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There are 9 words in the English language
that caused my students so much grief,
suffering, anxiety—they are modal verbs. They
are—'can', 'could', 'may', 'might', 'must',
'shall', 'should', 'will' and 'would'.
The stress stops here. In this lesson,
you are going to learn all about their
different functions. You are going to
see loads and loads of examples to
help solidify your understanding.
We are going to solve all the problems you have
with these modal verbs once and for all—that's
my promise to you. We're going to look at the
theory. We're going to look at examples. And
we're going to test your understanding
with 2 quizzes that I've inserted into
the video! And if that wasn't enough, I've
also created a PDF Modal Verbs Study Guide.
You can download it for free. It contains all of
the information we're going to cover together,
plus lots of alternatives to these modal verbs,
like 'have to' and 'be able to'. But wait,
there's more: this PDF Study Guide also contains
a secret link to some interactive exercises
for you to check your understanding.
Yes, it's a lot. Yes, it's generous.
And yes, you are very, very welcome. If you
would like to download this PDF Study Guide,
all you've got to do is click on the link in
the description box or scan that QR code there,
enter your name, email address and
choose your English level. Sign up
to my mailing list and then the PDF
will arrive directly in your inbox.
And then after that, you will have joined my
PDF club. You'll automatically receive all of
my free weekly PDFs alongside all of my news,
course updates and offers. It's a free service,
you can unsubscribe at any time with
just one click. Oh, I need to calm down,
as you can tell, I am very excited
about this topic. Let's get started
by talking about form and I
have some really good news.
The modals that we're talking about in this
video have one form. This is so rare in English.
Just one form! Nothing more! The base form that
you see in the dictionary we don't add -ing. So,
it's always 'could', never coulding.
We don't add -ed so it's always 'must',
never musted. And we don't add
's' in the third person singular.
So, it is always 'should' never shoulds. These
pure modals are followed by another verb,
not a modal in the base form. So, they
are not followed by a to-infinitive. For
example—'I might bake a cake later.' Modals
will sometimes appear alone when we don't
want or need to repeat a previous verb.
For example—'I'm going to jump the queue.
No! You can't. No, you can't jump the queue.' Is
there anything more British than that example?
We love queues. We form questions by inverting
the subject-modal verb word order. We don't use,
'do' or 'did'. For example—'Can
I help you?' Or—'Should I dye my
hair green?' I bet you're thinking—'No, you
shouldn't!' Which brings me to negative forms.
We form negatives by adding
'not'—'could not', 'should not',
etc. 'Cannot' is different as it is one word in
the negative. We often use contractions 'can't',
'won't'. But note that we don't usually contract
'may not'—'mayn't', as great as it sounds,
does exist, but it isn't common at all. Okay,
are you ready to dive into our 9 modal verbs?
We're going to talk about the most typical
and most useful ways we use these verbs.
Let's start with can! We use can to talk about
present ability—'I can speak Spanish.' Now did
you hear that I used the weak form
/kən/ with a schwa. Not the strong
form can with an /æ/ sound. We often use
the weak form in statements and questions.
'I can speak Spanish.' Here's an example using
no ability—'I can't speak Spanish.' Notice the
pronunciation difference between 'can' with a
short /æ/, which is the pronunciation we use
in short answers 'I can'. And 'can't' with
the long /ɑː/ sound, this is in my accent,
Modern RP. In other regional dialects or
in North American English, it's different.
Moving on, we use 'can' to ask for and
give permission. 'Can I have pizza for
breakfast?' And we use 'can't' to refuse
permission. 'No you can't.' We also use
'can' to make requests—'Can you make me
a pizza?' And we can use 'can' to talk
about general possibilities. For example—'It
can be cold and rainy in the UK in March.'
It's not always cold and rainy, but it
is sometimes. We use 'can't' to make
deductions when we're sure something is not
true or not happening. For example—'Ellen
can't be Tim's sister. He doesn't have a
sister.' Now, let's continue that thought
with a different modal verb. 'Ellen
could be Tim's cousin. He has about
ten.' Am I sure? No, but it's a decent
guess based on some evidence I have.
We use 'could' to make deductions when we
think something is possible but we're not
certain. How else do we use 'could'? Well,
it's pretty similar to 'can' in many ways.
