Modals

The following notes are about modals

MODALS are used to express shades of meaning.

1. WILL is used to convey

• Polite Request -------- Will you help me, please?
• Promise ---------------- I will phone you, okay?
• Future Time ----------- Father will come home tomorrow.

2. WOULD is used to express :

• Polite Request -------- Would you show me the way?
• Past tense of will ------ I would help you if you asked me.

3. SHALL is used to express :

• Request (Is it a good thing to do?) ------ Shall I answer the phone? No, it's OK, I'll answer it.

4. SHOULD is used to express :

• Suggestion ------------- You should see a doctor when you're sick.
• Advisability ----------- You should pay tax on time.

5. CAN is used to convey :

• Permission ------------- I'll finish the job myself. You can go home.
• Possibility -------------- Mother is sick. She can be well soon.
• Ability ------------------ She has practiced a lot. She can swim fast.

6. COULD conveys :

• Request ----------------- Could you tell me your name?
• Past ability ------------- When I was young, I could play football very well.

7. MAY is used to express :

• Permission ------------- Don't worry, you may use my money.
• Possibility  ------------- Ardiant is absent today. He may be sick.

8. MIGHT is used to express :

• Possibility -------------- You should take an umbrella. It might rain.
• Past tense of may ----- She might go somewhere when I looked for her.

9. MUST is used to convey :

• Obligation / necessity ------ You must go to bank. We haven't got any money.
• Conclusion ------------------ Andi is not here. He must be somewhere.

10. MUST = HAS TO/HAVE TO

• You have to go to the bank. We haven't got any money.
• Anita has to work as her parents are poor.

11. We put "NOT" after modal for negative sentences. 

• We must not speak rudely to our parents.
• She cannot sing at all.