Modal verbs

Part 1

Modal Verbs of Probability

We can use these modal verbs (also called modals of deduction, speculation or certainty) when we
want to make a guess about something. We choose the verb depending on how sure we are.

: Talking about the present:

must / might / could / may / can't + infinitive

For example:

I am waiting for Julie with another friend, David.

I ask: 'Where is Julie?'
David guesses:

 She must be on the bus. (I'm fairly sure this is a good guess)

 She might come soon. (maybe)

 She could be lost. (maybe)

 She may be in the wrong room. (maybe)

 She can't be at home. (I'm fairly sure this isn't true)

Notice that the opposite of 'must' is 'can't in this case.

Will / won't

We use will and won't when we are very sure:

 She'll be at work now.

Should / shouldn't

Should and shouldn't are used to make an assumption about what is probably true, if everything is
as we expect:

 They should be there by now.

 It shouldn't take long to drive here.

This use of should isn't usually used for negative events. Instead, it's a better idea to use will:

 The underground will be very busy now (not: 'should be').

Can

Can is used for something that is generally possible, something we know sometimes happens:

 Prices can be high in London.

Can is not used to talk about specific possibilities:

 He could be on the bus (not: 'can be').

2: Using modal verbs to talk about the past:

must / might / could / may / can't + have + past participle

 must have + past participle

 might / might not have + past participle

 could / couldn't have + past participle

 may / may not have + past participle

 can't have + past participle

For example:
You: Where was Julie last night?
David:

 She must have forgotten about our date.

 She might have worked late.

 She could have taken the wrong bus.

 She may have felt ill.

 She can't have stayed at home.

Will / won't + have + past participle

Will and won't / will not + have + past participle are used for past certainty (compare with
present use of 'will' above):

 The parcel will have arrived before now.

Should + have + past participle

Should + have + past participle can be used to make an assumption about something that has
probably happened, if everything is as we expect (compare with present use of 'should' above):

 The train should have left by now

Could

We can use could + infinitive to talk about a general possibility in the past (compare with the use
of 'can' above):

 Prices could be high in the sixteenth century.

This is not used to talk about specific possibilites in the past (instead we use could + have + past
participle):
  He could have been working late (not: 'could be'. As this is a specific possiblity, 'could be' is
present tense)

Modals of Probability 1

Put in ‘must + infinitive’ or ‘must + have + past participle’:

1. Keiko always does really well on exams. She _____________ (study) a lot.

2. That woman drives a very expensive car. She _____________ (have) a lot of

money.

3. You _____________ (practise) a lot before you gave your speech. It was

really great.

4. When Lizzie got home yesterday, there were flowers on the table. Her

husband _____________ (buy) them.

5. Where is my purse? I saw it earlier, so it _____________ (be) in this room.

6. Sarah couldn’t find her glasses. She thought she _____________ (leave) them

at her office.

7. It _____________ (be) cold outside. That man in the street is wearing a coat.

8. All my plants _____________ (be) dead! I forgot to water them before I left

for my holiday.

9. Susie is so late! She _____________ (miss) the train.

10. There’s rubbish all over my garden! A fox _____________ (be) in the bin.

11. Anna has a huge library in her house. She _____________ (love) books.

12. Oh no, I don’t have my keys! I _____________ (leave) them in the taxi.

13. When Lucy got home she found the ice cream had melted. It _____________

(be) too hot in the car.

14. If you haven’t eaten all day, you _____________ (be) hungry.

15. Jimmy and Louisa _____________ (be) very tired. They have a new baby.

16. It _____________ (rain) a lot in the night. There are puddles everywhere.

17. David _____________ (be) happy. His girlfriend just agreed to marry him.

18. What an amazing kitchen you’ve got! You _____________ (like) cooking.

19. John _____________ (eat) all the biscuits! There are none left.
20. When I got up this morning, the kitchen was spotless. Lily _____________

(tidy) it before she went to bed last night

Part 2

Modal Verbs of Ability

When we talk about ability, we mean two things.

First, we mean general ability. This is something that once you have learned you can do any time
you want, like being able to read or swim or speak a language, for example.

The other kind of ability is specific ability. This mean something that you can or can't do in one
particular situation. For example, being able to lift something heavy, or find somewhere you are
looking for.

