Grammar - Modal Auxiliary Verbs

Modal Auxiliary Verbs

 

Read the following paragraph about Samanali paying attention to the highlighted verbs

 

Samanali is a very clever girl. She can do many things.  She is very smart and everybody in her school and neighbourhood know her talents and she is very popular among them. She can sing, play musical instruments and even act. Earlier she was a very good dancer and a clever athlete too.  She could dance well and she used to perform all the concerts in her school before. She had won many medals for different athletic events. Now she can’t dance or compete any athletic event in her school as a result of an accident she met with last year. She fell from the stairs and broke her leg so doctors advised her that she must not strain her legs much and she ought to stop dancing for a while. They also said that she must stop engaging in any sports or games. Her parents also told her that she should adhere to the doctor’s advice. Everybody agreed that they need to give her some time to get used to the new situation. One day she went to her mother and asked. “Mother may I start doing an indoor game like chess? Her mother asked why? Then she said “I think I may be able to do it well.” then her mother replied, “Yes you may, and you should do something to occupy yourself.” She also said, “Whatever you do you must do it whole heartedly.” And her mother gave her consent saying, “If there is a will there is a way”

The highlighted verbs in the passage are modal auxiliary verbs.

they give additional infirmation about the function of the main verbthat followsit.

They are used to  express the certainty,probability, possibility, ability or necessity to do something.

We can also use these models to make requests, offers, and suggestions

By the use of modals we can make more polite statements too.

Following are the modal verbs.

Present                                 Past

can                                        could

may                                       might

will                                        would

shall                                      should

must                                      had to

                                           used to

ought to

need

dare                                                                                                         


In this lesson we are going to learn the different uses of modal verbs and their form as well.

 When modals are used in the sentences they are often used as helping verbs and therefore the base form of the main verb follow them.

Example

In positive statements:

modal verb + base form of the main verb

                                                 can  +  play

Pahan can play drums.


 

In negative statements:

modal verb + not +  base form of the main verb

                                           can  + not + play

Vihanga cannot play drums but he can sing well.

 

In interrogative statements:

yes /no questions

modal verb + subject +  base form of the main verb

                                        can  + subject  + play

Can Pahan play violin? No, he cant.

information questions 

Question word + modal verb + subject +  base form of the main verb

                          What   +  can  + subject  + play

What can Pahan play ?He can play drums.

Let’s learn the uses of these modal verb.

 The auxiliary verbs we can use to  express

 ability

Vihanga can sing well.

                            He cannot play violin.                        

    Can Vihanga play drums?

      What  can Vihanga play?


                                                           


to  express  past  ability


Samanla  could  play violin well those days.

                            He could not sing then .                        

    Could   he play drums?

      What instruments could Vihanga play then?

Activity 1

  1. Samanali ...........can sing well. she sings very nicely.
  2. Pahan ................swim well when he was small but now he doesn't swim.
  3. ...................Ravi speak English when he was young?
  4. Sahan ......................... play cricket when he was in the village.
  5. Who .................write poetry?
  6. Where ..................... you learn to play musical instruments  those days? 
  7. He ............ speak  Tamil  fluently therefore he is shy to speak with us.
  8. Pavan ...................not spell the words properly at the class yesterday.



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