Understand a Variety of Texts by Using a Range of Appropriate Reading Strategies to Construct Meaning

Modals

A modal verb is a type of verb that is used to indicate modality – that is likelihood, ability, permission, request, capacity, suggestions, order, obligation, or advice.

12.1

Modals

Modal verbs are used with other verbs to express ability, obligation, permission, possibility, and so on.
The verb that comes after a modal is always in the base form.
Examples:

Most birds can fly except for a few species like cassowary.	/
Most birds can flies except for a few species like cassowary.	X

The negative of a modal is formed just like any other verb. Add ‘not’ after the modal. The negative can also be written in a contracted form.
Examples:

must not \(\rightarrow \) mustn’t

will not \(\rightarrow \) won’t

should \(\rightarrow \) shouldn’t

Notes:

The contraction for ‘may not’ (mayn’t) and ‘might not’ (mightn’t) are used in spoken usage, and only in informal writing.

You do not pronounce the letter ‘t’ in ‘must’ when the modals are in the negative and in a contracted form. Thus, you read ‘mustn’t’ as ‘MA-ZENT’

Modal Verb	Uses & Examples
Can	To show ability (able to do something). To ask for permission. I can speak five languages. Can I join you for lunch?
Could	To show ability in the past. To request or ask for permission. To give suggestions or future possibilities. Zac could sing when he was nine years old. Could we have some coffee? We could go to the new café.
May	To ask for and give permission. To express the possibility of something happening in the future. May I use your laptop? I may attend the meeting tomorrow.
Might	To express the possibility of something happening in the future. However, ‘might’ is less dure than ‘may’ The sky is quite cloudy. It might rain later. The clouds are dark. It may rain later.
Must/Have to	To show necessity (there is no choice). It is compulsory. The phrase ‘have to’ is used in the same way as ‘must’. You must read a lot in order to do well in essay writing. To do well in essay writing you have to read a lot.
Should	To give advice. To express an obligation or a duty to do something. You should pay attention to the lecturer. Children should not eat a lot of sweets.
Would	To show actions that did regularly in the past but not now. To have a polite request. I would always take two eggs for breakfast but I don’t do it now. I would like to add two teaspoons of sugar if it’s no problem.
Will	To state that one will do something. To make a request. I will call the management later. Will you help me carry this luggage?

	This is how modals are used in the passage.

	All of you can do well in the race if you follow my instructions. Who knows, you may win a prize. The night before the race, all of you must get a good night's sleep. You mustn't stay up until late into the night. You should get up early on race day so that you have enough time to eat a full breakfast. You shouldn't eat spicy and oily food. After breakfast, you will need at least an hour for the food to digest before the run. In our hot weather, you will sweat a lot, so you must drink plenty of water one hour before the race. This will prevent you from getting tired or thirsty too fast. All runners must do some warm-up and stretching exercises before the race. You should stretch all the muscles from head to toe.