Modal Verbs

Common Modals

Use Modals Examples

Logical Must (Most Certain) The dark clouds must mean rain today.
Possibility Will Due to the news, the stock will go down.
Would The chemical would help the experiment.
Should The case should prevent cracking.
May This change may improve the results.
Can Being careless can have bad consequences.
Could The charm could protect you.
Might (Least Certain) I might be tired tomorrow.

Ability Can (Stronger Ability) He can type 34 words per minute.

Could (Weaker Ability) I could assist by interpreting the results.
Shall (Suggestion) Shall we dance?

Necessity Must (Obligation) They must go to work today.

Should (Advice) You should floss every day.

Permission May (Most Formal) May I turn my paper in tomorrow?

Might Might he have some more soup?
Could Could I buy the new model?
Can (Least Formal) Can I go to my friend’s house?

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Logical Possibility

Examples: The weather report showed a 99% chance of rain, so it must rain.
You might find an open store after 12:00 AM.

In the first example, the modal is “must.” It is placed before the verb “rain” and indicates that the
writer believes there is a strong possibility of rain. In the second example, the modal is “might.”
It is placed before the verb “find” and indicates that the writer believes there is a low chance the
reader will “find an open store after 12:00 AM.”

Ability

Examples: Pigeons have a special ability; they can recognize themselves in mirrors.
The editor could edit 70 pages in two days.

In the first example, the modal is “can.” It is placed before the verb “recognize” and indicates
that the writer knows that pigeons recognize themselves in mirrors. In the second example, the
modal is “could.” It is placed before the verb “edit” and indicates that the writer knows to a
weaker degree that the editor has the ability to edit “70 pages in two days.”

Necessity

Examples: The kids must drink water every day.

My students should do their homework every night.

In the first example, the modal is “must.” It is placed before the verb “drink” and indicates a
strong recommendation that kids drink water every day. In the second example, the modal is
“should.” It is placed before the verb “do” and indicates a weaker recommendation that students
do their homework every night.

Permission

Examples: May I go to the restroom?

Can you throw me the ball?

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In the first example, the modal is “may.” It is placed before the subject “I” because it is written
in the question format (not as a statement as we’ve seen in previous examples). “May” indicates
a strong formality and makes a request to use the restroom. In the second example, the modal is
“can.” It is placed before the subject “you” and indicates a more casual request for you to throw
the ball.

Activity
Part I
Identify whether the sentence is describing logical possibility, ability, necessity, or permission.
Some sentences can be identified as more than one or have multiple uses.

1. You might win the lottery, but the chances are low.
2. Alona can start a fire in five minutes.
3. Hyunh should get braces.
4. Can I move out next week?
5. Navya could run a mile in 11 minutes.
6. May I get my grade tonight?
7. It could rain tomorrow.
8. I can eat this cotton candy in three seconds.
9. Yang should catch his flight tomorrow if he arrives at the airport early.
10. They must complete their parts of the assignment, or we will fail.

Part II
Fill in the blank with a modal based on the use and degree of strength.

11. Logical Possibility, Most Certain

The restaurant have digital menus on the tables.

12. Logical Possibility, Least Certain

The bus be on time today.

13. Necessity, Advice

Everyone brush their teeth every day.

14. Permission, Most formal

Inessa and I go to the nurse’s office?

15. Ability, Stronger

We write so quickly.

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16. Permission, somewhat formal

Darius, I have another cookie after dinner?

17. Ability, Stronger or Somewhat Certain

I finish my finish my writing test in one hour.

18. Logical Possibility, Less Certain

It snow in Texas if the weather keeps changing.

19. Necessity, Obligation

You not text while you drive!

20. Logical Possibility, Somewhat Certain

The kids have cleaned the house before we get home.

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 A career
Unit 0000case history
general vocabulary

Part 1

In this text, you have been given the first two letters of some missing words and expressions. You will find the other
parts of the words in the box. The first one has been done for you.

—lked out —gh

—nd in
—op floor signed
—y off

Ian Woodham left college and decided to 1. ap ply for a job which he saw advertised in the local paper.
He 2. fi the 3. ap that the company sent him, and a week later he was asked
to 4. at an 5. in . He was 6. of the job that same day.

