2. CLASSIFICATION
MODAL VERBS
MAIN VERB AUXILLARY VERBS
AUXILLARY
/HELPING VERBS
PRIMARY VERBS:
Be-Verbs (is, are, am,
was, were),
do (does, did), have
(has, had)
MODAL VERBS: will,
would, shall, should,
can, could, may, might,
ought to, must, need,
dare, used to
3. USE OF MODAL VERBS
WILL:
a. To show future tense: ex: He will go to Delhi.
b. Used with all subjects except ‘I’, ‘we’?. Ex: He will go to school.
c. As request: takes, ‘please/kindly’. Ex: Will you please help me?
d. Negative: won’t. Ex: I won’t go there.
e. To form questions of future tense: Ex: Will you go there?
4. WOULD
a. As past of ‘will’. Ex: He said that he would go to see a cardiologist.
b. To show habit in past. Ex: My grandmother would tell me stories in
childhood.
c. As polite request. Ex: Would you lend me your thermometer?
5. SHALL
a. Used with ‘I’, ‘We’ in usual sense and with other subjects it
exerts extra force. Ex: I shall go to see the neurologist.
b. Shan’t (negative form). Ex: I shan’t go to see the doctor.
6. SHOULD
a. In moral sense, suggestion and advice. Ex: a nurse should
look after her patients well.
b. As past of ‘shall’: Ex: I said that I should leave at once.
c. Negative: Shouldn’t. Ex: You shouldn’t agree for the
operation at present.
7. CAN
a. To show capability, authority. Ex: The principal can
rusticate a naughty boy.
b. To show ability, capacity. Ex: She can speak Sanskrit.
c. Permission. Ex: You can sit and wait here.
8. COULD
a. As past tense of ‘can’. Ex: The nurse said that he could not see
the doctor just then.
b. Capacity and capability in past. Ex: I could walk 10kms on foot
in my young age.
c. Polite request (like would). Ex: Could you tell me the road
leading to Delhi?
d. Negative Form: Couldn’t. Ex: I couldn’t help it anymore.
9. MAY
a. Permission. Ex: May I come in?
b. Order. Ex: You may go now.
c. Probability. Ex: He may come.
d. Wish, prayer, curse. Ex: May you get first division.
10. MIGHT
a. As past of ‘may’. Ex: She said that she might go to school.
b. Shows distant probability. Ex: It is cloudy in the morning. It might
rain tonight.
11. MUST
a. Compulsion. Ex: You must fill form before the operation.
b. Negative order. Ex: You must not smoke here.
c. Conclusion. Ex: The doctor must be in his room.
12. USED TO
Shows habit in past.
Ex: In 2005 he used to go for a walk daily in the morning.
13. NEED
a. Shows need (May take ‘to + V1’ after it). Ex: You need to consult
psychologist.
b. In ‘Negative’ use/’Question’ : ‘to’ of following infinitive is
hidden.
Ex: You need not go there.
14. DARE
a. Following infinitive takes ‘to’ in assertive sentences. Ex: I dare to
meet the principal.
b. Negative and Interrogative forms. Infinitive following (to + V1)
does not take ‘to’.
Correct: You dare not insult me.
Incorrect: You dare not to insult me.
15. OUGHT TO
a. Mostly used in the sense of duty. Ex: We ought to obey
our parents.
b. Moral advice. Ex: You ought to go for a walk daily.
16. EXERCISE: FILL IN THE BLANKS
You …………..rise early.
It is cloudy. It …………rain in the evening.
He is working hard. He …………..be rich one day.
You need not ………….there.
She dare not ……………..me.
Dare you……………..us?
Need the ………………principal?
I ………………go to Mumbai.
He ……………..go to Delhi tomorrow.
He said that he……………go to Delhi the next day.
