- •Modal verbs
- •Be able to, be allowed to, be permitted to
- •I. Translate into English using can (could).
- •II. Translate into English using to be able to.
- •III. Rewrite the sentences using the words in brackets. Replace could with to be able to where necessary.
- •IV. Translate into English using to be allowed to.
- •Can and May compared
- •Must, have to, be to must
- •2. Make questions with have to.
- •4. Complete these sentences with mustn't or don't/doesn't have to.
- •Must, to have to and to be to compared
- •Must and May compared
- •I. Translate into Russian using must.
- •II. Insert сап, may or must.
- •III. Translate into English using must, may or сап.
- •IV .Insert to have to or to be to.
- •V. Insert to have to or to be to.
- •VI. Translate into English using to have to или to be to.
- •VII. Put the proper form of the infinitive.
- •VIII. Translate into English using must, to have to or to be to.
- •Need in patterns
- •Expressing necessity
- •Ought to
- •Must, should and ought to compared
- •Will —would
- •Modal verbs. Test.
- •Сводка способов выражения долженствования при помощи сочетания модальных глаголов с инфинитивом
Modal verbs
Modal Verbs do not name any actions made by a person but denote the person’s attitude towards the surrounding world. They are used with great frequency and with a wide range of meanings. They express ideas such as: ability and willingness (готовность), permission and refusal, obligation and prohibition, request and necessity, promise and intention. Besides almost all modal verbs can express supposition (предположение) with different degree of certainty (уверенность), probability or possibility.
Modal Verbs have several characteristics in common:
there’s no “-s” in the third person singular: Ex.:He can swim. She must go.
there’s no “do/does” in the question and in the negative (the exception is “have to”):
Ex.: May I ask a question? You won’t believe this. but: You don’t have to be in a hurry.
they are followed by the Infinitive without “to” (the exceptions are “ought to”, “be to”, “have to”):
Ex.: It might rain soon. Could you help? but: You ought to have warned me.
they can be used with the Indefinite Infinitive which denotes a habitual action in the present: He must be at home now.
with the Continuous Infinitive to denote an action in progress: She may be sleeping now.
with the Perfect Infinitive to refer an action to the past She must have been crazy to marry him.
with the Perfect Continuous Infinitive to denote a past action which lasted a period of time:
You should have been driving more carefully.
they have only one form and no past tense (the exceptions are “can”, “may”);
“Shall” and “will” often indicate a future event or situation:
Ex.: I shall do what you suggested. He will not return for many hours.
“Would” is used as the past form of “will” to express future:
Ex.: He remembered that he would see his mother the next day.
To make a question you put the modal in front of the subject:
Ex.: Could you give me an example? Will you be coming in later? Shall I shut the door?
You never use modals together;
Instead of using modals you can use other verbs and modal expressions to make requests, offers, suggestions, etc.
Ex.: can = to be able; must = to have to; might = to be likely;
may not (full) - |
mayn't [meıənt] (contracted) |
* can not - |
can't [ka:nt] |
must not - |
mustn't [m^snt] |
*shall not - |
shan't [ʃa:nt] |
should not - |
shouldn't [ʃʊdnt] |
*will not - |
won't [wəʊnt] |
would not - |
wouldn't[wʊdnt] |
need not - |
needn't [ni:dnt] |
dare not - |
daren't [deənt] |
CAN —COULD
Meaning |
Forms of the modal verb |
Ways of rendering in Russian |
Forms of the Infinitive |
Kinds of senten-ces |
Some other ways of expressing the same meaning |
Sentence patterns |
1. Physical and mental ability or capacity |
can (can’t) could (couldn’t) – |
может (не может), могу (не могу); мог (не мог), могли (не могли) |
The Indefinite Infinitive |
+ – ?
|
to be able to; to know how to do smth; to have the ability to do smth. |
He can dance. Can she swim well? He couldn’t do it when a child. |
2. (Im)possibility: a) due to circumstances;
|
can (can’t) could (couldn’t) – |
могу (не могу), может (не может), мог (не мог), могли (не могли); |
The Indefinite Infinitive |
+ – ?
|
to be able to; to be unable to; it is (im)possible to do smth. |
Anybody can make a mistake. |
b) due to the existing rules or laws; |
can (can’t) could (couldn’t) – |
может (не может), мог (не мог), могли (не могли); |
The Indefinite Infinitive |
+ – ?
|
it is (im)possible to do smth. |
In old days a man could be sentenced (приговорить) to death for a small crime. |
c) possibility of the idea (theoretical possibility); |
can (can’t) could (couldn’t) – |
могу (не могу), может (не может), могли (не могли) |
The Indefinite Infinitive |
+ – ?
|
it is (im)possible to do smth. |
Anyone can learn to swim. (It is possible.) We can’t bathe here on account of the sharks. (It isn’t safe.) Can you get there in one day? (Is it possible?) |
d) = sometimes; |
can could |
иногда |
The Indefinite Infinitive |
+ ?
