MODALS 4º ESO

Hello my dear students of 4º ESO!!

Today we're going to learn about the modal verbs. They're very easy to use but we need to know how they work and the differences of meaning that they have.

1. Here's a list of the modal verbs we're going to see today:

•  can/can't
•  could/couldn't 
•  be able to
  
•  must 
•  mustn't
•  should/shouldn´t
•  don't have to
•  don't need to
•  may/might

2. Modals are different from normal verbs and they have some things in common:

1: They don't use an 's' for the third person singular.
2: They make questions by inversion ('she can go' becomes 'can she go?').
3: They are followed directly by the infinitive of another verb (without 'to').

3. Structure of the modals:

Modals usually follow the same structure,(except be able to, don't have to and don't need to) which is the following:

AFFIRMATIVE: SUBJECT + MODAL + VERB + COMPLEMENT. 

Example: She can play the piano.

NEGATIVE: SUBJECT + MODAL + NOT + VERB + COMPLEMENT

Example: James can not/can't play football.*

*As you can see, with the modals we can use an abbreviated form in the negative structure. (can not=can't, could not=couldn't, must not =mustn't, should not =shouldn't). May and might don't have an abbreviated form. You need to be careful with the spelling of the abbreviated forms. 

INTERROGATIVE: MODAL + SUBJECT + VERB + COMPLEMENT?

Example: "Can she play the piano?"

4. We're going to classify the modal verbs according to what they express: ability, ability in the past, possibility, obligation,etc.

In the following document you have an explanation of the modal verbs which have been classified according to their different uses.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tTvViwZT0H_BfXyuW6cjEnnVNFwx-lCu/view?usp=sharing


Also, if you still don't understand completely the modal verbs you have an explanation in Spanish on pages 104, 105 and 106 of your Workbook.

So, that's all about modal verbs!! 

If you have any doubts, you can comment on this post. 

Kind regards from your English teacher!!!