The modal verbs are can, could, may, might, must, should, and ought to. They are used to express ability, permission, possibility, necessity, prohibition, advice, and obligation. They have special grammatical rules - they do not have past tense forms or "to" before the infinitive form of other verbs. Examples are given of how each modal verb is used, including common expressions and negatives. Key differences between must and have to as well as must and mustn't are explained. Practice exercises follow for using the modal verbs correctly.