MODALS & MODAL PERFECTS 1º BACH

MODALS & MODAL PERFECTS

WHAT IS MODALITY?

WHAT IS MODALITY? We can express: Ability /certainty/ permission/ obligation/ necessity/ prohibition....

MODAL VERBS

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THINGS WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MODAL VERBS: 1º They are "invariable"(same form for all the grammatical persons). We do not add -s to the 3rd person singular) ex: I can, she can, we can.... he cans, he shoulds Exceptions: I have to go /She has to study You will be able to speak English

2º They are followed by a bare infinitive (infinitive without to): ex: I can drive, she should't smoke

Exception : have to , be able to, need to

3º To make them negative we add NOT( N'T). No auxiliaries needed ex: they don't can fly, She doesn't must go BUT: they can't fly, she mustn't go

CAN Ability in the present: I can speak English Request, Permission: Can I go to the toilet, please? Possibility: She can take the bus to work

CAN'TInability: I can't play the piano Prohibition: You can't smoke here Disbelief, deduction: She can't be wealthy. she lives in a slum. Disbelif

COULDAbility in the past: I couldn't speak when I was 5. Possibility: She couldn't go to the party. Polite permission, request : Could I go to the toilet, please?

SHOULD/ SHOULDN'T / OUGHT TOAdvice, opinion: You should cut down on coffee. She shouldn't smoke.

MUSTObligation, necessity: You must do the homework Logical deduction/certainty that sth is true: She lives in a palace, she must be a princess.

MUSTN'TProhibition: You mustn't run in the school corridors. you mustn't draw graffiti on public buildings

HAVE TO / NEED TO Obligation: She has to pass the driving test to drive a car. DON'T HAVE TO/ DON'T NEED TO / NEEDN'T Absence of obligation/ necessity: You don't have to / needn't bring anything to the party.

WOULD Formal request: Would yo stop cutting into the conversation, please? Offer: Would you like to help keep the streets clean?

MUST (deber) MUSTN'T(obligation) (prohibition)HAVE TO(tener que) DON'T HAVE TO/ DON'T NEED TO (obligation) (absence of obligation)

BE ABLE TOAbility/possibility in any tense: ex: He is able to cook really well. ex: I will be able to drive a car in 2025. ex: She was able to speak when she was 2.

MAY/ MIGHT (less probable)Possibility/ probability in the future: ex: We may be living in a different city next year. Polite request /permission: ex: May I have some tea? / May I come in?

MODAL PERFECTS modal+ have+ past participle

COULD HAVE

Ability to do something in the past , but which wasn't done.He could have studied Physics, but he decided on Chemistry.

COULDN'T HAVE

certainty that something is impossible (or didn't happen)He couldn't have been at the concert- he's been at the hospital all week.

MUST HAVE

Certainty that something was true. He has passed the exam, so he must have studied hard.

SHOULD HAVE

Criticism or regret after an event. I should have learned to play an instrument when I was young. (lamento no haberlo hecho)

SHOULDN'T HAVE

criticism or regret after an event. We shouldn't have come by car- there's so much traffic!

WOULD HAVE

willingness (disposición/inclinación) or desire to do something, but which wasn't actually done.I would have gone to the concert, but I couldn't get a ticket.

MAY/ MIGHT NOT HAVE

a guess (suposición) about a past action. He may have lost the tickets (puede que haya perdido las entradas)

NEEDN'T HAVE

to express that there was no obligation or necessity to do osomethingYou needn't have bought me flowers! That's very kind of you. (no tenías por qué haberme comprado flores)

THAT'S ALL FOLKS!!!!