy in ten minutes. Id better go now or I will be late. Are you going out tonight? Id better not. Ive got a lot of work to do. You can use had better when you warn somebody that they must do something. Youd better be on time. OR Youd better not be late. (or Ill be very angry) Had better is similar to should but: we use had better only for specific occasions (not for things in general). Also, with had better, there is always a danger or a problem if you dont follow the advice. It is cold today. You had better wear a coat when you go out. (a specific occasion) I think all drivers should wear seat belts. (in general) Should means its a good thing to do. Its a great movie. You should go and see it. The movie starts at 8:30. You had better go now, or youll be late.

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