Present:

can / can't (for both general and specific ability)

 I can play the piano.

 She can speak English.

 He can't drive – he's too tired.

 We can't come now.

Past:

could / couldn't (for general ability)

 I could read when I was four.

 She could speak French when she was a child, but now she has forgotten it.

 He couldn't dance at all until he took lessons.

 My grandfather couldn't swim.

was able to / couldn't (for specific ability)

 When the computer crashed yesterday, I was able to fix it.(not 'I could fix it')

 She was able to pass the exam, even though she hadn't studied much.(not 'she could
pass')

 He called us because he couldn't find the house.

 I couldn't open the window.

could + have + past participle (an ability someone had in the past, but didn't use)
  I could have played the piano well but I didn't practise enough.

 We could have come earlier.

 She could have studied law, but she preferred to become a secretary.

Future:

will / won't be able to (general ability)

 At the end of the course, you will be able to make your own website.

 He won't be able to speak Japanese in a week! It will take months.

can / can't (specific ability)

 I can help you tomorrow

 I can't come to the party

Exercise

Put in ‘can’ / ‘can’t’ / ‘could’ / ‘couldn’t’. If none is possible, use ‘be able to’ in the

correct tense:

1. _________________ you swim when you were 10?

2. We _________________ get to the meeting on time yesterday because the

train was delayed by one hour.

3. He _________________ arrive at the party on time, even after missing the

train, so he was very pleased.

4. He’s amazing, he _________________ speak 5 languages including Chinese.

5. I _________________ drive a car until I was 34, then I moved to the

countryside so I had to learn.

6. I looked everywhere for my glasses but I _________________ find them

anywhere.

7. I searched for your house for ages, luckily I _________________ find it in the

end.

8. She’s 7 years old but she _________________ read yet – her parents are

getting her extra lessons.

9. I read the book three times but I _________________ understand it.

10. James _________________ speak Japanese when he lived in Japan, but he’s
forgotten most of it now.

Habits

We can use 'will' and 'would' to talk about habits or things we usually do, or did in the past.

For example:

 When I lived in Italy, we would often eat in the restaurant next to my flat.

 John will always be late!

Parte 3

Modal Verbs of Obligation

We can use have to + infinitive, must + infinitive and should + infinitive to express obligation
(something you have to do).

Be careful about the difference between mustn't and don't have to!
Mustn't means it's not allowed, or it's a bad idea:

 You mustn't eat so much chocolate, you'll be sick

Don't have to means you don't need to do something, but it's fine if you want to do it:

 I don't have to get up early at the weekend(of course, if I want to get up early, that's fine,
but I can stay in bed if I want).
Remember 'must have done' is a modal verb of deduction or speculation, not obligation in the
past. For example: Julie must have left. Her coat's not here

Exercises

Put in ‘mustn’t’ or ‘don’t / doesn’t have to’:

1. We have a lot of work tomorrow. You _______________ be late.

2. You _______________ tell anyone what I just told you. It’s a secret.

3. The museum is free. You _______________ pay to get in.

4. Children _______________ tell lies. It’s very naughty.

5. John’s a millionaire. He _______________ go to work.

6. I _______________ do my washing, because my mother does it for me.

7. We _______________ rush. We’ve got plenty of time.

8. You _______________ smoke inside the school.

9. You can borrow my new dress but you _______________ get it dirty.

10. We _______________ miss the train, it’s the last one tonight.

11. She _______________ do this work today, because she can do it tomorrow.

12. I _______________ clean the floor today because I cleaned it yesterday.

13. We _______________ forget to lock all the doors before we leave.

14. We _______________ stay in a hotel in London, we can stay with my brother.

15. I _______________ spend too much money today. I’ve only got a little left.

16. They _______________ get up early today, because it’s Sunday.

17. I _______________ eat too much cake, or I’ll get fat!

18. We _______________ be late for the exam.

19. You _______________ tidy up now. I’ll do it later.

20. He _______________ cook tonight because he’s going to a restaurant.

Parte 4

Could have, should have, would have

These past modal verbs are all used hypothetically, to talk about things that didn't really happen in
the past.

Could have + past participle

1: Could have + past participle means that something was possible in the past, or you had the
ability to do something in the past, but that you didn't do it.

 I could have stayed up late, but I decided to go to bed early.

