modal verbs

Modal verbs

The language of asking favors, making offers and request, ask, give and refuse permission

To tell or ask someone to do something

To ask for permission

To give permission

To offer to do things or to invite

Situation 1

Situation 2

To express a strong personal obligation (It comes from the free will of the speaker)

To express an impersonal obligation or give an instruction (it comes from another person not the speaker)

To express that something is forbidden, it´s a prohibition.

To express that something is not really an obligation

Must, mustn´t, have to & don´t have to

The language of expressing ability (past, present, future)

To express ability in the present

To express ability in the past

To express ability in the future

The past modals should have, would have & could have

have (verb in the infinitive form without to)

The verb in past participle form

should would could

Subject

Example

To express something we did or didn´t do so we regret

To express something that was possible but it didn´t happens

To express something we imagine as a result