{"id":6774,"date":"2021-02-18T07:53:45","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T07:53:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/?p=6774"},"modified":"2021-05-25T12:46:56","modified_gmt":"2021-05-25T12:46:56","slug":"modal-verbs-of-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/modal-verbs-of-english\/","title":{"rendered":"Modal Verbs of English"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>English modal verbs<\/h1>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"margin-bottom: 2rem; margin-top: 2rem; background: #f4f4f4;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center; font-weight: 600; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #fff; background: #ff6868;\">\u00cdNDICE DE CONTENIDOS<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#what\">What are &#8216;Modal Verbs&#8217;?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#modal\">What are the modal verbs?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#how\">How are &#8216;Modal verbs&#8217; used?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>When we talk about\u00a0the verb tenses in English,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0we explain that we did not want to make a very dense post, because we did not want to burden you with a lot of theory.\u00a0But little by little we have been telling you about other topics that are closely related to verb tenses, such as the post about\u00a0Stative Verbs (Static Verbs).<\/p>\n<p>Now, it&#8217;s time to talk about another topic that you have to control and that you will need for the verb tenses: MODAL VERBS or &#8216;Modal Verbs&#8217;.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what\">What are &#8216;Modal Verbs&#8217;?<\/h2>\n<p>They are auxiliary verbs that express modality;\u00a0These verbs have the particularity of modifying the meaning of a verb when it accompanies them.\u00a0These are used in combination with other verbs to express different degrees of capacity, possibility, permission, need, obligation, prohibition, security &#8230; referring to the main verb.<\/p>\n<p>But they are auxiliary verbs different from the already known\u00a0<strong>TO BE, TO HAVE and TO DO,<\/strong>\u00a0since these can be used as the main verb.<\/p>\n<p>These verbs are used in the formation of futures, conditionals and pasts;\u00a0As we mentioned before, they are accompanied by another verb that\u00a0<strong>will always be in the infinitive form<\/strong>\u00a0.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Modal Verbs have a peculiarity<\/strong> , and that is when they are formed in the third person singular, the typical -s is not added. They cannot be conjugated either by adding the ending -ing, or -ed.<\/p>\n<p>Another peculiarity of these verbs is that they are not conjugated and have no verbal tempo.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"modal\">What are the modal verbs?<\/h2>\n<table width=\"1058\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>CAN<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>COULD<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"alt\">\n<td><strong>MAY<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>MIGHT<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>MUST<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>SHOULD<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"alt\">\n<td><strong>WILL<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>WOULD<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>SHALL<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>OUGHT TO<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2 id=\"how\">How are &#8216;Modal verbs&#8217; used?<\/h2>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8211; CAN &#8211;<\/h3>\n<p><strong>MEANING:<\/strong>\u00a0Indicates physical ability or mental ability to do something.\u00a0It translates as power.<\/p>\n<p><strong>NEGATIVE FORM:\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Cannot or Can&#8217;t.<\/p>\n<p><strong>USE:<\/strong>\u00a0The modal verb Can\u00a0<strong>can be used in the present, but not in the past or future<\/strong>\u00a0.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Use to explain what you can do: She can come before six o\u2019clock. \u00a0(Ella puede venir antes de las seis)<\/li>\n<li>Use to talk about a possibility: These chair can be painted \u00a0(Esas sillas pueden ser pintadas)<\/li>\n<li>To talk about something that is allowed: You can pay with a credit card (Usted pude pagar con tarjeta de cr\u00e9dito)<\/li>\n<li>Use to place an order (be careful, if it is used in this way, it is for an informal environment, the correct thing is to use the modal verb\u00a0<strong>MAY<\/strong> ): \u00a0Can you come here, please? \u00a0(\u00bfPuedes venir aqu\u00ed, por favor?)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8211; COULD &#8211;<\/h3>\n<p><strong>MEANING: It\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0indicates physical ability or mental capacity to do something, but if we want to use the\u00a0<strong>verb CAN in the past tense<\/strong>\u00a0.