{"id":3012,"date":"2016-03-29T08:00:24","date_gmt":"2016-03-29T15:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?p=3012"},"modified":"2020-12-10T13:43:51","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T21:43:51","slug":"modals-part-1-an-overview-of-modals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/modals-part-1-an-overview-of-modals\/","title":{"rendered":"Modals, Part 1: An Overview of Modals"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you studied English in grade school, you probably heard about modals in class at some point. Modals are an interesting language feature\u2014 they are a type of word that can \u201chelp\u201d a verb by giving it additional meaning. Modals are \u201chelp verbs\u201d add connotation to the main verb in a sentence or clause, suggesting certain things about the action that\u2019s being described.<\/p>\n

Three of the most common modals in English are \u201cwould<\/a>,\u201d \u201ccould<\/a>,\u201d and \u201cshould<\/a>.\u201d \u201cWould\u201d suggests intention or desire to do a thing. So for instance, if you add \u201cwould\u201d to the verb \u201cswim,\u201d as in \u201cShe would swim,\u201d you are suggesting that someone wants to swim, plans to swim, or intends to swim. Similarly, \u201cshould\u201d is used to suggest something is the right or recommended course of action, and \u201ccould\u201d suggests ability. So \u201cshould swim\u201d means that swimming is the right thing to do, and \u201ccould swim\u201d means that swimming is a possible activity.<\/p>\n

But there are a lot more to modals than just would\/could\/should<\/em>. \u201cWill\u201d has a similar meaning to \u201cwould.\u201d \u201cShall\u201d and \u201cought to\u201d stand alongside \u201cshould\u201d as modals that indicate an action is the right thing to do, and \u201ccan\u2019\u2019 and the phrasal modal \u201cbe able to\u201d have similar meaning to \u201ccould.\u201d<\/p>\n

Modal meanings and use also extend beyond the meanings of the \u201cbig three\u201d modal words ending in -ould<\/em>. \u201cMay\u201d and \u201cmight\u201d are used in suggestions, predictions, and possibilities. And modals \u201cmust,\u201d \u201chave to,\u201d \u201cneed to,\u201d and \u201cneed not\u201d add a variety of meanings to verbs, including a sense of probability, necessity, and persuasion.<\/p>\n

But modals don\u2019t just affect the meaning<\/em> of a verb phrase\u2014they can also change a verb phrase\u2019s grammar<\/em>. In most cases, if a modal appears before a verb, the verb will not have any tense and will also lose any suffix it may have, such as the singular \u2013s<\/em> suffix or tense-related suffixes such as \u2013ed<\/em> and \u2013ing<\/em>. In other words, if a verb comes after a modal, it will appear in its bare<\/em> form, its simplest form.<\/p>\n

So in the sentence \u201cThe dog runs,\u201d a modal can be added to change it to \u201cThe dog might run.\u201d Notice how the s<\/em> at the end of \u201cruns,\u201d marking it as a plural verb, goes away when the modal is added. In the same way, \u201cThe water splashed\u201d becomes \u201cThe water has to splash.\u201d And \u201cHe is running\u201d becomes \u201cHe can run.\u201d<\/p>\n

Modals reduce a verb to its bare form with irregular verbs too. \u201cThey are happy\u201d can turn into \u201cThey should be happy,\u201d with the plural present tense irregular verb \u201care\u201d changing to its bare form \u201cbe.\u201d And \u201cHe ate\u201d can change to \u201che needed to eat.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are a number of other rules for modal use, but this post covers the basic concept\u2014modals change the meaning and grammar of a verb. In my next post on this subject, we\u2019ll look at some more advanced ways to use modals so that you can really master this form.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you studied English in grade school, you probably heard about modals in class at some point. Modals are an interesting language feature\u2014 they are a type of word that can \u201chelp\u201d a verb by giving it additional meaning. Modals are \u201chelp verbs\u201d add connotation to the main verb in a sentence or clause, suggesting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13603],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[13630],"class_list":["post-3012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grammar"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nModals, Part 1: An Overview of Modals - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/modals-part-1-an-overview-of-modals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Modals, Part 1: An Overview of Modals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you studied English in grade school, you probably heard about modals in class at some point. 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Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT. David has a BS and MA from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew"],"knowsAbout":["TOEFL","IELTS","TOEIC","PET","FCE","BULATS","Eiken","SAT","ACT","GRE","GMAT"],"knowsLanguage":["English","Italian"],"jobTitle":"Content Creator","worksFor":"Magoosh","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/author\/davidr\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":13630,"user_id":80,"is_guest":0,"slug":"davidr","display_name":"David Recine","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b70c17ee6f3ef87dc4cc5dbdebda911d6dd30dfe15845e4b1d459a3e1b33ef98?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"Recine","first_name":"David","description":"David is a Test Prep Expert for Magoosh TOEFL and IELTS. Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT.\r\n\r\nDavid has a BS from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. His work at Magoosh has been cited in<a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C50&q=Recine+magoosh&btnG=\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> many scholarly articles<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/minds.wisconsin.edu\/handle\/1793\/65479\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> his Master's Thesis<\/a> is featured on the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.readingwithpictures.org\/2013\/09\/research-highlight-teaching-english-language-learners-with-comics\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Reading with Pictures<\/a> website, and he's presented at the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.witesol.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/2014-WITESOL-Program-FINAL-10-28-14.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> WITESOL (link to PDF)<\/a> and<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/interoff\/docs\/nafsaregionv_2014conference\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> NAFSA<\/a> conferences. David has taught K-12 ESL in South Korea as well as undergraduate English and MBA-level business English at American universities. He has also trained English teachers in America, Italy, and Peru.\r\n\r\nCome join David and the Magoosh team on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew\"> Youtube<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning\"> Facebook<\/a>, and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/magooshenglish\/?hl=en\"> Instagram<\/a>, or connect with him via<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/\"> LinkedIn<\/a>!"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3012\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3012"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=3012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}