The document discusses the uses of modal verbs such as should, ought to, must, and shall. It explains that should and ought to are used to express advice or recommendation. Must can express obligation or necessity, either from the speaker's authority or as something inevitable. Shall is used to make predictions after I or we, and was used more commonly in the past to express obligation or insistence with other subjects.

1. Expectation or probability; inference and logical
conclusion; belief and conjecture; characteristic
behaviour; inherent capacity; prediction

2. Expectation or probability: should,
ought to
Should and ought to are often used to indicate what is
regarded as probable or what may be reasonably expected:
(1) The introduction of new machinery should contribute
greatly to better profits next year.
Should and ought to + perfect infinitive refer to
expectations in past time and may indicate that
expectations were not realized or fulfilled:
(2) He should have passed the examination easily.
Sentence (2) has 2 interpretations:
(a) Perhaps he has passed – this, at least, is what i
expected (said, probably, before the results are known)
(b) He didn’t pass – this is not what I expected (said,
probably, after the results are known)

3. Inference (zaključivanje) and
logical conclusion: must, can’t
We use must to assert that we infer or conclude to be the
most likely interpretation of a situation or events:
(3) You must be one of Rosemary's friends.
We don’t know for a fact that this is true, but taking
everything into account, we think that it is almost
certainly so.
The opposite of must in this sense is can’t:
(4) John: He must be at least sixty.
Peter: Oh, no! He can’t be anything like as old as that.
John is almost certain that ‘He’ is 60, and Peter is equally
certain that ‘He’ is not.

4. Inference and logical conclusion:
must, can’t
In reported speech, must does not change, whereas
can becomes could:
(5) John said he must be at least sixty, but Peter
thought he couldn’t be anything like as old as that.
To refer to past time, we use must and can’t (or
couldn’t) with the perfect infinitive:
(6) There must have been something about my
appearance.
(7) You can’t (or couldn’t) have understood what he
said. (= “It seems clear that you didn’t understand”)

5. Belief and conjecture (nagađanje,
pretpostavljanje)
Will and would are used to express belief and
conjecture.
They lack the assertive force of must and can’t (in the
sense of inference and logical conclusion). However,
they do not necessarily indicate any less certainty on
the part of the speaker. Indeed, the truth of what is
asserted is more or less taken for granted.
When will and would are used with the present
infinitive, they refer to present time:
(8) You will already be familiar with this subject. =
“You are, I feel sure, already familiar with this subject”

6. Belief and conjecture
Would is used as the tentative form of will, and is
more commonly used than will in questions (which
necessarily indicate some lack of certainty):
(9) He wouldn’t be a friend of yours, I suppose?
(10) Would your name be Smith, by any chance?
To refer to past time, we use will and would with the
perfect infinitive:
(11) John: I met a charming girl at your party last night.
Peter: Ah, yes! That will/would have been my cousin
Sarah.

7. Characteristic behaviour
Will may be used to refer to a characteristic or
persistent patter of behaviour or of events:
(12) When he has a problem to solve, he will work at it
until he fins an answer.
This is not a prediction about a future event, but a
statement having general current validity.
Would is used in this sense to refer to a similar
situation in past time:
(13) When he had a problem to solve, he would work at
it until he found an answer.

8. Characteristic behaviour
In sentences (12) and (13), we could use the simple
present tense instead of will and the simple past tense
(or used to) instead of would, with little change except
that there would be no emphasis:
(12a) When he has a problem to solve, he works at it
until he finds an answer.
(13a) When he had a problem to solve, he worked (or
used to work) at it until he found an answer.

9. Characteristic behaviour
If will and would are stressed, it indicates that the
speaker finds a persistent pattern annoying:
(14) (The one thing I dislike about him is that) he will
borrow my things without asking.
(15) (The one thing I disliked about him is that) he
would borrow my things without asking.

10. Inherent capacity (inherentno
svojstvo): will, would
Will for present time and would for past time may
refer to the possession of an inherent quality or a
capacity in relation to things (as opposed tom
people):
(16) The pound in your pocket will buy far less today
than it would ten years ago.
Such sentences are half statement of fact and half
prediction, and they often suggest that the fact or
prediction can be put to the test and verified.

11. Inherent capacity (inherentno
svojstvo): will, would
The use of will and would may even suggest that an object
is capable of co-operation or willingness (or absence of co-
operation or willingness):
(17) This suitcase will hold everything.
(18) The car wouldn’t start. = “The car refused to start”
Used in the sense of being capable or not of co-operation
or willingness, will and would may appear in the ‘if’ clause
of a conditional sentence:
(19) If one suitcase will hold everything, we shan’t have so
much luggage to carry.
Will and would are not used with the verb be in a
conditional clause. We do not say:
(20) *If this suitcase will be big enough for everything…

12. Prediction: shall, will
There are many ways of referring to future events in
English. The use of shall and will is among the many
means at our disposal.
All modal verbs can refer to future time. However,
they carry some additional implication (e.g. ability,
permission, possibility).
Similarly, shall and will often carry some additional
implication as well (e.g. promise, refusal,
determination), and their use in purely predictive
function, i.e. simply to state what lies in store in the
future, is only one of their several uses.