\u00a0Another meaning that it acquires is in its way of showing possibility (informal use, for a more formal language we would use the verbs MAY and MIGHT), translating as the conditional\u00a0<em>could.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>NEGATIVE FORM:<\/strong>\u00a0Could not, couldn&#8217;t<\/p>\n<p><strong>USE:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Conditional:You could pass the test if you studied \u00a0(No aprobar\u00e1s el examen si no estudias)<\/li>\n<li>Use of Past: I couldn\u2019t sleep last night \u00a0(No pude dormir anoche)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8211; MAY \/ MIGHT &#8211;<\/h3>\n<p>This modal verb,\u00a0<strong>MAY<\/strong>\u00a0, is very closely linked to\u00a0<strong>MIGHT<\/strong>\u00a0, since they both have the same use and meaning, but MAY is used when there is a greater degree of certainty.<\/p>\n<p>Both are used in very polite and courteous language, with the second form, MIGHT, being the highest degree of courtesy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>NEGATIVE FORM:\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0May not \/ Might not<\/p>\n<p><strong>USE:<\/strong>\u00a0It is used for actions or situations embedded in the present or future.\u00a0Also, to give permission for an action to be performed.\u00a0One last use would be for those situations that are hypothetical.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Show Possibility: It May rain \u00a0(Quiz\u00e1s llueva) \u00a0\/ \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The weatherman said it might rain \u00a0 (El hombre del tiempo dijo que podr\u00eda llover)<\/li>\n<li>Request Information: May I speak? (\u00bfPuedo hablar?) \u00a0 \u00a0\/ \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0I\u00a0might visit on Saturday \u00a0(Tal vez haga una visita el S\u00e1bado)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8211; MUST &#8211;<\/h3>\n<p><strong>MEANING: It<\/strong>\u00a0expresses an obligation, prohibition, need, duty or condition that cannot be changed.\u00a0We will use it when we want to indicate that we are very sure of the certainty of something and when expressing an opinion, to emphasize why it is necessary to do that.\u00a0<strong>It could be translated as duty.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>NEGATIVE FORM:<\/strong>\u00a0Must not<\/p>\n<p><strong>USE:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Indicate that you have to do something because it is a rule or because it is very important: You must pay your taxes (Debes pagar tus impuestos)<\/li>\n<li>For the prohibitions: You mustn\u2019t steal (No debes robar)<\/li>\n<li>Rhetorical questions: <span class=\"example\"><span class=\"particula\">Must<\/span>\u00a0you always\u00a0<span class=\"particula\">be<\/span>\u00a0late?<\/span><span class=\"translation\">\u00a0(\u00bfSiempre tienes que llegar tarde?)<\/span><\/li>\n<li>To talk about something that is very logical or that we are sure will happen:\u00a0They\u00a0must be really rich to live in such a house (Deben ser muy ricos si viven en semejante casa).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8211; SHOULD &#8211;<\/h3>\n<p><strong>MEANING:<\/strong>\u00a0It also expresses an obligation or recommendation, but a type of obligation that can be dispensed with is not as strict as Must.\u00a0<strong>It could be considered as a suggestion.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>NEGATIVE FORM:<\/strong>\u00a0Should not \/ Shouldn&#8217;t<\/p>\n<p><strong>USE:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>To say the right thing: You should be helping your mother (Deber\u00edas estar ayudando a tu madre)<\/li>\n<li>Give advice:You should try the new restaurant \u00a0(Deber\u00edas probar el nuevo restaurante )<\/li>\n<li>To express an obligation: We should invite mom and dad to dinner tonight (Deber\u00edamos invitar a mam\u00e1 y a pap\u00e1 a cenar esta noche)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8211; WILL &#8211;<\/h3>\n<p><strong>NEGATIVE FORM:<\/strong>\u00a0Will not, won&#8217;t<\/p>\n<p><strong>USE:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>To talk about the future:I hope he will pass his exams (Espero que apruebes tus ex\u00e1menes)<\/li>\n<li>Give promises: I won\u2019t do that again, I promise (No volver\u00e9 a hacer eso, lo prometo)<\/li>\n<li>To request information or a favor: Will you help me move? (\u00bfMe ayudar\u00e1s a mudarme?)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8211; WOULD &#8211;<\/h3>\n<p><strong>NEGATIVE FORM:<\/strong>\u00a0Would not \/ wouldn&#8217;t<\/p>\n<p><strong>APPLICATIONS:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In the form of Will&#8217;s past in an indirect speech: He said he wouldn\u2019t be late \u00a0(\u00c9l dijo que no llegar\u00eda tarde)<\/li>\n<li>To talk about an imaginary situation: What would you do if you were a millionaire? \u00a0 (\u00bfQu\u00e9 har\u00edas si fueses millonario?)<\/li>\n<li>To order politely: Would you\u00a0get me the paper, please? \u00a0(\u00bfMe comprar\u00edas el peri\u00f3dico, por favor?)<\/li>\n<li>To invite someone in a polite way: Would you like a drink? \u00a0(\u00bfTe gustar\u00eda tomar algo?)