modal verbs exercises could would should ought to must

“Peter had to go home early last night.”.

substitute form or paraphrase with ‘ to have to’:.

“I had an accident, and now I must go to the police.”.

“I don’t know if I will be allowed to go to the concert.”.

“Mobile phones are not allowed to be used in the meeting room.”.

substitute form or paraphrase with ‘ to be allowed to’:.

Attention: ‘ could’ and ‘ to be able to’ have a slight difference in meaning for details, have a look at this explanation.

“Will I be able to borrow your car when I have my driver’s license?”.

“I’m not sure if I will be able to come to the party.”.

substitute form or paraphrase with ‘ to be able to’:.

“I can speak French, but I can’t speak Greek.”.

English modal verbs are commonly employed to express the following characteristics and meanings:.

Now, compare the following possibilities in terms of appearance in example sentences (an overview can be found under verb forms of modal verbs): For details about the use of the present tense, take a look at modal verbs in present simple. Since modal verbs can usually only appear in few tenses and not in combination with other modal verbs in a clause, they all have a substitute form, which is then used in such cases. Due to their subjective meaning, they are an essential part of the English language and are used very frequently. They express modality and thus denote desires, abilities, obligations, or possibilities.

Modal verbs are a subgroup of auxiliary verbs.

Modal verbs exercises could would should ought to must