You know that we use 'can' to talk about
present ability. We use 'could' to express
past ability. 'I could see perfectly when
I was younger. Now, I'm as blind as a bat.'
That's a common simile, meaning you can't see
very well. 'Could' expresses general ability
in the past. You can use 'was' or 'were able to'
or 'manage to' to talk about something that was
possible on a specific occasion in the past. See
the PDF for a couple more examples. We also use
'could' to make requests. It's more formal and
more polite than 'can'. For example—'Excuse me,
could you help me look for my glasses? I can't
see a thing without them!' And we use 'could'
to talk about things that are possible in
the present or future. 'My glasses could
be in my bag. It's like a black hole
in there!' Okay, another modal verb
with similar functions—'might'. In formal
language, we use 'might' to make requests.
'Might I borrow your umbrella for a moment?'
Now, this isn't really common in everyday
speech. 'Can' or 'could' are used much more
often. We use 'might' to make deductions when
we're not sure. We can use all of our modals of
deduction to talk about the past as well as the
present and future. The structure to talk about
the past is modal + 'have' + past participle.
An example—'Where's the fish we're having for
dinner? Not sure. The cat might've eaten it.'
And we can use 'might' + base verb to
talk about things that are possible
in the present or future. 'I might
not go to Spain this summer.' And—'I
might head to Italy to practice my Italian
instead.' Okay, that sounds really nice.
Brilliant. So are there any other ways to talk
about possibility? Yes! 'We may have to reschedule
the meeting if the boss doesn't arrive soon.' Now,
do you think 'may' is more or less formal than
'might' or 'could'? It is more formal. We also
use 'may' to ask for permission, and again, it's
quite formal. An example—'May I use the conference
room to make a personal call?' Even more formally,
we use 'may' to give and refuse permission.
'Yes, you may.' 'No, you may not.' And we
use 'may' to make deductions about things we
think are probably true but we're not sure.
For example—'Oh, dear, the boss looks
annoyed. She may not be happy that we
canceled the meeting. Or she may just be
annoyed that we ate all the doughnuts.'
Who knows? Note that we tend to use 'might'
more often in speech. Okay, that's clear,
but what if we're sure something is true?
We might say something like this—'The boss
must be annoyed that we canceled the meeting
because she came all the way from Berlin.'
We use 'must' to make deductions when we
are certain about something. And remember,
when making deductions, the opposite
of 'must' is 'can't', not 'must not'.
When we're unsure, we use 'may', 'might'
and 'could'. Now, are there any other ways
we use 'must'? Yes, we use 'must' to talk
about obligations. Often things we think
are important for us to do. And these are
often called internal obligations because I
think it's important to do it. 'I must call my
dad later. It's his birthday.' And we use 'must'
and 'mustn't'—notice the pronunciation there,
I don't pronounce the first 't' 'mustn't'—to
talk about rules and laws. Let's imagine we're
going to the cinema. 'You must put your phone
on silent mode while the film is playing.' Or—'You
mustn't talk loudly during the film.' We can also
use 'must' to make strong suggestions. 'You
must try the cheddar jalapeno popcorn -
it's delicious! We stress the modal verb
with this meaning—'You must try it.' The
flappy hand is optional, but I like it for
emphasis. 'You must try it.' Note that we
don't usually stress modals in the present.
'You must try it' is an exception. Okay,
let's pause here for a moment and check what
you've learnt so far with a little quiz.
Complete the sentences with the modal verb that
best fits the gap and don't forget to conjugate
it. That was a trick. We're not changing the
modal verbs here. We use their base form to
make things even trickier. Sometimes,
more than one verb is possible. Ready,
1—'When I was at school, I _ speak
French fairly well.' Have a little think.
This is a past ability so the answer is 'could'.
Number 2—'I'm sure it _ be difficult for English
speakers to learn Mandarin.' This is
a deduction and I'm sure it is true so
the answer is 'must'. Number 3—'Try watching
your favorite K-dramas in Korean! You _ learn
a bit of the language.' Number 3 expresses a
possibility and 3 options could fit the gap.
You could say 'might'. You could also say 'may'.
And you could also say 'could'. Number 4— '_ you
teach me a few phrases in Arabic?' This is a
request, and there are 2 possibilities. You
could say 'can' or 'could'. Now, do you remember
which one is more formal? It's 'could'. Okay,
last question now and then we'll move
on to the next part of the lesson.
