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3ºESO UNIT 6
Modal Verbs
Modals are different from normal verbs: 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').
Modal
Can
Could
May
Might
Must
Example
Uses
They can control their own budgets.
We can’t fix it.
Can I smoke here?
Can you help me?
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.
May I have another cup of coffee?
China may become a major economic power.
We'd better phone tomorrow, they might be eating
their dinner now.
They might give us a 10% discount.
We must say good-bye now.
Look! It’s snowing! It must be cold outside.
They mustn’t disrupt the work more than necessary.
Ability / Possibility
Inability / Impossibility
Asking for permission
Request
Asking for permission.
Request
Suggestion
Future possibility
Ability in the past
Asking for permission
Future possibility
Present possibility
Future possibility
Necessity / Obligation
Deduction
Prohibition
Ought to We ought to employ a professional writer.
Saying what’s right or correct
Shall
I
help
you
with
your
luggage?
Offer
Shall
Shall we say 2.30 then?
Suggestion
Shall I do that or will you?
Asking what to do
We
should
sort
out
this
problem
at
once.
Saying what’s right or correct
Should
I think we should check everything again.
Recommending action
Profits should increase next year.
Uncertain prediction
I can’t see any taxis so I’ll walk.
Instant decisions
Will
I'll do that for you if you like.
Offer
I’ll get back to you first thing on Monday.
Promise
Profits will increase next year.
Certain prediction
Would
you
mind
if
I
brought
a
colleague
with
me?
Asking
for permission
Would
Would you pass the salt please?
Request
Would you mind waiting a moment?
Request
"Would three o`clock suit you?" - "That’d be fine."
Making arrangements
Would you like to play golf this Friday?
Invitation
"Would you prefer tea or coffee?" -I’d like tea, please" Preferences
Ability
Be able to He is able to cook delicious meals.
You will be able to meet my partner tonight.
Possibility
Note: use of INFINITIVE and verb tenses
Have to We have to get up at 7a.m. every day to get the train Necessity
I have to look after my small brother.
Obligation
Don’t have to You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.
Lack of necessity/obligation
Needn’t
You needn’t bring anything to the party – we have
everything.
Be allowed to Nobody is allowed to block the aisle on a plane.
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Lack of necessity/obligation
Permission
EXERCISES
A. Use a modal or semi-modal to complete these sentences. In some cases there may be more
than one possibility, according to the meaning.
1. I didn’t feel very well yesterday. I ..... eat anything.
2. You ..... look at me when I am talking to you.
3. I was using my pencil a minute ago. It ..... be here somewhere!
4. You really ..... not be late again or your boss will fire you.
5. If you don’t start working harder, you will..... repeat the course next year.
6. Phone her now. She ..... home by now.
7. You ..... forget your sun cream. It’s going to be very hot!
8. I ..... be able to help you, but I’m not sure yet.
9. Entrance to the museum was free. We didn’t..... pay to get in.
10. Already as a child Mozart ..... play the piano beautifully.
11. Which sign are you more likely to see at an airport: Bags ..... not be left unattended.
12. I really ..... try to get fit.
13. ..... take a photograph of you?
14. Students ..... borrow up to 6 books at any time.
15. Whose is this bag? - I don’t know, but it ..... belong to Julie.
16. It’s very important to ..... speak more than one language.
17. I don’t like ..... get up early on a Sunday.
18. I ..... talk already before I was two years old.
19. She ..... be very pleased with herself. She got the best grades.
20. You ..... put your feet on the cafeteria tables.
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MODAL PERFECTS
Los verbos modales expresan posibilidad o probabilidad. Cuando se utilizan con la forma
infinitiva del perfecto (“have” + participio pasado), los verbos modales indican especulación
sobre cosas en el pasado.
Must have
“Must have” se usa para expresar una conclusión lógica sobre algo que ocurrió en el pasado.
No estamos seguros de lo que sucedió exactamente, pero basada en las pruebas, podemos
llegar a alguna conclusión. A diferencia de “might have” o “may have”, como veremos más
tarde, “must have” expresa más certeza.
Ejemplos:
 The lights are off. They must have gone out. (Las luces están apagadas. Se deben
haber abagado.)
 I never see John and Claire together anymore. They must have separated. (Ya
nunca veo a John y Claire juntos. Se deben haber separado.)
 I know you love chocolate. It must have been difficult to say “no” to that piece of
cake. (Sé que te gusta el chocolate. Debe de ser difícil para ti decir “no” a un
pedazo de pastel.)
 John didn’t call you last night? He must have been working late. (¿John no te
llamó anoche? Debe haber trabajado hasta tarde.)
 Frank failed the exam. He must not have been paying attention in class. (Frank
suspendió el examen. No debió haber estado atento en la clase.)
May have / Might have
“May have” y “might have” se utilizan para expresar posibilidad en el pasado. El uso de estos
dos modales también expresa incertidumbre.
Ejemplos:
 I think it may have worked, but we gave up too soon. (Creo que pudo haber
funcionado, pero nos rendimos demasiado pronto.)
 They might have won if their star player hadn’t been injured. (Ellos podrían haber
ganado si su mejor jugador no se hubiera lesionado.)
 I don’t know, it might have been different if you were there. (No sé, podría haber
sido diferente si tú hubieras estado allí.)
Can’t have
“Can’t have” se utiliza de una manera similar a “must have”, pero en la forma negativa.
