Modal Verbs ;General Rules

Hello,dear learners!

Today we 'll start  learning modal verbs.

What are modal verbs? How are they different from other verbs?

Firstly, let's name them: can,could,must,might,may,will,would, shall, should, ought.

• Modal verbs don't express any action, they show how a person refers to the action,which is expressed by the followed  verb . The last verb is an infinitive without to

You should read more. You should to read more.
You must finish it by Monday. You must to finish it by Monday.

•  Modal verbs express ability (can,could), obligation (must), probability (should,ought), possibility (can, could,may,might), etc.

•  They don't have to- infinitive forms:

must not to must ,can not to can

• They do not take any suffixes (-s, -ing, -ed)

She can write it now.
He can swim well.

• Most modal verbs do not  have tenses, they  refer to the present or the future .

You are ill. You should drink hot tea. (present)
You should visit a doctor tomorrow. (future)

• We don't  use any auxiliary verbs in questions and nagations with modal verbs:

Can I help you?
She can't carry her bags herself.
You shouldn't  go to bed late!

For the past action we should use the equivalents of modal verbs:

can - could- be able to

Can is the only modal verb which has the past form could,
but at the same time we use  its equivalent  be able to  in the past:
He could read when he was six.
He was able to solve this problem.

must - have to

may -to be allowed to 

  All the equivalents of modal verbs can be used in Present,Past and Future tenses. To know more about the peculiarities of their using I advise you to read new lessons in this blog.

Next time we'll learn more about can-could -be able to. Hope to see you here.