Learn about the English modal verbs.

Can.

We use can to say what we are able to do.

E.g. I can swim.

E.g. Can you swim?

The verb "can" does not change after he, she or it.

E.g. He can swim.

can not = can't = cannot

E.g. I can not speak Japanese. = I can't speak Japanese. = I cannot speak Japanese.

The past tense of can is "could"

E.g. When I was twenty I could run quickly, but now I am forty and I can only run slowly.

As well as "could" we can use "was/were able to" as the past tense of can.

"Was/Were able to" means could do it and did do it. Usually we are talking about one event.

I was able to finish all of my work before five o'clock.

"Was/Were able to" with "not" = Was/Were not able to.

Due to bad weather, we were not able to travel on the ferry.

"Was/Were able to" in a question = Was/Were + noun/pronoun + able to + base form of verb...?

E.g. Were you able to see everything in the museum?

The future tense of can is "will be able to"

E.g. If I study English every day, I will be able to speak it very well.

"Will be able to" with "not" = Will not be able to.

E.g. If I don't study enough, I will not be able to pass the exam.

will be able to in a question = Will + noun/pronoun + be able to...?

E.g. Will you be able to come on Friday? = Can you come on Friday?

"can't have" + past participle.

We use "can't have" + past participle to say that we believe something did not happen, althought we don't know for certain.

E.g. Julian's bag is still here, he can't have gone home.

"couldn't have" + past participle = "can't have" + past participle.

Could.

Could has four uses: they are the past tense of can, asking permission, suggestions and talking about what is possible.

Could as the past tense of can is explained above.

We can use "could" to ask for something politely.

E.g. Could I borrow a pen?

We can use "could" to make suggestions.

E.g. We could go to the market on Friday.

We can use "could" to talk about what is possible now or in the future.

E.g. If they play well, Chelsea could win the league.

E.g. The telephone is ringing, it could be Julian.

We use "could have" + past participle of verb to talk about two things.

Firstly to talk about what was possible in the past, but didn't happen.

E.g. You were driving too quickly, you could have been killed.

Secondly to talk about what might have happened in the past, but we are not certain about. In this case "could have" means the same as "might have" or "may have"

E.g. Julian could have left for America yesterday, but I'm not sure because I wasn't here.

If I use the words "couldn't have" + past participle then I am almost certain that something did not happen.

E.g. Julian couldn't have done it, he wasn't here yesterday.

Could + there/noun/pronoun + have + past participle...?

We use these words to ask about what might have happened in the past.

E.g. Could the dog have eaten it? = Do you think that the dog ate it?

Test yourself with our quiz on can and could.

The word "might" means the same as "may". It is used to talk about what is possible or to make suggestions.

We can use "might" + base form of verb to talk about what is possible now or in the future.

E.g. If they play well, Chelsea might win the league.

E.g. The telephone is ringing, it might be Julian.

We use "might have" + past participle of verb to talk about two things.

Firstly to talk about what was possible in the past, but didn't happen.

E.g. You were driving too quickly, you might have been killed.

Secondly to talk about what might have happened in the past, but we are not certain about.

E.g. Julian might have left for America yesterday, but I'm not sure because I wasn't here.

The word "might" can also have the same meaning as "should"

E.g. You might just want to call him. = You should call him.

May.

The word "may" is used to talk about possibilities, to make suggestions, to ask for permission, to give permission, to forbid and to make requests.

The word "may" joins with "be" to make "maybe", which means perhaps or possibly.

Possibilities with the word "may".

E.g. If they play well, Chelsea may win the league.

E.g. The telephone is ringing, maybe it's Julian.

We can use "may" to talk about what might have happened in the past, but we are not certain about.

E.g. Julian may have left for America yesterday, but I'm not sure because I wasn't here.

E.g. Maybe Julian left for America yesterday, but I'm not sure because I wasn't here.

Suggestions with the word "may".

The word "may" can also have the same meaning as "should"

E.g. You may just want to call him. = You should call him.

