Modal Auxiliary

Modal Auxiliary helping verbs or auxiliary verbs such as will, shall, may, might, can, could, must, ought to, should, would, used to, need are used in conjunction with main verbs to express shades of time and mood. The combination of helping verbs with main verbs creates what are called verb phrases or verb strings.

be, have and do can be auxiliaries and main verbs. They have grammatical functions and are used for forming tenses, questions, the passive, etc.

Modals are can, could, may, might, must, ought to, shall, should, will, would and need (need can also be a main verb).

• Positive (+)

S + Modal + V1 + ( O )

• Negative (-)

S + Modal + Not + V1 + (O)

• Interrogative (?)

Modal + S + V1 + (O) + ?

Example :

Positive (+)	Negative (-)	Introgative (?)
He can walk on the fire	He can not walk on the fire	Can he walk on the fire
You may read my book	You may not read my book	May I read your book?
John will invite you	John will not invite you	Will John invite me?
Students must enter the class at 07.00 AM	Students must not enter the class at 07.00 AM	Must students enter the class at 07.00 AM?
She shall come to my party	She shall not come to my party	Shall she come to my party?

Types of Modals

1. Can/Could

The word can / could have several different functions in its use in every sentence. There is a function to express the

 ability, declare the possibility, declare permissions, or state the petition in a polite manner.

Function of Can / Could

Stating ability	Declare a possibility	Declaring permissions	Declare the petition (polite)
She can write very well	It could be wrong	You can borrow my car tomorrow night	Can I borrow your pen?
Tomy could not bring this heavy bag	I can meet you if I get permisson from my boss	You can play this game after doing your homework	Could you please tell me where the bathroom is?

2. May/Might

The word may / might have several different functions in its use in every sentence. There is a function to declare 

the possibility under 80% and to declare permissions. For more details consider the following table.

Declare a possibility (<80%)	Declaring Permissions
Angga does not come to the office today, he may be sick.	You might meet your family.
Bela might not be happy because I am here now.	May I take your notebook?

3. Must/ Had to

The word must / had to have several different functions in its use in every sentence. There is a function to state

 the necessity and to declare certainty. For more details consider the following table.

Declare the necessity	Declare certainty
You must do it now!	She hurt your finger with knife, it must be pain.
You must not gotta angry.	Since you do not read the book and practice, you must not pass the national examination
We had to keep this key.

4. Shall

The word shall have several different functions in its use in every sentence. The word shall generally be used in

 pronoun 'I & We' only. Shall is used to declare a plan and to state a suggestion in a sentence. For more details 

consider the following table.

Declare the plan	Stated suggestions
We shall return this poster next month.	It is too dirty here. Shall I broom the floor?
I shall not resend your message tonight	He shall ask me if I have another pen.

5. Should

Should often be used for suggestions. In its use should mean 'should or should'. Should be different from the must, because should not require someone to implement the advice given

Example:

• You look so pale, you should go to the doctor.

• He should tell me where he will go

• Should I give her my phone?

6. Will

The word will have several different functions in its use in every sentence. Some work to declare a plan, express 

a will, and state an estimate. For more details consider the following table.

Declare the plan	Declare the will	Declare the forecast
Joe will go to Bali next week	I will help her	If it is hot this afternoon, I will not come to your house
I will make cookies at Lebaran	Thomas will lend me his money	If you do not study for your examination, you will be fail
Will you come to her celebration	Will you invite Bella to your barbeque party?	My father will buy a new car If our old house have been bought

7. Would

The word would have several different functions in its use in every sentence. There is a function to declare a plan

 that occurred in the past (Past) and to declare the petition politely. For more details consider the following table.

Declare the plan (Past)	Declare a petition (Polite)
I would go to Malaysia last month but I didn’t have enough money.	Would you please show your driving lisence?
She would give me her cake but she knew that I have got one before.	Would you please tell me when the plane takes off?
Joe would buy my phone if he did not lose his money yesterday.	Would you tell me your phone number please?

