Modal verbs: overview
Modal verbs are very common and useful in English. We use them to talk about ability, permission, obligation, requests, offers, suggestions and more.
| Meaning | Examples |
| Ability | I can play football.
Tom couldn’t visit us because he was tired. |
| Permission | You may have more ice-cream if you like.
Could I leave early today? |
| Requests | Can / Could you bring me that book?
Would you call John and invite him, please? |
| Offers | I’ll buy the meat for the barbecue.
Shall I carry some of your bags? |
| Suggestions and advice | You should / ought to go to the dentist.
We could try that new Italian restaurant. |
| Obligation | You have to drive on the left in the UK.
You mustn’t be late for work. |
| Making deductions | There is someone at the door. It could / might / may be Nick, I don’t know.
It can’t be Mary because she is on vacation. |
Modal verbs in English don’t add an ‘s’ for he/she/it. They are always followed by the main verb in the base form:
| Subject | Modal verb | Base form of the verb | Rest of the sentence |
| I (you, he, she, it, we, they) | can | dance | very well. |
Negative statements with modal verbs are formed by adding ‘not‘ after the modal verb:
- You should not (shouldn’t) eat so much meat – it’s bad for you.
- Jack can not (can’t) play tennis, but he likes playing football.
Questions with modal verbs are usually formed by swapping the subject and modal verb:
- They should visit Egypt.
- Why should they visit Egypt?
- You may come in.
- May I come in?
- Tiffany can meet her friends tonight.
- Can Tiffany meet her friends tonight?
Note: With ‘ought to’ (=should) and ‘have to’ (=must) we use ‘to’ before the base form of the verb.
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