13. Prediction: shall
In the restricted use of ‘pure’ future, shall is used only after I or
we, and is often replaced by will or ‘ll, especially in speech.
When used with other pronouns, shall does not have a purely
predictive meaning, and is not interchangeable with will. The
following sentences are still occasionally heard in spoken
English:
(21) You shall know tomorrow.
(22) He shall do it again. (the speaker promises to enforce
action)
However, the use of shall in this sense appears to be common
only with a relatively small number of verbs, e.g. have:
(23) You/he shall have it as soon a I’ve finished with it.
Shall in this sense is nowadays commonly found only in highly
formal or legalistic written English.

14. Prediction: shall in interrogatives
The interrogative shall I? or shall we? used with an active
verb does not normally occur with a ‘pure’ future meaning.
However, it may be used in this sense with verbs denoting
action or events which do not depend on the speaker for
their performance:
(24) Shall I hear from you soon? (or Will I hear from you
soon?)
Shall I? is also used in a ‘pure’ future sense with verbs in
passive, since the speaker is not in this case asking about
his own future activities;
(25) Shall I be told what to do? (or Will I be told what to
do?)

15. Prediction: shall in interrogatives
However, in most cases shall I? used with an active
verb form represents a request on the part of the
speaker to know the wishes or opinion of the person
being addressed, or asks for consent, and in this sense
it is never replaced by will:
(26) Shall I order a taxi for you?
(27) Shall we sit down?
(28) So, shall we say six o’clock, providing this
afternoon's conference doesn’t run late?

16. Prediction: shall in reported
speech
For reporting I shall, a choice between should and
would arises only when the speaker reports his own
words (29a). In fact, we tend increasingly to use only
would. Also, if the report is made by a person other
than the original speaker, only would is used (29b,
29c):
(29) ‘I shall be able to come.’
(29a) I said I would (or should) be able to come.
(29b) You said you would be able to come.
(29c) He said he would be able to come.

17. Prediction: shall in reported
speech
These remarks also apply when we report ‘pure’
future questions beginning with Shall I?:
(30) ‘Shall I hear from you soon?’
(30a) I asked if I would (or should) hear from him
soon.
(30b) You asked if you would hear from him soon.
(30c) He asked if he would hear from him soon.

18. Prediction: will
After the pronouns you, he, she, it, and they, only will is
used in a purely predictive sense.
However, in many cases will may carry an additional
implication, particularly after the pronoun you.
In statements, you will may represent an instruction rather
than a prediction:
(31) ‘You will arrive punctually in future,’ the manager told
him.
In questions, will you? may represent either a request for
information (32) or a request for action (33):
(32) Will you know the result soon?
(33) Will (or would) you go and see the manager, please?

19. Prediction: will
In some cases, the meaning of a sentence may be
ambiguous:
(34) Will you tell him what I said?
(34a) “Are you going to tell him what I said?”
(34b) “Will you tell him what I said, (please)?”
Such problems of meaning are often only theoretical,
since the speaker usually puts the question in a way
that makes his meaning clear – he will probably say
either (34a) or (34b), or Would you tell him, please,
which is clearly a request.

20. Prediction: will
The predictive use of will is most commonly seen
after he, she, it, they, and after nouns generally:
(35) I'm sure it will be published.
(36) In another for weeks, with schools closed across
the nation, the great all American summer safari will
be under way.

21. Advice and recommendation: shall,
should, ought to, had better
Shall I? generally represents a request on the part of the
speaker to know the wishes or opinion of the person being
addressed:
(37) Shall I try this number again?
Shall I? is much stronger than Should I? and calls for a firm
response such as Yes, please do, rather than Yes, you
should. Nevertheless, shall I? and should I? are clearly
related.
In the reported speech version of such questions, shall
always becomes should, and not would:
(37a) I/you/he asked if I/you/he should try his number
again.

22. Advice and recommendation: shall,
should, ought to, had better
Should and ought to express advice or
recommendation. The advice or recommendation
may relate to everyday or practical matters, or to what
is morally desirable:
(38) You should/ought to read that book. You’d enjoy
it.
(39) You should/ought to see a doctor if you’re still
feeling ill tomorrow.
(40) You shouldn’t/oughtn’t to tell lies.
All these sentences have a present or future time
reference.

