MODAL VERBS

 

THE MODAL VERBS ARE:   can, could / may, might / will, would /

                                      shall, should / must / had better / ought to

 

The special quality about modals is that they are not conjugated

differently for 3rd person sing. present tense (there is no added "s")

and in the interrogative and negative, the modals act as auxiliaries

(It is not necessary to add do, does, or did).  Also, the modals

act themselves as future forms.

 

          Example:  CAN (+ go)    /   Present (or future) Tense

	AFFIRM­ATIVE­	INTERROGATIVE	NEGATIVE
I	I can go	Can I go?	I can't (cannot) go
YOU	You can go	Can you go?	You can't go
HE/SHE	He can go	Can he/she go?	He/She can't go
WE	We can go	Can we go?	We can't go
THEY	They can go	Can they go?	They can't go

 

The modal contractions are:                            cannot       = can't

                                                                      could not    = couldn't

                                                                      will not     = won't

                                                                      would not    = wouldn't

                                                                      shall not    = shan't

                                                                      should not   = shouldn't

                                                                      must not     = mustn't

                                                                      ought not to = oughtn't to

 

                    •may not, might not, and had better not  have no con­tracted forms

 

                              •the interrogative of had better is "Had we better ...?" and

                               the interrogative of ought to is "Ought I to ...?". However

                               these forms are not used very often.

 

          have to  is sometimes considered a modal, but unlike

          the others, the 3rd person sing. form (present tense) takes

          an "s"  (He has to ....), and the interrogative and negative

          forms in the present and past tenses require the appropriate

          form of "to do". The past of have to is had to.

 

	AFFIRMATIVE	INTERROGATIVE	NEGATIVE
I	I have to go	Do I have to go?	I don't have to go.
YOU	You have to go	Do you have to go?	You don't have to go.
HE/SHE	He/She has to go.	Does he/she have to go?	He/She doesn't have to go.
WE	We have to go	Do we have to go?	We don't have to go.
THEY	They have to go	Do they have to go?	They don't have to go

NoNonsense English
© Copyright 2001 by Eric Squire