The Modal Auxiliaries
In previous units, we looked at three auxiliary verbs that are used to form the Progressive and Perfect Tenses, and to form questions & negatives with the Simple Tenses. The three auxiliaries are:
BE HAVE DO
In the text you have just read, there are a number of examples with another type of auxiliary, called a Modal.
Use
Modals auxiliaries don’t form a tense. Instead, they express our ‘attitude’, what we feel about the action described by the main verb:
Look at this sentence from the text:
Young people nowadays could face different challenges from those facing their parents and grandparents and they must be ready for this (1).
Let’s see what happens if we re-write Sentence 1 without the Modal auxiliaries:
Young people nowadays face different challenges they from those facing their parents and grandparents and they are ready for this.
The meaning of the sentence has changed completely. The new sentence talks about facts: ‘students face different challenges’, and ‘they are ready for this’. This is not really what the writer wants to say.
The writer uses ‘could face’ to show that there is a possibility of this, and uses ‘must be’ to show that they strongly recommend that students become ready.
Look at Sentence 7:
The workforce should also have the necessary social and communicative skills to collaborate and cooperate in project teams, rather than working alone (7).
‘Should have’ here shows that the writer thinks it is advisable for the workforce to have these skills.
When we use a modal auxiliary before a main Verb, we add extra meaning, such as ‘we think this might happen’, ‘we think this is possible’, or ‘we think this is necessary’.
Modal auxiliaries are a special closed group of words.
Pure modals
These are the modals:
can may will shall must
could might would should
Other verbs which can show the same meanings as some of the modals are:
need ought to have to be able to
Form
Modal + V
Negative
Question Forms:
The modal auxiliary comes before the Subject. The main Verb, which comes after the Subject, is in the infinitive, without ‘to’:
Can we come? Must I study? Should he stay? Could they join? May I speak?
Note
For modal auxiliaries :
There is no infinitive form
There is no special 3rd person form - ‘he might’, not ‘he mights’
The negative is formed by adding not (n’t) – she should not (shouldn’t)
The question is formed by inversion – Can I?, not ‘Do I can?’
They cannot be preceded by other auxiliaries – they should have done, not they have should done
There can be a ‘past’ form, but it is not ‘–ed’
Let’s have a look at this sentence:
It would certainly be useful if they could call on the linguistic and intercultural skills needed in multinational industries and multicultural communities (9).
Notice how:
’Would’ and ‘could’ are followed by infinitive forms of the main Verb, without ‘to’.
We do not say: ‘It woulds’ – there is no Third Person Form with ‘-s’.
Other Verbs showing modal meaning
Have to:
‘Have to’ is often used when we want to use the idea of ‘must’ in tenses other than the present.
Students had to follow a regular daily routine, remember information and to carry out instructions (3).
They will have to be independent and flexible in when and how they work (5).
Have to also takes the Third Person ‘-s’ – she has to go
Ought to:
They ought to be equipped with IT skills, and to be able to find any information they need on the Internet or through Social Media (6).
‘ought to’ means the same as ‘should’ but it is not commonly used.
Need:
‘Need’ is most often used as a main (lexical) verb, as in the sentences below.
In contrast, think about preparing students for employment in the modern world. What skills do we expect today’s and tomorrow’s workers might need (4)?
For most of the twentieth century, the set of skills needed for the workforce was much simpler than it is today (2).
They ought to be equipped with IT skills, and to be able to find any information they need on the Internet or through Social Media (6).
We need to develop young people who can take responsibility for their own work, who can collaborate with different people, and who can think for themselves (10).
They may need to be well-trained in subject competencies, but also be motivated to learn further skills and languages as jobs constantly change and develop (8).
However, we use need as a modal auxiliary when necessity is immediate or urgent, and not general. We often use it to ask for permission not to do something, as in:
Need I go to the meeting?
Modals in the Past
Apart from the modals mentioned above, the past form is:
MODAL + HAVE + Past Participle
should have done / might have been / could have seen / may have done / must have been
Negative:
Modal + NOT (n’t) + HAVE + Past Participle
Shouldn’t have done
Couldn’t have done
Can’t have been
Question Forms:
To form a question, put the modal in front of the Subject:
Should I have come?
Could he have stayed?
See the next section for the meaning of the different modal auxiliaries.