23. Advice and recommendation: shall,
should, ought to, had better
Which is the stronger – should or ought to?
No absolute answer to this question, but it is worth
noting that should has a strong and a weak form
phonetically, whereas ought to has only the strong
form, and may appear to be more emphatic when
compared with the weak form of should.

24. Advice and recommendation: shall,
should, ought to, had better
Had better (‘d better) is used to suggest the wisest course
of action in a particular situation:
(41) You’d better see a doctor if you’re still feeling ill
tomorrow.
In affirmative negative sentences, the negative particle not
comes after the complete phrase:
(42) You’d better not make a mistake next time.
In interrogative negative sentences n’t comes after had:
(43) Hadn’t you better see who that is at the door?
Had better is used almost exclusively with the present
infinitive, and refers to present or future time.

25. Advice and recommendation: shall,
should, ought to, had better
Should and ought to are used with the perfect
infinitive to refer to past time, and in this case the
sentences always imply that the opposite was in fact
true:
(44) He should/ought to have been a little more
tactful. = “But in fact, he wasn’t tactful”

26. Other uses of should
In a conditional clause – in that case, should has the effect of
making it seem less likely that the condition will be fulfilled
(putative should):
(45) If he should come while I’m at lunch, tell him I’ll be back at
two. (or Should he come while I’m at lunch, tell him I’ll be back at
two.)
Putative should is also often used in a that-clause after verbs
like suggest, recommend, require, decide, insist. Putative should
is preferred in BrE, while subjunctive is preferred in AmE. In
BrE, indicative is also used:
(46) We insisted that they should leave/leave at once.
(47) People are demanding that he should leave/leave/leaves.
(48) I suggested that he should take/take/takes legal advice.

27. Other uses of should
Putative should is also used in a that-clause after
adjectives expressing pleasure, surprise, shock,
disapproval, or after adjectives like important,
essential, vital:
(49) I’m surprised that they should feel/feel lonely.
(50) I’m horrified that he should have told/told anyone.
(51) It’s vital that you should be/be/are there to meet
him.

28. Other uses of should
Putative should is sometimes used in adverbial
clauses of purpose and conditional clauses, after the
conjunctions so that, in order that, lest, in case:
(52) I have put everything in writing so that you should
know exactly how things stand.

29. Obligation and necessity: must,
mustn’t, have to
Must can express different nuances of obligation and
necessity: instruction or what is obligatory (53), sense of
inner compulsion (54), what is necessary or inevitable in
the speaker’s opinion (55), pressing advice (56):
(53) Candidates must attempt all the questions.
(54) I simply must tell you what happened.
(55) You must make an early start tomorrow.
(56) You must see the film if you get a chance.
In every sentence must expresses the authority of the
speaker, or a decision or firm opinion on the speaker’s
part.

30. Obligation and necessity: must,
mustn’t, have to
If obligation or necessity is imposed by a person other
than the speaker, or by force circumstance, we use have to:
(57) You have to answer all the questions. (The teacher
explains to students the requirements of the examiners)
(58) I have to tell you what happened. (Those are the
instructions I’ve been given)
(59) We have to make an early start tomorrow.
(Circumstances or arrangements make it necessary)
(60) You’ll have to see the film tomorrow if you don't want
to miss it. (It won’t be showing any longer)

31. Obligation and necessity: must,
mustn’t, have to
Must can be used with adverbs having a present or
future time reference:
(61) We must discuss that question. (now/later/next
week)
However, the obligation or necessity is felt by the
speaker to exist now, and it is the activity denoted by
the main verb (discuss) that lies in the future.
In cases where the obligation or necessity will exist
only eventually, or where it is dependent on some
other event, we use will/shall have to:
(62) If we miss the bus, we’ll have to walk.

32. Obligation and necessity: must,
mustn’t, have to
The simple present tense of have to is used to indicate
what is habitual (63) or what is already planned or
arranged for the future (64):
(63) I have to get up at seven every morning.
(64) We have to be there at ten tomorrow.
Have got to is commonly used in sentences like (64),
and reinforces the idea or external authority:
(65) We’ve got to be there at ten tomorrow.

33. Obligation and necessity: must,
mustn’t, have to
The interrogative form in the present tense is generally
formed with do:
(66) What time do you have to get up?
(67) What time do we have to be there?
OR What time have we got to be there?
Must is left unchanged in reported speech:
(68) ‘You must tell me how to do it.’
(68a) I said he must tell me how to do it.
However, must cannot be used to refer to obligation or
necessity before the time of speaking. Instead, we use had
to:
(69) I had to shout to make myself heard above the noise.