|
sometimes is often used to |
The sea can be rough here. It can be cold in winter. He could be naughty when he was a boy. |
3. Request |
can, could (a polite request) |
могу ли я, не могли бы вы
|
The Indefinite Infinitive |
?
|
|
Can I have some water? Could you step aside? |
4. Permission
|
can could |
можешь, можете, могут, (им) разрешили |
The Indefinite Infinitive |
+ |
to permit; to be allowed |
You can go now.
|
5. Prohibition |
can’t
|
нельзя
|
The Indefin Infinitive |
–
|
to forbid |
You can’t cross the street here. |
6.Uncertainty (неуверенность), doubt, astonishment |
can could (a greater degree of doubt) |
неужели, может ли быть, чтобы |
The Indefinite Infinitive
The Continuous Infinitive
The Perfect Infinitive
The Perf Contin Infinitive |
? general questions |
Is it possible that …? Do you believe that …? |
Can (could) this be true? refers the action to the pres or future.
Can (could) he still be drinking tea? refers the action to the present (the moment of speaking).
Can (could) he have done this? refers the action to the past.
Can (could) they have been watching TV for 7 hours? denotes an action began in the past and continued into the moment of speaking. |
7. Incredulity (недоверие), improbability (невероятность) |
can’t couldn’t (a greater degree of incredulity) |
не может быть, чтобы; невероятно, чтобы; вряд ли |
The Indefinite infinitive The Continuous Infinitive
The Perfect Infinitive
The Perfect Continuous Infinitive |
–
|
It’s hardly possible that; I refuse to believe that; I don’t think it is possible that; It’s next to impossible that; I don’t believe that; I doubt that; It’s impossible that; It’s incredible that |
This can’t (couldn’t) be true. He can’t (couldn’t) still be drinking tea. He can’t (couldn’t) have done this. They can’t (couldn’t) have been watching TV for 7 hours.
|
8. For emotional colouring |
can/could (in present time context) |
И что они ... И о чём они ... И как он ... И что это она ... |
The Indefinite infinitive The Continuous Infinitive The Perfect Infinitive The Perfect Continuous Infinitive |
? special questions |
|
What can (could) you know about it? What can (could) they be speaking about? How can (could) he have made such a mistake? What can (could) you have been doing here all this time? |
9. Unreality |
could – subjunctive |
мог бы, могли бы |
The Indefinite Infinitive refers the action to the present or future. The Perfect Infinitive indicates the action which was not carried out in the past. |
+ – ?
|
would be able to do smth. would have been able to do smth. |
Why don’t you want the doctor to come? He could help you (if he came). Why didn’t you want the doctor to come? He could have helped you (if he had come). |
10. Purpose |
could – subjunctive |
мог бы, могли бы |
The Indefinite infinitive |
in subord clauses of purpose |
|
I wrote down the phone number so that I could remember it. |
11. Reproach |
could – subjunctive |
мог бы, могли бы |
The Perfect Infinitive indicates the action which was not carried out in the past. |
+
|
|
You could have met me at the station. |
Notes: I: Remember the following set phases with the modal verb can:
She can’t help crying. – Она не может не плакать.
He couldn’t help admiring the city. – Он не мог не восхищаться городом.
I can’t but ask about it. – Мне ничего другого не остается, как спросить об этом.
They couldn’t but refuse him. – Им ничего не оставалось, как отказать ему.
as can be – an intensifying expression:
They are as pleased as can be. – Они очень (страшно) довольны.
It is as ugly as can be. – Это необычайно уродливо (трудно себе представить что-либо более отвратительное).
II: The Russian sentences of the type
Неужели они смогли приготовить уроки так быстро?
Can (could) they have prepared their lessons so quickly?
Не может быть, чтобы они приготовили уроки так быстро?
They can’t (couldn’t) have prepared their lessons so quickly
Не может быть, чтобы он ждал тебя все это время
He can’t (couldn’t) have been waiting for you all this time.
Can (could) he have failed to notice you?
Неужели ему не нравится здесь? Не может быть, чтобы ему здесь не нравилось.»
Can (could) he dislike it here?
How сan you have lost your sense of reality?
Неужели ты утратил (как мог ты утратить) чувство реальности?
III: The Russian sentences of the type
Он просто не может (не мог, не мог бы) сделать этого.
He can’t possibly do this. He couldn’t possibly do this. He can’t (couldn’t) possibly have done this.
IV: Could is used:
1. for general ability. But if we are talking about what happened in a particular situation it is better to use was/were able to or managed to ... e.g. The flood was so terrible, not everyone managed (was able) to escape.
Compare: e.g. Nick was an excellent boxer. He could beat anybody.
Sam boxed very well too but in the end Nick managed (was able) to beat Sam.