8. Ought to

The word ought to generally be used for suggestions. But the advice given is not so strong or coercive.

Example:

• You ought to sleep early tonight

• She ought to bring her baby here

• They ought not to be here now

What to keep in mind when using modals

Explanation	Sample sentences
Do not use modals for things which happen definitely.	The sun rises in the east. - A modal can't be used in this sentence.
They have no -s in the 3rd person singular.	He can play football.
Questions are formed without do/does/did.	Can he speak Spanish?
It follows a main verb in its infinitive.	They must read the book.
There are no past forms (except could and would).	He was allowed to watch the film.
When you use the past participle you tell about things which did not happen in the past.	You should have told me.

Rules For Modal Verbs - are a kind of auxiliary verb that is used to indicate likelihood, ability, advice, permission, habits and obligation

Rules for using modal verb tenses:

• "not" after the verb is used to make a verb negative
• the model verb comes before the subject in questions
• Rules For Modal Verbs do not change their form according to the tense; there is no "s" added to the verb
• infinitives (verb without "to") are used right after the modal verb

Tip: An example of model verbs are can/could, may/might, must, will/would, and shall/should.

• I will not go to the store.
• We have to go to the party next week.
• I might go to the store on my way home.

1.      Auxiliary verbs can not be used without a main verb.

• We playing outside = not correct!!!!
• We are playing outside. = correct

2.      Auxiliary verbs can not be used with modal verbs.

• You have do a car. = Not Correct
• You have a car. = Correct

3.      Auxiliary verbs are used to make sentences negative.

a.       We do not have a car.

b.      The girls do not have any money.

4.      Auxiliary verbs are used to ask questions.

a.       Do you have any money?

b.      Does Jenni live in your building?

Not use two modal auxiliary

In a sentence there should be no more than one auxiliary capital. But if forced to do so, then the second can be replaced with a word that is synonymous with the capital.

Modal auxiliary sentences	Wrong modal auxiliary sentences
Joe will be able to speak French next year	Joe will can speak French next year
I must be able to get her love	I must can get her love
They will be able to make their dream come true	They will can make their dream come true

Two auxiliary in one sentence should not be used because it would be meaningless in the sentence. 

Also, that means one of the Grammar structures of English.

Bare Infinitive

Main verb after modal auxiliary is always a bare infinitive (infinitive without additional 'to'). 

The nominal sentence (sentence with main verb be be) can use be.

Modal auxiliary sentence (bare infinitive)	Modal auxiliary sentence (nominal)
He can climb the tree fast	Michael can be a good football player
They will go to school today	I will be there soon
She must finish the test in five minutes	We must be at home now

Modal be passive sentences

Rumus (passive)

S + Modal + be + Past participle + (by agent)

Notice the active passive to passive changes in the following table!

Examples:

Active voice (modals)	Passive voice (modals)
The teacher must punish him	He must be punished by the teacher
Tony will give Anna a gift tonight	Anna will be given a gift by Tony tonight
All people can punch that thief	That thief can be punched by all people

The 6 most common auxiliary verbs are:

Do - Does - Did - Is - Are - Am

Do is used with the present simple tense.

Do-Does are used as part of the sentence structure for negative statements/sentences with the present simple tense

Do- Does are used as part of the sentence structure for questions, with the present simple tense.

Did is used with the past simple tense.

Did is used as part of the sentence structure for negative statements/sentences with the past simple tense

Did is used as part of the sentence structure for questions, with the past simple tense.

Be - Am - Is - Are -Was - Were

Have - Has -Had

DO', 'BE' and 'HAVE' are the English auxiliary verbs used in a negative structure, a question or to show tense.

DESCRIPTIONS OF ENGLISH AUXILIARY VERBS:

 Do- Don't Does and Don't are used for questions and negatives in the Present Simple Tense, and 'DID' and 'DIDN'T' are used in the Past Simple Tense.

'BE' is used with the Present Participle in Continuous (Progressive) Verbs. It is also used with the Past Participle in the Passive.

'HAVE' is used with the Past Participle to form the Perfect Aspect.