It's a beautiful day! We should go outside.Should and ought to talk about what is the best thing for us to do. We use these verbs to talk about obligation. The doctor said I have to exercise more.My boss told me I have to work this weekend!.Have to usually talks about things that someone else tells the speaker are necessary. All my clothes are dirty! I need to do some laundry.Need to usually talks about things that the speaker thinks are necessary.
The kids might like carrots, but I'm not sure.We use might and may to say that something is possible, but not sure. The students must finish their reports by Friday.We use must to talk about obligations and when we are sure something is true ( deduction). These modal verbs are usually used to express obligation and possibility. I have never been able to understand this subject!.The President is able to veto laws if he chooses to do so.She will be able to buy some new shoes soon.We use be able to in formal sentences and with the perfect tenses and other modal verbs. If we have enough time, we could go to the park later.Many years ago, people could travel without passports.When I was young, I could eat tons of ice cream!.We use could to talk about what we were able to do in the past and to talk about ability in conditionals. She can help you with your homework later today.We use can to talk about things that we are able to do in the present or the immediate future. These modal verbs are usually used to show ability. They contain complete lesson plans with absolutely everything you need to teach or learn the modal verbs in English. In these worksheets, we will review the following groups of verbs:įor complete information on modal verbs, you can try our English Modal Verbs Series. In English, we use modal verbs all the time! It is very important to understand the different ways that we can use each verb. Modal verbs are special kinds of verbs in English that express ability, permission, obligation, possibility, and polite requests. First, we will look at some examples, and then you can practice with the exercises. “There is no fine for returning books to the library late but you ought not to do it because other students may be waiting for the books.These worksheets will help you review how and when to use modal verbs. “You oughtn’t study while listening to music.” ‘Ought not (to)’ or ‘oughtn’t’ is used to strongly recommend against doing actions. ‘Ought to’ is used to strongly recommend actions. In its negative forms, ‘do not need to’, ‘need not’ or ‘needn’t’, it indicates that an action is unnecessary like ‘don’t have to.’ It is slightly weaker than ‘must’ but stronger than ‘have to’. She mustn’t be hungry or she must hate my cooking.” However, both positive and negative forms of ‘must’ are used for speculation, that is guessing about situations. “You mustn’t be late because the teacher is very strict about that.” “You must not put knives and forks in the microwave.” ‘Must not’ has a very different meaning to ‘don’t have to’ or ‘haven’t got to’. In its negative form, ‘must not’ or ‘mustn’t’, it is used to say that something is forbidden. It will be so much fun.” (This is not rude it is a strong invitation.) It is extremely strong and can appear impolite or bossy if used in the wrong situation. Must is used to indicate a strong obligation. You haven’t stopped studying for four hours.” “You have to be serious about passing that test. “It has to be minus ten degrees outside today. In its positive form, ‘have to’ can be used to speculate.
“I haven’t got to do anything tonight so do you want to watch the telly?” One may do the action but if one does not, it is acceptable. ‘Don’t have to’ or ‘haven’t got to’ is used to say that an action is unnecessary. “Don’t you have to finish your homework?” “I have to go to the dentist at one o’ clock today.” ‘Have to’ is used to indicate an obligation. Today I’m going to give a a quick guide to the modal verbs ‘ought’, ‘must’ and ‘need’.