MODALS

FUNCTION MODAL PRESENT EXPLANATION PAST EXPLANATION

DEGREES OF CERTAINTY
Complete cer- can’t A: ‘Where is Sarah?’ To express negative certainty: I’m Where can John have put the Can’t + have + p.p. To express certainty
tainty B: ‘She can’t be at home.’ fairly sure this isn’t true. matches? He can’t have thrown about the past. Is used in questions and
them away. negatives.
Probability / can’t She can’t have a ten-year-old Negative logical assumptions. You can’t have finished already! Can’t + have + p.p. for negative deduction
Deduction daughter! She’s only twenty-one (Not: mustn’t !) about earlier events.
herself..
could Why is John late? He could have got We use could + have + p.p. when we want
stuck in traffic. to make a guess about sth that happened
in the past.
couldn’t It couldn’t have been John because Couldn’t + have + p.p. for negative deduc-
he has an alibi. tion about earlier events. Has a similar
meaning to can’t, only slightly weaker.
Possibility can Prices can be high in London. General possibility in the present.
could Specific possibility at present.  Prices could be high in the six-  General possibility in the past.
 I’m not saying she’ll win, but  When we speculate about things: teenth century. Could + infinitive
she could. ‘It’s possible that…’  He could have been working late.  Specific possibility in the past. Sth was
 Peter is late. Could he be  And to ask ‘Is it possible that…’ possible, but you didn’t do it.
stuck in traffic? Could + have + past participle
 Could has a similar meaning to  I couldn’t have arrived any ear-  Couldn’t have + p.p. means that sth
might. lier. There was a terrible traffic wasn’t possible in the past, even if you
jam. had wanted to do it.
OBLIGATION AND FREEDOM TO ACT
Obligation & can’t You can’t open this parcel until To say that it is wrong to do things,
Prohibition Christmas Day. or to tell people not to do things.
Permission/ can  Can I borrow your car  Is used to ask for permission.
Request/ tonight?
Offer  Is used to give permission.
 You can stop work early to-  To talk about permission gener-
day. ally.
 Children can do what they  To talk about permission that has
want these days. already been given or refused.
 The children can watch TV  To talk about laws and rules (Not
after dinner. ‘may’)
 ‘You can’t park here.’ ‘Why
not?’’ I think only buses and  To ask for future permission.
taxis can park here.’
Modals 1/4
  Can we leave at six?  To express a request, when we
 Can you do me a favor? ask sb to do sth.
 Request: When we ask sb to give
 Can I have a coffee, please? us sth.
Can we have our room keys,
please?  To offer to do things for people.
 Can I carry your bag?
I can babysit for you this
evening if you like.  Future permissions.
 You can bring a friend to the
party if you want.
can’t  Can I have some more cake?  Is used to refuse permission (of-
No, I’m afraid you can’t. ten with other words to soften
the refusal.
 Can’t I sit here?  It’s possible to use can’t as a neg-
ative question when we are ex-
pressing surprise.
 Can I NOT do the report? (= is  However, if we use ‘not’ sepa-
it OK if I don’t do the report?) rately and stress it, it’s possible to
ask for permission not to do sth.
 In the same way as with negative
 You can come to the party or questions we sometimes use ‘can
you can NOT come to the … NOT” to give or refuse permis-
party, whatever you like. sion to say that it’s okay not to do
sth.
could  Could I go home? I don’t feel  Is used to ask for permission. When I was a child, I could watch TV For general permission in the past.
well. Could is more polite than can. whenever I wanted to.
 ‘Could I ask you something?’  We do not use could to give per- When I was at school, we could go
‘Yes, of course you can.’ mission. to the gym at lunchtime.
(Not … of course you could.)
 Could I borrow your car to-  To ask for future permission.
morrow?
 Could you do me a favor?  Request: To ask people to do sth.
Could is more polite, more formal
or, less definite.
 Could I have a receipt, please?  Request: When we ask sb to give
us sth.
 I could mend your bicycle for  We use could if we want an offer
you if that would help. to sound less definite.
couldn’t  Could we picnic here? I’m  We don’t use couldn’t to refuse When I was a child, I couldn’t watch For both general and specific permission
sorry, I’m afraid you can’t. permission. TV in the morning. in the past.
(Not … you couldn’t.) Last night she couldn’t go to the

Modals 2/4
  Couldn’t I sit here?  It’s possible to use couldn’t as a party.
negative question when we are
expressing surprise.
 Could we NOT meet tonight?  However, if we use ‘not’ sepa-
I’m really tired. rately and stress it, it’s possible to
ask for permission not to do sth.
be allowed  He will be allowed to go to  Future permission of may and  Yesterday evening, Peter was al-  To talk about general and specific per-
to the party tomorrow. might. lowed to watch TV for an hour. mission in the past in positive sen-
 Will I be allowed to leave  To ask for future permission. tences.
early?  Last night she wasn’t allowed to  To talk about general and specific per-
 You’re allowed to get married  To express permission. Can is go to the party. mission in the past in negative sen-
when you’re 16. more informal and usually spo- tences.
You’re not allowed to jump ken.
into the pool.
 I’m not allowed to go to the
party  To talk about permission that has
 Am I allowed to sit here? already been given or refused.
 To ask permission about an out-
 No one has been allowed to side rule.
see the test results.  In all phrasal modal structures.
ADVICE/ could We could maybe go to a restau- Could is often used for making sug-
SUGGESTIONS rant tomorrow. gestions in the future.
CRITICISE could You could ask before you borrow Could can be used to criticize people You could have told me you were Could + have + p.p. For criticisms about
my car. for not doing things. getting married. the past.
ABILITY can/can’t  She can play the piano very  To manage.
well. For both general and specific
He can’t drive, he’s too tired. ability.
 I can help you tomorrow.  Future: for specific ability.
I can’t come to the party.
could  I could swim when I was seven.  For general ability in the past.
 I could have played the piano  Could + have + p.p. for an ability or
well but I didn’t practice enough. opportunity not used.
couldn’t  I couldn’t swim when I was five.  For general ability in the past.
My daughter couldn’t feed her-
self until she was four.
 I couldn’t find your house last  For specific ability in the past.
night.
be able to  Is the child able to tie his or  Is sometimes used for general  When the computer crashed  For specific ability: to express a fulfilled
her shoelaces without help? ability in formal situations. yesterday, I was able to fix it. ability on one particular occasion in the
 I’ve never been able to under-  Present Perfect. (Not: ‘I could fix it.’) past.
stand her.  However, could is usually more natural:
 I’d like to be able to drive.  We use be able to in the gerund o With verbs of the senses: feel, hear,

Modals 3/4
 (inf) and the infinitive with ‘to’. see, smell, taste.
She loves being able to stay o I could remember the crash, o With verbs of ‘thinking’: believe,
with us on holidays. (gerund) but nothing after that. decide, remember, understand.
 Being able to drive has trans-  -ing form. o All we could see were his feet. o After the phrases the only thing /
formed my life. (Not: All we were able to…) place / time, and after all when it
 She must be able to run very  After modals. means ‘the only thing’.
fast to become a police offi-
cer.
 You’ll be able to walk again  Future: for general ability.
soon.
He won’t be able to speak
Chinese in a week! It will take
months.
could/ You could get a better job if you Could can mean ‘would be able to’.
couldn’t spoke a foreign language.
They took his passport so that he
couldn’t leave the country.

Modals 4/4