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7 MODAL VERBS AND PROBABILITY

Modal verbs have specific features of their own. They are used with other verbs to express ability,
possibility, obligation and so on. Modal verbs include can, must, may, might, will, would, should.
Below is the list showing the most useful modals and their most common meanings:

Correct Incorrect Not sure

Modal Meaning
Can Ability, permission, request, possibility
Eg.:I can speak French.
Could Ability, request, possibility
Eg. Could I have your magazine for a while?
Shall Willingness, suggestion, insistence
Eg.: We shall visit Agra next week.
Should Necessity, expectation, advisability
Eg.: You should realize your mistakes.

Will Willingness, intention, request

Eg.:I will help you.
Would Willingness, habitual action in the past, wishes
Eg. : He would return home and read newspaper
daily.
May Permission, purpose, possibility
Bg.: He may come today.
Might Permission, possibility, reproach
Eg.: He might come to the party.
Must Compulsion, necessity, prohibition
Bg.: We must complain the matter to the police.
Ought (to) Duty, necessity, desirability
Eg. You ought to love your parents.
Used (to) Past discontinued habit
Eg.: We used to play in the garden.
Need Importance, necessity
Eg.: You need not worry about your future.
Dare Boldness, courage, challenge
Eg.: How dare he talked like that.

Modal verbs are unlike other verbs. They do not change their form and they do not have infinitive or
participle forms. They do not use an’s’ for the third person singular. They make questions by
inversion. For example, 'She can go’ becomes ‘can she go?’