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>To express that you want something, or do something: I\u00a0would like a cup of coffee, please \u00a0(Me gustar\u00eda una taza de caf\u00e9 por favor) \u00a0\/\u00a0We\u2019d rather study with you \u00a0(Preferir\u00edamos estudiar contigo)<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8211; SHALL &#8211;<\/h3>\n<p>It is used mostly with\u00a0<strong>I<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0and\u00a0<strong>WE\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0(but this is more so with British English), although it is not unusual to find it in other ways.<\/p>\n<p><strong>NEGATIVE FORM:<\/strong>\u00a0Shall not \/ Shan&#8217;t<\/p>\n<p><strong>USE:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>To talk about the future: I shall leave tomorrow morning (Me ir\u00e9 ma\u00f1ana por la ma\u00f1ana)<\/li>\n<li>For questions or suggestions: Shall I close the door? \u00a0(\u00bfCierro la puerta?)<\/li>\n<li>To make suggestions: Shall we go to cinema? \u00a0(\u00bfVamos al cine?)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8211; OUGHT TO &#8211;<\/h3>\n<p>It stands for\u00a0<strong>SHOULD<\/strong>\u00a0.\u00a0In American English, it is never used interrogatively.<\/p>\n<p><strong>NEGATIVE FORM:<\/strong>\u00a0Ought not to<\/p>\n<p><strong>APPLICATIONS:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>To say what is right: I believe you\u00a0ought to apologize \u00a0(Creo que deber\u00edas pedir perd\u00f3n)<\/li>\n<li>To express an opinion: \u00a0 <span class=\"example\">They\u00a0<span class=\"particula\">ought to work<\/span>\u00a0less.<\/span><span class=\"translation\">\u00a0(Deber\u00edan trabajar menos.)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>And so far, all the modal verbs that are used in English<\/strong>\u00a0.\u00a0We know that right now you will have to have a head like a hype, because almost all (if not all), will seem the same to you.\u00a0Do not worry, because in another post we are going to help you clarify all the doubts that may arise, but first we wanted to leave you the part of theory that you should know.<\/p>\n<p>And if you are doing this review of verbs because you want to obtain an official English title,\u00a0here are\u00a0the next calls.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"kk-star-ratings kksr-auto kksr-align-left kksr-valign-bottom\"\n    data-payload='{&quot;align&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;6774&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;default&quot;,&quot;valign&quot;:&quot;bottom&quot;,&quot;ignore&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;reference&quot;:&quot;auto&quot;,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;count&quot;:&quot;2&quot;,&quot;legendonly&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;readonly&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;score&quot;:&quot;5&quot;,&quot;starsonly&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;best&quot;:&quot;5&quot;,&quot;gap&quot;:&quot;4&quot;,&quot;greet&quot;:&quot;\u00a1D\u00e9janos unas estrellitas si te ha gustado el post!&quot;,&quot;legend&quot;:&quot;5\\\/5 - (2 votes)&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;24&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Modal Verbs of English&quot;,&quot;width&quot;:&quot;138&quot;,&quot;_legend&quot;:&quot;{score}\\\/{best} - ({count} {votes})&quot;,&quot;font_factor&quot;:&quot;1.25&quot;}'>\n            \n<div class=\"kksr-stars\">\n    \n<div class=\"kksr-stars-inactive\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"1\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"2\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"3\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"4\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"5\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n<div class=\"kksr-stars-active\" style=\"width: 138px;\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n                \n\n<div class=\"kksr-legend\" style=\"font-size: 19.2px;\">\n            5\/5 - (2 votes)    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>English modal verbs \u00cdNDICE DE CONTENIDOS What are &#8216;Modal Verbs&#8217;? What are the modal verbs? How are &#8216;Modal verbs&#8217; used?&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2637,"featured_media":6936,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8073,8080,8092,8093,8094,8095,8108,8075,8125],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-level-a1-levels","category-level-a2-levels","category-level-b1-levels","category-level-b2-levels","category-level-c1-levels","category-level-c2-levels","category-grammar","category-learn-english","category-vocabulary","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2637"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6774"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10839,"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6774\/revisions\/10839"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elblogdeidiomas.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}