"May" is often used for permission;

to request permission:

E.g. May I leave at five o'clock today?

to make a request:

E.g. May I have a cup of tea, please?

to permit:

E.g. Yes, you may.

E.g. You may leave at four o'clock.

and to forbid:

E.g. You may not leave before six o'clock. = You must not leave before six o'clock

Test yourself with our quiz on might and may.

The word "will" is used with the future tense. Have a look at our tenses page to see.

Two other uses of "will" are to give orders and to show refusal.

to give orders:

E.g. You will come to work before eight o'clock every day. = You must come to work before eight o'clock every day.

E.g. You will not leave the site without the manager's permission. = You must not leave the site without the manager's permission.

to show refusal:

E.g. The engine will not start. = The engine does not start when I try to start it.

E.g. I will not let you come late. = I do not allow you to come late.

If we are surprised at something, we might say:

You will not believe.....

Shall

The word "shall" is like the word "will". With the future tense it can be used in the same way.

The word "shall" is not used much. The most common use is for offers and suggestions.

We use "Shall I...?" when we offer to do something.

E.g. Shall I tell them the news?

E.g. Shall I come at six o'clock?

We use "Shall we...?" to make suggestions.

E.g. Shall we go to the cinema this evening?

E.g. Shall we go for lunch?(now)

Would.

The word "would" can be used to talk about past habits, make offers and requests, to show refusal in the past, to talk about what might happen or might be done and to be polite.

"Would" describes past habits, this does not work with "not" or in question form.

E.g. He would go for a walk every Sunday afternoon.

Would is often used to make polite offers and requests.

E.g. Would you like some tea? = Do you want some tea?

E.g. I would like a cup of coffee. = I want a cup of coffee.

We can use "would" to politely refuse something.

E.g. I would not like any more coffee, thank you. = I don't want any more coffee, thank you.

E.g. I would prefer not to go on the trip. = I prefer not to go on the trip.

"Would rather" means prefer, but it is more polite.

E.g. I would rather not to go on the trip. = I prefer not to go on the trip.

E.g. He would rather not to go on the trip. = He prefers not to go on the trip.

E.g. I think that she would rather go home. = I think that she wants to go home.

E.g. Would you rather have Pizza for lunch or Sandwiches? = Do you want Pizza or Sandwiches for lunch?

We can use "would" to say what might be done in a situation.

E.g. If I were you, I would accept the job offer.

E.g. If John knew about this, he would be furious.

E.g. If I had enough money, I would buy a house in London.

E.g. If someone offered me a cigarette, I would not take it.

These four examples are known as the second conditional: you can learn about it here.

E.g. Would you live in Scotland?

We can also use "would" to say what might have been done in a past situation.

If I had been offered the job, I would have taken it.

If I had been offered the job, I would not have taken it.

If you had been offered the job, would you have taken it?

These three examples are known as the third conditional: to learn about it click here.

We use "would" so that we don't have to promise anything.

E.g. Matthew will do it if you ask him. (certain)

E.g. Matthew would do it if you asked him. (I think, but don't promise.)

Notice here that asked is in the past tense.

E.g. Lisa won't come. (certain)

E.g. Lisa wouldn't come.

(I think that if I invite her, she won't come. Although it is possible.)

"Wouldn't" can also be used to show refusal in the past.

E.g. Lisa wouldn't come. = Lisa refused to come.

(The same sentence can have two meanings, depending on if we are talking about the past or the present.)

"Would" can be used to say something and show that we are not completely certain about it.

E.g. I would think that she knows about it.

E.g I would not imagine that he would like it.

To say that we expect something to happen, we might say:

I would have thought...

E.g. Do you think Ian will take the job? I would have thought so. (meaning yes)

E.g. Do you think Ian will take the job? I wouldn't have thought so. (meaning no)

"Wouldn't" = "would not"

If we are surprised at something we might say:

Would you believe it?

or to give surprising news:

You wouldn't believe.....

Test yourself with our quiz on will, shall and would.

The word "should" is used to say that something is the best thing to do.