Podemos utilizar “can’t have” cuando estamos bastante seguros de que algo no ocurra o que
no era verdad en el pasado.
Ejemplos:
 I know you love chocolate. It can’t have been easy to say “no” to that piece of
cake. (Sé que te gusta el chocolate. Debe de ser difícil para ti decir “no” a un
pedazo de pastel.)
 Frank failed the exam. He can’t have been paying attention in class. (Frank
suspendió el examen. No debió haber estado atento en la clase.)
 They had a lot of work to do and little time. They can’t have
finished everything. (Tenían mucho trabajo que hacer y poco tiempo. No podrían
haber terminado todo.)
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Could have
“Couldn’t have” se puede usar en lugar de “can’t have”.
Ejemplos:
 I know you love chocolate. It couldn’t have been easy to say “no” to that piece of
cake. (Sé que te gusta el chocolate. Debe de ser difícil para ti decir “no” a un
pedazo de pastel.)
 Frank failed the exam. He couldn’t have been paying attention in class. (Frank
suspendió el examen. No debió haber estado atento en la clase.)
 They had a lot of work to do and little time. They couldn’t have
finished everything. (Tenían mucho trabajo que hacer y poco tiempo. No podrían
haber terminado todo.)
“Could have” también se utiliza para expresar que algo era posible en el pasado pero en
realidad no pasó.
Ejemplos:
 If it hadn’t stopped raining, the party could have been a disaster. (Si no hubiera
parado de llover, la fiesta podría haber sido un desastre.)
 She could have run faster, but she wanted to save her energy. (Ella podría haber
corrido más rápido, pero quería ahorrar energía.)
 We could have bought a new car, but we decided to use the money to go on
holiday. (Podríamos haber comprado un coche nuevo, pero decidimos usar el
dinero para ir de vacaciones.)
“Could have”, en la afirmativa, es parecido a “might have” o “may have”, expresa posibilidad
en el pasado.
Ejemplos:
 I think it could have worked, but we gave up too soon. (Creo que pudo haber
funcionado, pero nos rendimos demasiado pronto.)
 They could have won if their star player hadn’t been injured. (Ellos podrían haber
ganado si su mejor jugador no se hubiera lesionado.)
I don’t know, it could have been different if you were there. (No se, podría haber sido
diferente si tu hubieras estado allí.)
Should have / Ought to have
“Should have” y “ought to have” se utiliza cuando algo no ocurrió, pero hubiera sido mejor si
hubiera ocurrido. En la negativa, estos referentes indican que algo sucedió, pero hubiera sido
mejor que no fuese así.
Ejemplos:
 I told you, you should have studied more! (Te lo dije, deberías haber estudiado
más.)
 Ben ought to have gone to the doctor sooner. Now they say it will be a month
before he has fully recovered. (Ben debería haber ido al médico antes. Ahora dicen
que tardará un mes más en recuperarse por completo.)
 We should have left earlier. Now we are going to be late. (Deberíamos haber
salido más temprano. Ahora vamos a llegar tarde.)
 I shouldn’t have eaten that last cookie. (No debería haber comido la última
galleta.)
 She shouldn’t have been angry, it wasn’t your fault. (No debería haberse
enfadado, no fue culpa tuya.)
Would have
“Would have” se usa para formar frases condicionales en inglés (el llamado tercer tipo)
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EXERCISES
B. Complete these sentences with a modal perfect.
1. If I had gone to the sales, I'm sure I .........................................(buy) something.
2. Claire was very upset you didn't go to her birthday party. You ................................(go).
3. The lights are out. I’m sure they ......................................... (go) to sleep.
4. We ............................................ (invite) Dave to the party if we had known he was in town.
5. You .................................. (come) to the pub on Saturday. We had a great time.
6. She ..................................... (change) her mind. I'm not sure.
7. You .................................... (not/spend) so much money on CDs. You'll have problems
getting to the end of the month now.
8. She .......................................(say) yes to a date. You never know.
9. “Why didn’t you tell your parents you were going out? They ......................................... (be)
worried.”
10. She fell off her bike yesterday. She ...................................... (not be looking) at the road.
C. Complete the sentences with the modal perfects below and the correct form of the verb in
brackets.
should have ■ couldn’t have ■ must not have ■ would have ■ could have ■must have ■ might have
■ shouldn’t have
1. I’m not sure where Don went. He ................................………… (go) to buy bread.
2. I’m sorry I’m so late. You ................................………… (think) I wasn’t coming.
3. You ................................………… (bring) the new world music CD. I wanted to listen to it while
we studied.
4. She ................................………… (buy) three T-shirts, but she only had enough money for one.
5. I really upset Shari. I ................................………… (tell) her the terrible news about Jim.
6. They decided to stay at a hotel, although they ................................………… (stay) at our
house. We insisted
that they were welcome.
7. That cake was incredibly delicious. It ................................………… (be) better.
8. My swimming costume’s not in the suitcase. I ................................………… (pack) it.
D. Rewrite the sentences with suitable modals or modal perfects. There may be more than one
possible answer.
1. It was a bad idea to eat in this restaurant.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
2. There’s a chance that we’ll have a test today.
........................................................................................................................
3. I’m sure I left my sunglasses at the café.
........................................................................................................................
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4. You have got no reason to be concerned about Ted.
........................................................................................................................
5. It’s a shame you didn’t ask me earlier.
........................................................................................................................
6. Donella doesn’t know how to speak English very well.
........................................................................................................................
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