 They could have won the race, but they didn't try hard enough.

 Julie could have bought the book, but she borrowed it from the library instead.

 He could have studied harder, but he was too lazy and that's why he failed the exam.

Couldn't have + past participle means that something wasn't possible in the past, even if you had
wanted to do it.

 I couldn't have arrived any earlier. There was a terrible traffic jam (= it was impossible for
me to have arrived any earlier).

 He couldn't have passed the exam, even if he had studied harder. It's a really, really
difficult exam.

2: We use could have + past participle when we want to make a guess about something that
happened in the past. In this case, we don't know if what we're saying is true or not true. We're
just talking about our opinion of what maybe happened.

Why is John late?

 He could have got stuck in traffic.

 He could have forgotten that we were meeting today.

 He could have overslept.

We can also choose to use might have + past participle to mean the same thing:
  He might have got stuck in traffic.

 He might have forgotten that we were meeting today.

 He might have overslept.

Should have + past participle

1: Should have + past participle can mean something that would have been a good idea, but that
you didn't do it. It's like giving advice about the past when you say it to someone else, or
regretting what you did or didn't do when you're talking about yourself.

Shouldn't have + past participle means that something wasn't a good idea, but you did it anyway.

 I should have studied harder! (= I didn't study very hard and so I failed the exam. I'm sorry
about this now.)

 I should have gone to bed early (= I didn't go to bed early and now I'm tired).

 I shouldn't have eaten so much cake! (= I did eat a lot of cake and now I don't feel good.)

 You should have called me when you arrived (= you didn't call me and I was worried. I wish
that you had called me).

 John should have left early, then he wouldn't have missed the plane (= but he didn't leave
early and so he did miss the plane).

2: We can also use should have + past participle to talk about something that, if everything is
normal and okay, we think has already happened. But we're not certain that everything is fine, so
we use 'should have' and not the present perfect or past simple. It's often used with 'by now'.

 His plane should have arrived by now (= if everything is fine, the plane has arrived).

 John should have finished work by now (= if everything is normal, John has finished work).

We can also use this to talk about something that would have happened if everything was fine, but
hasn't happened.

 Lucy should have arrived by now, but she hasn't.

Would have + past participle

1: Part of the third conditional.

 If I had had enough money, I would have bought a car (but I didn't have enough money, so
I didn't buy a car).

2: Because 'would' (and will) can also be used to show if you want to do something or not
(volition), we can also use would have + past participle to talk about something you wanted to do
but didn't. This is very similar to the third conditional, but we don't need an 'if clause'.
  I would have gone to the party, but I was really busy.
(= I wanted to go to the party, but I didn't because I was busy. If I hadn't been so busy, I
would have gone to the party.)

 I would have called you, but I didn't know your number.

(= I wanted to call you but I didn't know your number, so I didn't call you.)

 A: Nobody volunteered to help us with the fair

B: I would have helped you. I didn't know you needed help.
(= If I had known that you needed help, I would have helped you.)

Exercise

Complete the sentences using Could Have, Should Have, and Would Have.

1. I ___________________________________ (buy) bread but I didn’t know we needed it.

(past possibility)

2. We ___________________________________ (invite) so many people to our party! I’m

worried that we won’t have enough room for everyone. (past negative advice / regret)

3. I ___________________________________ (start) saving money years ago! (past advice

/ regret)

4. We ___________________________________ (join) you at the restaurant, but we

couldn’t get a babysitter. (past willingness)

5. The weather ___________________________________ (be) any worse! (past negative

possibility)

6. I ___________________________________ (arrive) on time, even if I’d left earlier.

There were dreadful traffic jams all the way. (past negative possibility)

7. They ___________________________________ (win) the football match, but John hurt

his ankle. (past possibility)

8. Amanda ___________________________________ (finish) the work, but she felt ill and

had to go home. (past willingness)

9. Lucy ___________________________________ (left) earlier. She missed her flight.

(past advice / regret)

10. We ___________________________________ (finish) the game, even if we’d wanted

to. It was raining very hard and we had to stop. (past negative possibility)

11. I ___________________________________ (eat) so much chocolate! I feel sick! (past

negative advice / regret)

12. Luke ___________________________________ (pass) the exam if he’d studied a bit

more. (past possibility)