We use must to talk about obligations and when we are sure something is true ( deduction). These modal verbs are usually used to express obligation and possibility. I have never been able to understand this subject!.The President is able to veto laws if he chooses to do so.She will be able to buy some new shoes soon.We use be able to in formal sentences and with the perfect tenses and other modal verbs. If we have enough time, we could go to the park later.Many years ago, people could travel without passports.When I was young, I could eat tons of ice cream!.
We use could to talk about what we were able to do in the past and to talk about ability in conditionals. She can help you with your homework later today.We use can to talk about things that we are able to do in the present or the immediate future. These modal verbs are usually used to show ability. They contain complete lesson plans with absolutely everything you need to teach or learn the modal verbs in English. In these worksheets, we will review the following groups of verbs:įor complete information on modal verbs, you can try our English Modal Verbs Series. In English, we use modal verbs all the time! It is very important to understand the different ways that we can use each verb. Modal verbs are special kinds of verbs in English that express ability, permission, obligation, possibility, and polite requests. First, we will look at some examples, and then you can practice with the exercises. When you speak of a minor obligation or a subjective opinion , you must resort to the modal verb “should” which, in fact, is the most used.These worksheets will help you review how and when to use modal verbs.If it is a higher moral obligation , which has legal consequences or is more rigid then the correct modal verb is “ought to”.To know which of the two to use in certain circumstances, you must think about the kind of obligation you want to express .You should keep in mind that these verbs can be interchangeable on some occasions. However, ” ought to” is more formal and rarely used in everyday speech.
The difference with the modal verb “ought to” is that it is usually used to express moral obligation or responsibility , also when we speak of an objective truth . In this case the phrase does not refer to what we personally think about a matter but to a reality in itself. You should have seen her, she was very angry.You shouldn’t have prepared that pork because she is vegetarian.Subject + should / shouldn’t + have + past participle verb.
The modal verb “should” can also be used in the past tense. It serves to speak of an obligation in the past that we believe should have been carried out but it was not . For this, the auxiliary verb “have” and the main verb in the past participle are used.