Modal Verbs

 English verbs ~ Modal verbs

Modal verbs, also called modal auxiliaries or simply modals, are a type of auxiliary verb or helping verb. English has ten modal verbs:

can		could
may		might
shall		should
will		would
must		ought to

Modals express the mood a verb, such as ability, possibility, necessity, or another condition. They are used with a main verb to form a sentence or a question. Modals are not conjugated, have no tense, and cannot be used without a main verb.
When used with modal verbs (except ought), main verbs always remain in the infinitive without to.
In a statement the word order is subject + modal + main verb.

subject	modal	main verb
They	can	come.
Mike	should	walk.

In questions, the word order changes to modal + subject + main verb.

yes-no questions
modal	subject	main verb
Can	they	come?
Should	Mike	drive?

wh- questions
wh- word	modal	subject	main verb
When	can	they	come?
How	could	he	know?

Can
The modal can indicates possibility or ability:

Tom can help you.Wild animals can be dangerous.
Dining out can be costly.

In questions, the modal can requests permission to do something or to ask about possibilities:

Can I help you?Can Mike come over for dinner?
Who can answer the next question?When can we get back the results?

Could
Could indicates possibility or ability in the past:

I could have told you that.It could have been a disaster.
When I was young, I could run very fast.

Could speculates about future posibilities. In the following examples could and might are synonomous.

It could / might rain tonight.
That could / might be dangerous.

In yes-no questions, could speculates about present posibilities:

Could she be the murderer?Could this be a mistake?

It can also make a request. In these examples could and can are synonomous, but could is more polite.

Could / Can you open your window?Could / Can you help me move this sofa?

Could indicates an option:

We could go see a movie.I could become a doctor.

The modal could is also used to form the conditional. The conditional contains an if clause and a result clause. Could is placed in the result clause.
In these examples, could expresses hypothetical situations:

If I had time, I could play tennis with you.We could study together, if you want to.
If it weren't raining, we could go on a picnic.

Could mentions something that didn't happen because a certain condition was not met:

If we had left sooner, we could have taken the train.I could have passed the exam if I had studied more.
I'm glad we took umbrellas. We could have gotten soaked.

Shall and Will
The modals shall/will + main verb are used to create future tenses. These modals indicate an intention or an action that is expected to happen in the future.
When used in statements, there is no difference in meaning between these two modals; however, shall is rarely used in American English.

I will / shall close the door for you.Tom will / shall meet us at the train station.
They will / shall leave tomorrow at 8:00.

In wh- questions, shall and will ask about options.

Who will / shall drive the car? When will / shall I see you again?
How will / shall you get here?What time will / shall we meet?

In yes-no questions, shall and will have different meanings.
Will asks a favor.

Will / Shall you turn off the TV?
Will / Shall you stop whining?
Will / Shall you go with me?

Will also asks for information or knowledge about somebody or something.

Will / Shall Tom ever pay you back?
Will / Shall Mars be visited by humans within twenty years?
Will / Shall you be finished soon?

Shall asks about a preference. In these examples, shall and should are synonomous. In American English, shall is rarely used; when it is, it's only in the first person singular and plural.

Should / Shall I close the door?Should / Shall he close the door?
Should / Shall they come back later?
Should / Shall Tom bring food to the party?
Should / Shall we stay here?

May and Might

The modals may and might indicate an uncertain future action. These two modals are synonymous.

I may / might go to the park, or I may / might stay home.This may / might be a bad idea.
It may / might rain tonight.

iMay or can gives instructions or permission.

You may / can now board the airplane.You may / can begin the exam in ten minutes.

In yes-no questions that make a request, you can use may or can. May is more polite.

May / Can I see your driver's license?
May / Can we have some more water, please?

You can might in place of may or can, but this is extremely rare in American English.

May / Can / Might I be of some assistance?May / Can / Might we offer you a suggestion?

Must

The modal must indicates an obligation.

You must see this movie.Tom must see a doctor immediately.

Must also indicates an assumption or probability.

My watch must be broken.He must have done that before moving to Spain.

In wh- questions, must is an obligation and can be replaced with the modal should. In American English, should is much more common in these types of questions.

When should / must we be there?Who should / must I talk to?

Must can sometimes form rhetorical questions, when you want the person to stop doing something.

Must you make so much noise?	=	Please be quiet.
Must he ask so many questions?	=	I hope he stops asking questions.

