Modal Verbs

Certainty: MUST
Affirmative in the present:
John has lived in England all his life, He MUST speak English really well

Affirmative in the past: He MUST HAVE gone. (estoy seguro de que l se ha marchado)

Certainty: CANT
You CANT be tired youve been sleeping for 12 hours You CANT HAVE seen my sister she lives in Madrid

(es imposible que)

Possiblity: may,might,could.
Im not sure.. This summer I may (might/could) (not) go to England
Its 2 oclock he may (might/could) (not) have arrived home. Lets phone him

Possibility in the past

May, might, could+HAVE+ PARTICIPLE He may have gone out somewhere

Obligation: MUST vs HAVE TO in the present

Must: Personal Obligation/Obligation that comes from the speaker.

I must go to the dentist You must do your homework for every monday

Must Mustnt
Mustnt= Prohibition Danger
You mustnt touch electrical appliances with wet hands

To negate sth personal:Neednt

You neednt wash the dishes Ill do it later ( no es necesario) You neednt ask me if you want to use the phone

HAVE TO
Have to: Legal Obligation /Obligation that comes from a 3rd person.
Every citizen has to pay taxes

(es obligatorio)

Dont have to (lack of legal Obligation)

No es obligatorio. In Spain you dont have to have a licence to own a cat

Obligation in the future & past

Future: Ill have to go to the dentist
Past: I had to go to the dentist

Advice
Should Ought to d better
You should / ought to / d better visit your grandparents more often

Ability: Could vs Was/were able to

In the past: When he was five he could speak 3 languages (General Ability) I didnt have the keys but I was able to enter the house (Particular ability= manage to)

Present, future & perfect tenses.

Puedo: I can = I am able to Podr: I will be able to
He podido: I have been able to

Permission
Informal Can I .. ? May I .? Formal Could I.? I wonder if I could.?
.leave early today

Be supposed to/Had better

Be supposed to:
rule or expected.

Come on, it's 10 Oclock. You're supposed to be in bed! Had better + infinitive without to:
you should do because you think it's a good idea.

You'd better ask your dad before you borrow the car.

Permission: be allowed to
To express permission it is possible to use can, may (more formal) or be allowed to.
In the negative these express lack of permission, or prohibition.

You can order another drink but you can't have any more chips. We aren't allowed to wear trainers to school.

To express permission
May is not possible in the past. Could and be allowed to are possible for general permission.
In my last job we had flexitime so we could arrive more or less when we wanted to.

 Could is not used when referring to a particular situation in the past. Only be allowed to is possible.
I was allowed to stay up late last night.

Let and make + Inf sin to To be allowed to

Let is used to express permission and is not normally used in the passive.

My dad never lets me watch that programme.

Be allowed to is used instead. I wasn't allowed to go to the party alone.

Make is used to express obligation.

The teacher made her do some extra homework.
In the passive, make is followed by the infinitive with to. He was made to pay for the window he had broken.