Modal Auxiliary Verbs a Summary
We do not use modal auxiliaries to talk about situations that exist or have happened but to talk about the possibility, the necessity etc., of something happening
1. can
| Use | Examples |
|---|---|
| ability to do sth. in the present (substitute form: to be able to) | I can speak Spanish. |
| permission to do sth. in the present (substitute form: to be allowed to) | Can I go to the park? |
| request | Can you wait for me, please? |
| offer | I can give you a lift. |
| suggestion | Can we go to the beach on Saturday? |
| possibility | It can get very cold in winter. |
2. could
| Use | Examples |
|---|---|
| ability to do sth. in the past (substitute form: to be able to) | I could speak Spanish. |
| permission to do sth. in the past (substitute form: to be allowed to) | I could go to the park. |
| polite question * | Could you tell me the time, please? |
| polite request * | Could you wait for me, please? |
| polite offer * | I could give you a lift. |
| polite suggestion * | Could we go to the beach on Saturday? |
| possibility * | It could get very hot in summer. |
3. may
| Use | Examples |
|---|---|
| possibility | It may snow at the weekend. |
| permission to do sth. in the present (substitute form: to be allowed to) | May I go to the park? |
| polite suggestion | May I help you? |
4. might
| Use | Examples |
|---|---|
| possibility (less possible than may) * | It might snow at the weekend. |
| hesitant offer * | Might I help you? |
5. must
| Use | Examples |
|---|---|
| force, necessity | I must go to the bank. |
| possibility | You must be tired. |
| advice, recommendation | You must try the new restaurant. |
6. must not/may not
| Use | Examples |
|---|---|
| prohibition (must is a little stronger) | You mustn’t play football here. |
| You may not play football here. |
7. need not
| Use | Examples |
|---|---|
| sth. is not necessary | I needn’t go to bank, I found some money in my coat. |
8. ought to
simliar to should – ought to sounds a little less subjective
| Use | Examples |
|---|---|
| advice | You ought to drive carefully in the rain. |
| obligation | You ought to leave a tip, he was a very good waiter. |
9. shall
used instead of will in the 1st person
| Use | Examples |
|---|---|
| suggestion | Shall I call a taxi? |
10. should
| Use | Examples |
|---|---|
| advice | You should drive carefully in the rain. |
| obligation | You should leave a tip, he was a very good waiter. |
11. will
| Use | Examples |
|---|---|
| wish, request, demand, order (less polite than would) | Will you please sit down? |
| prediction, assumption | I think it will snow on Saturday. |
| promise | I will stop drinking. |
| spontaneous decision | Can somebody answer the door? – I will. |
| habits | He’s strange, he‘ll sit for hours in the dark. |
12. would
| Use | Examples |
|---|---|
| wish, request (more polite than will) | Would you sit down, please? |
| habits in the past | Sometimes he would sit for hours in the dark. |
* These are no past forms, they refer to the future.