 
Should and Ought (to)
The modals should and ought to indicate an obligation. These two modals are synonymous.

You should / ought to call your mother.I should / ought to go home now.

When used in questions, should asks if an obligation exists. Ought is never used in questions in American English.

Should he call her?Should we pay now?
When should we leave?What should I wear?

Would
Would followed by like is a polite way of stating a preference.

I would like white wine with my fish.We would like a room with a view.

In questions, would + subject + like is a polite request for a choice to be made.

Would you like soup or salad with your meal?Where would you like to eat dinner?
When would Tom like this delivered?

Would can make a request sound more polite.

Come here!	Would you come here?
Stop making that noise!	Would you stop making that noise?

Would explains an action as a result of a supposed or real condition.

I would go with you if I didn't have to work.If I had not had to work, I would have gone with you.
She would be surprised if you came to the party.
Tom would drive, but he doesn't have a license.

Would introduces habitual actions in the past.

When I was a student, I would go swimming every day.When Tom lived in France, he would write me long letters.

Conditional Sentences

BENTUK UMUM :

MAIN CLAUSE + IF CLAUSE 

DI MANA :
Main clause selalu mempunyai modal auxiliary
If clause selalu berupa : simple present, simple past, atau past perfect

1. conditional sentences type 1 : true in the present or future

S + MODAL V1 + V1 . . IF + S + V1 ATAU TO BE V1

FACT : 
Mengubah kata if dengan on condition that, provided, atau unless

contoh  :
conditional : I may study in university if i graduate from senior high school
fact : i may study in university  on condition that i graduate from senior high school

2. conditional sentences type 2 : untrue in the present
S + MODAL V2 + V2 . . IF + S + V2 ATAU TO BE V2

FACT : 
1. Ubah kata if menjadi because
2. Ubah tense menjadi simple present dan hilangkan modal
3. Ubah kalimat negatif menjadi positif dan sebaliknya

contoh :
conditional : I might study in university if i graduated from senior high school
fact : I don't study in university because i don't graduate from senior high school

3. conditional sentences type 3 : untrue in the past

S + MODAL V2 + HAVE + V3 . . IF + S + HAD + V3 ATAU HAD BEEN

FACT : 
1. Ubah kata if menjadi because
2. Ubah tense menjadi simple present dan hilangkan modal
3. Ubah kalimat negatif menjadi positif dan sebaliknya

contoh :
conditional : I might have studied in university if i had graduated from senior high school
fact : I didn't study in university because i didn't graduate from senior high school

Questions Tag

You speak English, don't you? A tag question is a special construction in English. It is a statement followed by a mini-question. The whole sentence is a "tag question", and the mini-question at the end is called a "question tag".

A "tag" is something small that we add to something larger. For example, the little piece of cloth added to a shirt showing size or washing instructions is a tag.

We use tag questions at the end of statements to ask for confirmation. They mean something like: "Am I right?" or "Do you agree?" They are very common in English.
The basic structure is:

+ Positive statement,	- negative tag?
Snow is white,	isn't it?
- Negative statement,	+ positive tag?
You don't like me,	do you?

Look at these examples with positive statements:

positive statement [+]				negative tag [-]			notes:
subject	auxiliary	main verb		auxiliary	not	personal pronoun (same as subject)
You	are	coming,		are	n't	you?
We	have	finished,		have	n't	we?
You	do	like	coffee,	do	n't	you?
You		like	coffee,	do	n't	you?	You (do) like...
They	will	help,		wo	n't	they?	won't = will not
I	can	come,		can	't	I?
We	must	go,		must	n't	we?
He	should	try	harder,	should	n't	he?
You		are	English,	are	n't	you?	no auxiliary for main verb be present & past
John		was	there,	was	n't	he?

Look at these examples with negative statements:

negative statement [-]						positive tag [+]
subject	auxiliary		main verb			auxiliary	personal pronoun (same as subject)
It	is	n't	raining,			is	it?
We	have	never	seen		that,	have	we?
You	do	n't	like		coffee,	do	you?
They	will	not	help,			will	they?
They	wo	n't	report		us,	will	they?
I	can	never	do		it right,	can	I?
We	must	n't	tell		her,	must	we?
He	should	n't	drive		so fast,	should	he?
You			are	n't	English,	are	you?
John			was	not	there,	was	he?

