|
Learn English
Changing the mood of a sentence
(modals)
In English, you can show what you feel about a
situation by using words such as may,
will, would, might, can and could.
These words can change the meaning of a sentence and show that something
is possible, necessary, uncertain, or intended.
"For example, "I'll go shopping
tomorrow" shows that you intend to go tomorrow.
"I might go shopping tomorrow"
shows that perhaps you will go tomorrow, but you don't know for sure.
When you use these words, remember:
* They are followed by the verb without to.
* You don't need an 's' for the third person singular: "He
might come to the party." (Not
"he mights come to the party".)
* You can make a question by putting the word before the person, not by
using 'do' or 'have': "Could you help
me?" (Not "do you could help me?")
* You can make a negative form by adding a form of
not to the word:
can becomes
can't
will becomes
won't
might becomes
might not (or
mightn't)
may becomes
may not
could becomes
couldn't.
How possible
something is
"The company might relocate next
year."
"We may have to wait an hour for
dinner in this restaurant."
"It can get very cold here in
winter."
"We could all live to be 100
years old in theory."
How certain
something is
"She'll get promoted next year."
"He won't agree to that idea."
"You must be our new neighbor."
"If you left now, you would get
the train."
Offers and requests
"Shall I open the door for you?"
"I'll cook dinner, if you like."
"Could you help me?"
"Can you pass me the salt,
please?"
Permission
"Can I open the window, please?"
"You may now look at your exam
papers." (This is formal.)
Ability
"I can cook, but I can't drive."
"I couldn't speak French very
well when I was at school."
Using should, must
and need
These words help you to talk about rules, obligation and advice.
Should
We use should to give advice.
"If you want to learn English, you
should practice as much as possible."
We can also use should to talk
about what we expect to happen.
"He should be here by now - he
left over an hour ago."
The negative of should is
shouldn't.
"You shouldn't eat so much
chocolate - it's bad for you."
Must
We use must to talk about
obligation.
"I must call my grandmother today
- it's her birthday."
If you want to say the opposite - that there is no obligation to do
something, use don't have to or
don't need to.
"You don't have to wash the car -
I'll do it."
"You don't need to put the
rubbish out - I've already done it."
We can also use must to talk
about what we think is logically certain.
"You must be tired after all that
travelling."
If you want to say that something is logically impossible, use
can't.
"Who's that at the door? It can't be
the postman - he's already been."
Mustn't means that it is not
allowed to do something.
"You mustn't feed animals in the
zoo - it's not allowed."
Should have done
Look at this example dialogue:
"You know… my car was broken into yesterday."
"How terrible. What did you do?"
"Oh, nothing."
"You should have called the
police."
We use the pattern should have done
to talk about what we think would have been the best thing to do.
However, the past event we are talking about cannot be changed. So the
pattern after should is
have done - not
should do.
In the example dialogue, the person didn't contact the police yesterday
(in the past), so you can't change the situation. You can only say what
action would have been the best in this situation.
Note
When you use this construction, be careful not to say
should had done.
<< Grammar
and Tenses
|