E.g. You should exercise three times a week.

E.g. You should not smoke.

E.g. Should I open the window?

"Should have" + past participle.

This is the past tense of "should". It is used to talk about what was the best thing to do in the past. This is not usually what was done.

E.g. I should have saved more money. I would have my own house by now if I had.

E.g. I should not have driven so fast. I would not have crashed my car if I had driven more slowly.

E.g. Should I have left earlier?

The phrase "had better" has the same meaning as should.

E.g. I had better get back to work.

E.g. You had better not be late.

E.g. You had better have finished it by tomorrow. = You should have finished it by tomorrow.

E.g. You had better not have eaten all of the cake = I hope that you have not eaten all of the cake.

You should not have eaten all of the cake. = You ate all of the cake, but you should not have eaten it.

In question form the phrase "had better" takes the form:

Hadn't + there/noun/pronoun + better + verb +...?

E.g. Hadn't we better leave at nine o'clock?

"Hadn't" = "Had not".

Ought

The word "ought" means should.

It is used in four ways, which are "ought to", "ought not to", "ought to have" and "ought not to have"

E.g. You ought to help her more. = You should help her more.

E.g. You ought not to be late so often. = You should not be late so often.

E.g. You ought to have helped her more. = You should have helped her more. (In the past you didn't help her enough.)

E.g. You ought not to have told him. = You told him, but you should not have told him.

We don't usually use "ought" in questions.

Test yourself with our quiz on should and ought.

When we must do something, we cannot choose if we want to do it.

The word "must" can be used in the phrases "must not", "must have" + past participle and "must be"

Must + base form of verb.

E.g. You must leave the house before six o'clock to catch that train.

Must not + base form of verb.

E.g. You must not be late tommorow.

Must in a question. Use "Must" + there/noun/pronoun + base form of verb.

E.g. Must I do all of this work by myself?

Must have + past participle.

We use "must have" to talk about events we are certain happened in the past, but did not see or hear.

E.g. Julian is not here. He must have gone home already. (We did not see Julian go home.)

"must have" with not = mustn't have

E.g. The parcel has not arrived yet, he mustn't have sent it on time.

We don't usually use "must have" with questions.

Must be.

We use "must be" to talk about things we know to be true, but cannot see or hear.

E.g. The telephone is ringing, it must be your father.

"Had to", "Have to", "Will have to" and "Have got to"

All of these are followed by the base form of the verb.

We use "had to" to talk about duties we had in the past.

E.g. When I was at school, I had to get up at seven o'clock every morning.

"Had to" with "not" = "did not have to" it means we could choose not to do it.

E.g. When I was at university, I did not have to do homework every night. I had some nights free.

"had to" in a question = did + therenoun/pronoun + have to?

E.g. When you worked in London, did you have to get up early?

"Have to." is like "must." We use "have to" for daily duties and "must" for rules and things we must do once.

E.g. I have to get up at six o'clock every morning. = I must get up at six o'clock every morning. (Here "have to" sounds more natural than "must" )

"Have to" with "not" = "do/does not have to" it means we could choose not to do it. It is not the same as "must not".

E.g. I do not have to be at work before eight o'clock every day.

"have to" in a question = do/does + there/noun/pronoun + have to?

E.g. Do you have to get up early? = Must you get early.

There is a small difference here. "Do you have to...?" asks about our daily duties.

Using the phrase "Must you...?" suggests we don't like the thing that must be done.

Also, if we say the word "have" louder than all of the other words, this suggests that we don't like the thing that must be done.

"have got to" has the meaning as "have to", but we arrange the words differently.

E.g. I have got to go home now. = I must go home now.

"have got to" with "not" = "have/has not got to"

E.g. He hasn't got to get up early now that he's retired.

"have got to" in a question = "Have/Has + there/noun/pronoun + got to..?"

E.g. Have I got to be here by six o'clock? (We can use "have got to" in a question for daily duties or things we must do once.)

Test yourself with our quiz on "must" and "have to".

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