Modal verbs (overview), ANGIELSKI, GRAMATYKA - teoria
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Overview of Modal Verbs in English
(from
Lange, Janet and Ellen Lange. 1999.
Writing clearly: An editing guide.
Heinle and
Heinle, Massachusetts.)
Modal
Function
Form in the Present
Form in the Past
To show ability
I can run 10 miles.
I could run 10 miles when I
was young.
To suggest a possibility
or give an option
Students can pre-enroll in
classes.
Can
To ask for or to give
permission
Can you call me?
You can leave now.
To show impossibility
It cannot be Jim standing
there. He went away for the
weekend.
To show past ability
I could run 10 miles when I
was young.
To ask a polite question
Could I call you?
To show possibility
Why isn’t Mary here? She
could be busy.
Why wasn’t Mary at the
party last night? She could
have been busy.
Could
To show impossibility
He could not be here at the
party. He is out of town.
He could not have been at the
party last night. He was out
of town.
To suggest a
possibility/opportunity
or give an option
You could try going this
way.
You could have tried going
that way.
May
To ask for or to give
permission (formal)
May I call you?
To show possibility
The instructor may come to
class late today.
The instructor may have
come to class late yesterday.
Might
To show possibility
The instructor might come
to class late today.
The instructor might have
come to class late yesterday.
To show advisability
You should try the new
restaurant downtown.
You should have tried the
new restaurant downtown.
Should
To show obligation
I should renew my driver’s
license.
I should have renewed my
driver’s license.
To show expectation
You should receive my
letter in two days.
You should have received
my letter in two days.
Ought to
To show advisability
You ought to exercise
regularly.
You ought to have exercisd
regularly.
To show obligation
I ought to register to vote.
I ought to have registered to
vote by October.
To show expectation
You ought to receive my
letter in two days.
You ought to have received
my letter two days ago.
Had better
To show advisability
We had better leave. It is
getting late.
To show probability or
to make a logical
assumption
Janice must be out this
evening. She does not
answer the telephone.
Janice must have been out
last evening. She did not
answer her telephone.
Must
To show necessity
I must call my parent
tonight.
I was late for the meeting
because I had to call my
parents last night.
To show prohibition
You must not cross the
street on red light.
Have to
To show necessity
Mike has to make up the
class he missed.
Mike had to make up the
class he had missed.
To show lack of
necessity
I am glad that I do not have
to cook tonight.
I did not have to cook last
night.
To indicate future time
He will leave for the plane
at 7 a.m.
To make a promises or
to show willingness
The federal government
will provide assistance to
the hurricane victims.
Will
To state a general truth
The new car they have
developed will run on either
gasoline or ethanol.
To ask a polite question
Will you help me with these
boxes?
To ask a polite question
Would you help me with
these boxes?
Would
To indicate a repeated
action in the past
When I lived in LA, I would
go to the beach every day.
To indicate future time
in the sentence that is
in the past
Mark promised that he would
help me with my math
homework.
Would
rather
To show a preference
I would rather go to
summer school than
graduate late.
Would like
To express a desire
I would like to go to
medical school.
I would have liked to go to
medical school.
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