Some special cases:

I am right, aren't I?	aren't I (not amn't I)
You have to go, don't you?	you (do) have to go...
I have been answering, haven't I?	use first auxiliary
Nothing came in the post, did it?	treat statements with nothing, nobody etc like negative statements
Let's go, shall we?	let's = let us
He'd better do it, hadn't he?	he had better (no auxiliary)

Here are some mixed examples:

• But you don't really love her, do you?
• This will work, won't it?
• Well, I couldn't help it, could I?
• But you'll tell me if she calls, won't you?
• We'd never have known, would we?
• The weather's bad, isn't it?
• You won't be late, will you?
• Nobody knows, do they?

Notice that we often use tag questions to ask for information or help, starting with a negative statement. This is quite a friendly/polite way of making a request. For example, instead of saying "Where is the police station?" (not very polite), or "Do you know where the police station is?" (slightly more polite), we could say: "You wouldn't know where the police station is, would you?" Here are some more examples:

• You don't know of any good jobs, do you?
• You couldn't help me with my homework, could you?
• You haven't got $10 to lend me, have you?

Intonation

We can change the meaning of a tag question with the musical pitch of our voice. With rising intonation, it sounds like a real question. But if our intonation falls, it sounds more like a statement that doesn't require a real answer:

	intonation
You don't know where my wallet is,	do you?	/ rising	real question
It's a beautiful view,	isn't it?	\ falling	not a real question

Answers to tag questions

A question tag is the "mini-question" at the end. A tag question is the whole sentence.

How do we answer a tag question? Often, we just say Yes or No. Sometimes we may repeat the tag and reverse it (..., do they? Yes, they do). Be very careful about answering tag questions. In some languages, an oposite system of answering is used, and non-native English speakers sometimes answer in the wrong way. This can lead to a lot of confusion!

Answer a tag question according to the truth of the situation. Your answer reflects the real facts, not (necessarily) the question.

For example, everyone knows that snow is white. Look at these questions, and the correct answers:

tag question	correct answer
Snow is white, isn't it?	Yes (it is).	the answer is the same in both cases - because snow IS WHITE!	but notice the change of stress when the answerer does not agree with the questioner
Snow isn't white, is it?	Yes it is!
Snow is black, isn't it?	No it isn't!	the answer is the same in both cases - because snow IS NOT BLACK!
Snow isn't black, is it?	No (it isn't).

In some languages, people answer a question like "Snow isn't black, is it?" with "Yes" (meaning "Yes, I agree with you"). This is the wrong answer in English!
Here are some more examples, with correct answers:

• The moon goes round the earth, doesn't it? Yes, it does.
• The earth is bigger than the moon, isn't it? Yes.
• The earth is bigger than the sun, isn't it? No, it isn't!
• Asian people don't like rice, do they? Yes, they do!
• Elephants live in Europe, don't they? No, they don't!
• Men don't have babies, do they? No.
• The English alphabet doesn't have 40 letters, does it? No, it doesn't.

Question tags with imperatives

Sometimes we use question tags with imperatives (invitations, orders), but the sentence remains an imperative and does not require a direct answer. We use won't for invitations. We use can, can't, will, would for orders.

	imperative + question tag	notes:
invitation	Take a seat, won't you?	polite
order	Help me, can you?	quite friendly
	Help me, can't you?	quite friendly (some irritation?)
	Close the door, would you?	quite polite
	Do it now, will you?	less polite
	Don't forget, will you?	with negative imperatives only will is possible

Same-way question tags

Although the basic structure of tag questions is positive-negative or negative-positive, it is sometime possible to use a positive-positive or negative-negative structure. We use same-way question tags to express interest, surprise, anger etc, and not to make real questions.

• So you're having a baby, are you? That's wonderful!
• She wants to marry him, does she? Some chance!
• So you think that's amusing, do you? Think again.

Negative-negative tag questions usually sound rather hostile:

• So you don't like my looks, don't you?

Now check your understanding >

Firstly

Thanks to all mighty of god who has blessing his mercy and kindnesses. So that I could made this Blog.
This blog is made in order to fulfill the school assignment, especially For Mrs. Evi Rokhayati's task.
When I made this blog, there are a lot of uncorrected and mistaken thing, I just wanna say Sorry. I hope this blog can be benefit for all, and helpful.
^Lets learning English with Fun^