GRAMMAR

Modal Auxiliaries

a.    What are "modal auxiliary verbs"?

The verbs can, could, will, would, should, may, might, must, ought and shall are verbs which 'help' other verbs to express a meaning. It is important to realise that these "modal verbs" have no meaning by themselves. A modal verb such as would has several varying functions, it can be used, for example, to help verbs express ideas about the past, the present and the future. It is therefore wrong to simply believe that "would is the past of will". It is many other things.

The modal verbs are :

CAN / COULD / MAY / MIGHT / MUST / SHALL / SHOULD / OUGHT TO / WILL / WOULD

Modal	Example	Uses
Can	They can control their own budgets. We can’t fix it. Can I smoke here? Can you help me?	Ability / Possibility Inability / Impossibility Asking for permission Request
Could	Could I borrow your dictionary? Could you say it again more slowly? We could try to fix it ourselves. I think we could have another Gulf War. He gave up his old job so he could work for us.	Asking for permission. Request Suggestion Future Ability in the past
May	May I have another cup of coffee? China may become a major economic power.	Asking for permission Future possibility
Might	We'd better phone tomorrow, they might be eating their dinner now. They might give us a 10% discount.	Present possibility Future possibility
Must	We must say good-bye now. They mustn’t disrupt the work more than necessary.	Necessity / Obligation Prohibition
Ought to	We ought to employ a professional writer.	Saying what’s right or correct
Shall (More common in the UK than the US)	Shall I help you with your luggage? Shall we say 2.30 then? Shall I do that or will you?	Offer Suggestion Asking what to do
Should	We should sort out this problem at once. I think we should check everything again. Profits should increase next year.	Saying what’s right or correct Recommending action Uncertain prediction
Will	I can’t see any taxis so I’ll walk. I'll do that for you if you like. I’ll get back to you first thing on Monday. Profits will increase next year.	Instant decisions Offer Promise Certain prediction
Would	Would you mind if I brought a colleague with me? Would you pass the salt please? Would you mind waiting a moment? "Would three o`clock suit you?" - "That’d be fine." Would you like to play golf this Friday? "Would you prefer tea or coffee?" - "I’d like tea please."	Asking for permission Request Request Making arrangements Invitation Preferences
Have to	I have to study tonight	Necessity

                  Note : The modal auxiliary verbs are always followed by the base form.

1)	Do not use modals for things which happen definitely.	The sun rises in the East.
2)	They do not have an -s in the 3rd person singular.	He can play football.
3)	Questions are formed without do/does/did.	Can he speak Spanish?
4)	It follows a full verb in the infinitive.	They must read the book.
5)	There are no past forms (except could and would).	He was allowed to watch the film.
6)	When you use the past particple, you tell about things which did not happen in the past.	You should have told me.

b.    Form :

positive		negative
long form	contracted form	long form	contracted form
can	--	cannot	can't
could	--	could not	couldn't
may	--	may not	--
might	--	might not	--
ought to	--	ought not to	oughtn't to
--	--	need not	needn't
shall	'll	shall not	shan't
should	'd	--	shouldn't
will	'll	will not	won't
would	'd	would not	wouldn't

                       

c.    Imperative Sentence

Imperative sentences are sentences that request the person we are speaking to to do or not to do something. Based on the intonation used, imperative sentences can be divided into commands, requests, direction, invitations and warnings.

a.      Command : Open the door !

b.      Request : Open the door, please.

c.       Invitations : Let’s eat now. 

d.  Warning : Don’t throw rubbish in here !

d.    Stated preference : Prefer, Like…..better, Would rather

I prefer apples to oranges	Prefer + Noun + to + Noun
I like apples better than oranges	Like + Noun + better than + Noun

Question

a.      Yess/No Question with short and long answer

YES/NO QUESTION	SHORT ANSWER (+ LONG ANSWER)	A yes/no question is a question that can be answered  by “yes” or “no”.
Do you know Mr. John ?	Yes, I do (I know Mr. John) No, I don’t. (I don’t know Mr. John)
Did she study English last night ?	Yes, she did. (she studied last night) No, she don’t (She didn’t studied last night)
Are you studying English ?	Yes, I am (I’m studying English) No, I ‘m not (I’m not studying English)

Note : In an affirmative answer (yes), a helping verb is not contracted with the subject.

Correct : Yes, I am (The spoken emphasis is on am)

               Yes, she will (The spoken emphasis is on will)

b.      Using by Who,Who(m),What

QUESTION	ANSWER	Who is used as the subject (S) of a question. Who(m) is used in formal English. What can be used as either the subject or the object in a question.
S Who came ? O                    S Who(m) did you see ?   S What happened ? O               S What did you see ?	S Someone came. S                O I saw someone. S Something happened. S               O I saw something

c.       Using What Kind Of

QUESTION	ANSWER	What kind of asks for information about a specific type in a general category. General category : shoes Specific category : boots, sandals,high heels,loafers.
What kind of shoes did yopu buy ?	Boots Sandals High heels Loafers (etc.)

d.      Using Which

Which is used when the speakers wants someone to make a choice,when the speaker is offering alternatives : this one or that one,these or those. Which can be used with either singular or plural nouns.

Example :

-          Which pen do you want ?

-          Which one do you want ?

e.      Using by Whose

Whose asks about possession.

Who’s and whose have the same pronunciation.

QUESTION	ANSWER
Whose (book) is this ? Whose (book) are those ? Whose car did you borrow ?	It’s John’s (book) They’re mine (my books) I borrowed Karen’s (car)
COMPARE : Who’s that ? Whose is that ?	Mary Smith Mary’s

f.       Using by How

-          How has many uses. One use of how is to ask about means (ways) of transportation.

QUESTION	ANSWER
How did you get there ?	I drove./By Car. I took a taxi./By taxi. I took a bus./By bus. I flew./By Plane. I took a train./By train

-     How is oftenused with adjectives (e.g. : old,big) and adverbs (e.g. well, quickly)

QUESTION	ANSWER
How old are you ? How tall is he ? How big is your home ? How well does he speak English ? How quickly can you get here ?	Twenty-one. About six feet. It has three rooms. Very well. I can get there in 30 minutes.

-          How Often asks about frequency.

QUESTION	ANSWER
How often do you go shopping ?	Every day. Once a week. About twice a week.

            Other ways of asking how often :

            How many times :- a day

-    a week

-    a month

-    a year

-          How Long asks for information about length of time.

a)      How long does it take to drive to Chigago from here ? Two days.

b)     How long did you study last night ? Four hours.

c)      How long will you be in Florida ? Ten days.

g.      Tag Questions

A tag question is a question that is added onto the end of a sentence. An auxiliary verb is used in a tag question.

a)      You know Bob Wilson, don’t you ?

b)     Mary is from Chicago, isn’t she ?

c)      Jerry can play the piano, can’t he ?