34. Obligation and necessity: must,
mustn’t, have to
We also use forms of have to in the situations where
must lacks the necessary verb forms (progressive and
perfect aspect, infinitive, -ing form).
Since the forms of have to are sometimes the only
ones available, a distinction in meaning between must
and have to is not always rigidly maintained in those
cases where both verbs are possible grammatically.

35. Obligation and necessity: be to
Be to sometimes expresses a command or instruction
issuing from the speaker, or imposed on the speaker by
external authority:
(70) You are to give this letter to the manager.
(71) We are to be there by ten o’clock.
Such sentences always have a future time reference. In
reported speech, and to refer to past time, we use
was/were to.
Was/were to + perfect infinitive generally implies that
instructions were not carried out:
(72) You were to have given the letter to the manager. =
“But you didn’t”

36. Obligation and necessity: must,
mustn’t, have to
If must is followed by the perfect infinitive, it nearly
always indicates an inference on the part of the
speaker:
(73) It must have been a great shock to him.
However, there are occasional examples where must
+ perfect infinitive is equivalent in meaning to “It is
essential that this should already have been done”
(74) To be eligible for a full pension, an employee must
have contributed to the fun d for at least twenty years.

37. Obligation and necessity: must,
mustn’t, have to
To express the necessity for non-action, we use
mustn’t, be not to:
(75) You mustn’t say anything about it.
(76) You are not to say anything about it.
Although the negative particle not is often attached
to must in the form n’t (=mustn’t), it does not cancel
the obligation, but instead relates to the main verb.
(77) You must TELL him.
(78) You must NOT TELL him.

38. Absence of obligation or necessity:
needn’t, not need to, not have to
 The use of the three forms mentioned above has several parallels with
the use of must and have to:
 (a) needn’t generally expresses the authority of the speaker, while the
other two verbs denote the external authority, or circumstances,
remove the obligation or necessesity fo action;
 (b) needn’t + present infinitive has only a present or future time
reference, although it can be left unchanged in reported speech (79a):
 (79) You needn’t come if you dodn’t want to.
 (80) You don’t need to see a doctor. You’re perfectly healthy.
 (81) I don’t have to work on Saturdays.
 (79a) I told him he needn’t come if he didn’t want to.

39. Absence of obligation or necessity:
needn’t, not need to, not have to
If the absence of obligation or necessity will exist only
eventually or is dependent on some other event, we use
one of the other two verbs, with will and shall:
(82) When you get an assistant, perhaps you won’t have to
work quite so hard yourself.
The simple present tenses don’t have to and don’t need to
express what is habitual (83), or what is already planned or
arranged for the future (84):
(83) I don’t need to get up till eight to get to work on time.
(84) We don’t have to be there till ten tomorrow.
OR We haven’t got to be there till ten tomorrow.

40. Absence of obligation or necessity:
needn’t, not need to, not have to
We use negative forms of have to and need to in the many
situations where needn’t lacks the necessary verb forms.
Providing the fact that the ‘deficiencies’ of needn’t are
supplied by other verbs, distinction in meaning between
the three verbs is not always maintained.
The distinction in meaning for the sentences (79-81) can
be paraphrased as follows:
(85) “You can please yourself what you do.”
(86) “It isn’t necessary for you to see a doctor.”
(87) “I am not obliged to work on Saturdays.”

41. Absence of obligation or necessity:
needn’t, not need to, not have to
A more important distinction is a grammatical one
between don’t need to and needn’t:
Need in don’t need to is a lexical verb need. Negative
and interrogative sentences are formed using do, as
with other lexical verbs, and there is a full range of
verb tenses. To need may be followed by a noun (88),
or infinitive (89) or –ing form (90):
(88) He needs your help.
(89) I need to see him immediately.
(90) My pen needs filling.

42. Absence of obligation or necessity:
needn’t, not need to, not have to
The modal aux verb need is always used in negative
and interrogative sentences , which are made by
adding not to the aux verb, and by inversion of the
subject and aux:
(91) He needn’t come. Need he?
The interrogative forms must I? and need I? are more
or less synonymous, althoug need I? often suggests
that the speaker hopes for a negative answer. The
positive answer to both of these forms is Yes, you
must, and the negative one is No, you needn’t.

43. Absence of obligation or necessity:
needn’t, not need to, not have to
 The positive form of the modal aux need is found in sentences that
already contain a negative verb or adverb:
 (92) I don’t think that need worry us unduly.
 (93) You need study only the first two chapters.
 Needn’t + perfect infinitive indicates the absence of necessity or
obligation in the past:
 (94) He needn’t have come.
 Needn’t + perfect infinitive always expresses unreal past, and contrasts
with didn’t need to, which nearly always expresses real past:
 (95) I needn’t have gone. (but I went)
 (96) I didn’t need to go. (so presumably I didn’t go)