Its negative form, “ may not”, is often used to talk about not giving permission. However, may is much more polite than “can” or “could”. The use of “may” as a modal verb is to talk about permission in the present, to make suggestions and to talk about possibilities as well. I couldn’t jump very high when I was little. I could go to the market with you if you’d like.Ĭowy was free at the moment, so she could go to the movies with her. It can also be used to talk about possibilities, but not as strong possibility that the one expressed with “can”. Also, just like the modal verb “can”, the modal verb “could” can be used to make questions, requests, suggestions or offers, but in a more polite way. It can be used to talk about ability and permission in the past. This verb has many different possible uses. Lisa can come early if you want, she doesn’t have homework today. Additionally, in its negative form, “ can’t” or “cannot”, it can be used to express inability or impossibility.īilly can play the piano since he was 6 years old. The verb “can” is used to express ability, possibility, to make a request or to ask for permission, and it can even be used to make an offer or a suggestion. Most of the time, each modal verb can have more than one use and in these cases, their meanings can vary. How to use modal verbs in EnglishĮach one of the modal verbs has its own use and meaning in English. When using the modal verbs, the infinitive “to” shouldn’t be written in the sentence, and the second verb will always go after the modal that is being used. The main function of the modal verbs is to modify another verb to fit one of the aforementioned modalities. One of the particularities of the modal verbs is that they don’t work by themselves, on the contrary, they have to be accompanied by another verb in order to make sense. They can also be used to form the future tense in English and to make conditional sentences. Each one of the modal verbs can be used to express one or more of these modalities. In English, the modal verbs are used to express ability, possibility, permission or obligation. Would / shall / should / must Uses of the modal verbs in English

This means that by using the modal verbs, a person is able to communicate different claims while stating the commitment they have to those claims. The modal verbs in English are very particular, they share some characteristics that make them unique, but all of them have the same principle in common: they talk about modality, which is the attitude the speaker has about the situation he or she is describing. One of these groups of words is the modal verbs. Depending on the intention of these ideas, many different words or groups of words can be used to express what a person wants to say. There are lots of ways to communicate thoughts and ideas while talking. Playlearn in English with the Lingokids App!

Modal verbs exercises esl