As he lived in a small town outside the city, he had to 7. co every day. He was a 8.
hi and so very soon was 9. pr to a better position. However, the company he
worked for was having problems. Two people were 10. di for 11. em from the
petty cash box, three got the 12. sa for continual 13. ab , two of their friends
14. re in sympathy and then most of the workforce 15. wa in support. A few
weeks later, the directors decided to 16. la fifteen 17. sh workers because there
wasn't enough work, and the managing director decided to 18. re early. The atmosphere
was so bad that Ian eventually decided to 19. ha his 20. no .

Part 2

In this text, the first letter of each word in bold is in the correct place, but the other letters have been mixed up.
Rearrange the letters to make words.

Ian couldn't afford to be 21. upedmloyen, however, so he started 22. jbo hgnnuti again. A computer
company had a 23. vnyaacc for position of 24. smlesana. A lot of 25. cidnteadsa with good 26.
qnafsuliictioa and 27. eeerinepcx applied, and Ian was one of them. After all the interviews had finished,
the directors made a 28. striotlsh of the best 29. anpipctlsa, then invited them back for another interview.
After a lot of discussion, they 30. apndoipet Ian.

Ian was delighted. After all, he would receive a 31. slyraa of £25,000 32. pre amunn, with a 5%
33. iteenmncr twice a year, a 34. csnmioiosm for each computer he managed to sell, excellent
35. psrke such as private health insurance and a company car, a company 36. pnosnie plan to make sure he
would be well-off when he retired, and the chance of 37. pmotoonir to the position of sales manager.
All in all, his future 38. psocrsept looked excellent.

2
 topic vocabulary
Unit 0000
Read this text in which someone is describing the different people who work in her company, then match the
names of the different people with their positions on the next page. The first one has been done for you.

Welcome to the Bristol division of Compuflop plc. My name is Marion Smith, and I am
responsible for the company's productive use of its workforce. This is Alice Ranscombe, who
works in my department typing letters, filing documents, arranging meetings and so on. And this
is Jessica Hopkins, who does lots of small jobs in and around the office. If you need some filing
done, some letters posted, or want a cup of tea, she's the one to ask. The man in the office over
there wearing the Versace suit and the Rolex is Eddie Rolfe. He controls the company finances.
You probably saw his Ferrari parked outside when you arrived. The man over there sweeping the
floor is Reg McEnery. Reg, when you've finished, could you empty the bins please?

Let me tell you about some of the other people who are currently working in my company. First
of all, there's Anne Kennedy, who is appointed by the shareholders to help run the company. She
spends a lot of time working with Ronald Anderson, who makes sure the company is running
efficiently, and he has to answer to Elizabeth Watkins, who is the most important director in
charge of the company. Susie Farraday works for Ms Watkins, and she performs various
secretarial and administrative duties for her. Alan Johnson presides over the company's board
meetings, and Brian Larrs attends the board meetings only to give advice.

Our company makes computer components, and we need to make sure that production keeps up
with demand. Stephen Bird is the man who supervises the production process, and he is helped in
this job by Ray Harrison. In addition to our Bristol office and factory, we also have an office in
Birmingham: Mary Myers is responsible for the company's work there. Richard Giddings is the
one who makes sure people know about our products and services. To tell you the truth, I don't think
he's doing a very good job; the company doesn't seem to have made much money for quite a long
time now.

On the factory floor we have Harry Rampling. He's a highly skilled worker, so he's in charge of
all the workers on the factory floor. Andy Kelly represents the workers in discussions with the
managers about things like wages and conditions of employment. At the moment, there is a dispute
between the workers and the management about money. The workers want more, and the
management say the company can't afford to give a pay rise. Anyway, the company has brought in
Jennie Wilkinson to help sort things out (she doesn't work for our company and isn't concerned
with the dispute, so hopefully she will be able to settle it - the last time we had a dispute, we had to
bring in Jack Langsdale from the government to make the two sides agree). I do hope the
workers don't go on strike again. We've lost a lot of business because of industrial action recently.
topic vocabulary

We also have a few other people who are here on a temporary basis.
Tabitha Bradley is one of them. She finished university last month, and
she's learning a bit about the company. She's hoping to work with us in
the future.

I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name. Tony Preston. Nice to meet you Mr
Preston. And why are you here? You're here to take over the company and
close it down?! Oh dear, I didn't realise we were in that much trouble!
1. Marion Smith

2. Alice

C. official

6. Anne

H. Girl

10. Alan

arbitrator

14. Mary Myers N.

17. Andy Kelly Q.

U. accountant