Modals

1. What is it?
Modals merupakan istilah lain dari auxiliary verb (yang mana selama ini Anda familiar dengan
bentuk-bentuknya seperti do, don’t, does, doesn’t, did, didn’t, has, hasn’t, have, haven’t, had,
hadn’t, dll.). Fungsi dari modals juga sebelas dua belas (baca: kurang lebih sama) dengan
auxiliary verb, yakni membantu main verb dalam hal penekanan waktu terjadinya suatu aktivitas,
penekanan makna dan sebagainya. Silakan perhatikan kalimat di bawah ini.
My cousins may visit me on Saturday night. (Sepupu-
sepupuku boleh mengunjungiku pada malam minggu) My
cousins = Subject
May = Modal
Visit = Verb (main verb)
Me = Noun (object pronoun)
On Saturday night = Adverb of time

Dengan demikian, keberadaan modal dapat dikatakan sekadar penunjang atau berada dalam
tataran sekunder dibandingkan dengan main verb. Namun, eksistensinya toh cukup fungsional
untuk menimbulkan efek tertentu, khususnya dalam hal makna.

2. The Structure of Active Sentences

Present (Saat Ini) Past (Saat yang telah lewat)
Can (dapat) Could (dapat)
S + can + V1 + N/Adv/Adj S + could + have + V3 + N/Adv/Adj
Be present (is/am/are) able to (mampu) Be past (was/were) able to (mampu)
S + is/am/are + able to + V1 S + was/were + able to + V1
Must (harus) Had to (harus)
S + must + V1 + N/Adv/Adj S + had to + V1 + N/Adv/Adj
Has to/have to (harus) Had to (harus)
S + has to/have to + V1 + N/Adv/Adj S + had to + V1 + N/Adv/Adj
Should (sebaiknya) Should (sebaiknya)
S + should + V1 + N/Adv/Adj S + should + have + V3 + N/Adv/Adj
May (boleh/mungkin) Might (boleh/mungkin)
S + may + V1 + N/Adv/Adj S + might + have + V3 + N/Adv/Adj
Will (akan) Would (akan)
S + will + V1 + N/Adv/Adj S + would + have + V3 + N/Adv/Adj

3. The Structure of Passive Sentences

Present (Saat Ini) Past (Saat yang telah lewat)

Can (dapat) Could (dapat)
N + can + be + V3 + by + S (yang berubah menjadi N + could + be + V3 + by + S (yang berubah
Object Pronoun) menjadi Object Pronoun)
Be present (is/am/are) able to (mampu) Be past (was/were) able to (mampu)
N + is/am/are + able to + be + V3 + by + S (yang N + was/were + able to + be + V3 + by + S
berubah menjadi Object Pronoun) (yang berubah menjadi Object Pronoun)
Must (harus) Had to (harus)
N + must + be + V3 + by + S (yang berubah N + had to + be + V3 + by + S (yang berubah
menjadi Object Pronoun) menjadi Object Pronoun)
Has to/have to (harus) Had to (harus)
N + has to/have to + be + V3 + by + S (yang N + had to + be + V3 + by + S (yang berubah
berubah menjadi Object Pronoun) menjadi Object Pronoun)
Should (sebaiknya) Should (sebaiknya)
N + should + be + V3 + by + S (yang berubah N + should + be + V3 + by + S (yang berubah
menjadi Object Pronoun) menjadi Object Pronoun)

May (boleh/mungkin) Might (boleh/mungkin)

N + may + be + V3 + by + S (yang berubah menjadi N + might + be + V3 + by + S (yang berubah
Object Pronoun) menjadi Object Pronoun)
Will (akan) Would (akan)
N + will + be + V3 + by + S (yang berubah menjadi N + would + be + V3 + by + S (yang berubah
Object Pronoun) menjadi Object Pronoun)