Number 5—'I really _ tidy the kitchen
this afternoon; it's such a mess.' This
is something I think I really need to do
so it is an internal obligation. 'Must'
best completes the gap. How did you do?
Keep a note of your score as we're going
to do another little quiz later and then
you can share it in the comment section.
But for now we have 4 more modal verbs
to go. We're over halfway there. Before
the quiz we were talking about how to use
'must'. Now, we're looking at 'should' and
it's used similarly to 'must'. In some
ways, though it's less strong. We use
'should' to talk about obligations and the
right or wrong thing to do. For example—'You
should always wear your seatbelt on the
plane.' Or—'We shouldn't call Sarah now.
It's after midnight.' We also use 'should' to
make suggestions and give and ask for advice.
For example—'You look exhausted. You should
take a nap.' Or—'Should we get a taxi to the
airport?' Another way we use 'should' is to
express expectations. For example—'The flight
should be on time.' Or—'Shouldn't Alice be here
by now? She said she'd be arriving an hour ago.'
We can also make suggestions using
'shall' and this modal verb is one
that really tends to confuse my students.
Don't worry, I'll sort it out for you. We
usually use 'shall' with 'I' and 'we'. For
example—'Shall we go to the beach today?'
We can also ask for advice. 'What should we
do with all the sandwiches we didn't eat?'
And we use 'shall' to make offers. 'Shall I
help you with them?' Now, here's an important
note used like this 'shall' is fairly common in
British English, but it's not that common in North
American English. Speakers of that variety
often use 'should' or another verb instead.
Let's stick with offers now and look at our next
verb and also the name of my husband—'will'. An
example—'I'll drive tomorrow so you can enjoy
the views.' That is something Will would say,
I hate driving. In spoken sentences, we almost
always contract 'will' to 'll, apostrophe l-l, and
will not to won't. We also use 'will' or
'won't' to make promises? 'I won't be late
to pick you up. I promise.' We use it to make
statements and predictions about the future.
'The hike'll be stunning in this gorgeous
sunshine.' And what about this sentence
here? What's the function? 'Will you pack up
some snacks, please?' Yep, this is a request,
we use 'will' to make requests. Okay, are you
still with me? Can we talk about our final modal
verb 'would'? Note the pronunciation there, I
don't pronounce the 'l'—/ʊ/, 'would', 'would'.
Now, like 'will' we use word to make requests
but which one is more polite and less direct?
Listen to these 2 examples—'Will you pass me
the map? Would you pass me the map?' I might
have given you a clue with my body language.
'Would' is more polite. We can also use 'would'
to give advice. For example—'If I
were you, I'd turn the map around.
You've got it the wrong way up.' Now, this
sentence also demonstrates another use of
'would' expressing a hypothetical situation.
We can use 'would' to talk about hypothetical
situations in the present, past or future. An
example—'So, what would you do if I said we
were lost?' And finally, 'would' is used as
the past form of 'will' in indirect speech.
For example, direct speech—'We'll find
the path again. I promise.' Indirect
speech—'He promised that we would find the path
again.' Okay, shall we do one more short quiz?
Just 3 questions this time and then you can share
your score in the comment section. You ready?
What is the function of the modal verb in these
sentences? 1—'Are you coming for dinner tomorrow?
I'll make sure there's a vegetarian
option.' Is it a request or a promise?
It's a promise. Number 2—'I'd make a dessert
if I had more time.' What is the function of
'would' here—to express a hypothetical
situation or to make a request? Yes,
it is a hypothetical situation. And finally—'You
should ask Pete to make his famous trifle!'
Is this advice or an expectation? It is advice.
Trifle is always a classic. So, how did you do?
Add your score from before and let me know in the
comments! I really hope you feel more confident
about using modals now. And remember, I have
created your free PDF Modals Study Guide. Just
click on the link in the description box or scan
the QR code here if you'd like to download that.
Remember, you get a link to a secret
interactive exercise pack too,
so you can really practice what you've
learnt. Thank you so much for being my
student today. It was a pleasure to teach you
and I'll see you in the next lesson! Muah!
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About this lesson
A complete overview of English modal verbs, explaining form, meaning, and common uses.