- •The use of modal verbs
- •Indicates that the action was not carried out
- •Structurally dependent use of can
- •In subordinate clauses of purpose
- •One can’t but do something Ничего другого не остается, как...
- •Table 4
- •Structurally Dependent Use of May Table 6
- •Memorize
- •It might have been worse Могло бы быть и хуже
- •3) He/she might have been ...
- •Stereotyped phrases:
- •May I tell you that ...
- •Can and may Compared Table 7
- •Usage Table 8
- •Must and may Compared
- •Table 9
- •Structurally dependent use of be to
- •Usage Table 12
- •Will not (won’t) have smb do smth
- •Structurally dependent use of would after the verb wish
- •Shall Forms
- •Table 14
- •Meaning: necessity
- •To have the courage to do something
- •Revision
- •Oral exercises
- •In the tram
- •I shall Know it hasn’t been slept on.”
- •23. A) Read the text and comment on the meaning of the modal verbs.
- •170100, Г. Тверь, ул. Желябова, 33
ФЕДЕРАЛЬНОЕ АГЕНТСТВО ПО ОБРАЗОВАНИЮ
Государственное образовательное учреждение
высшего профессионального образования
«ТВЕРСКОЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ»
Факультет иностранных языков и международной коммуникации
МОДАЛЬНЫЕ ГЛАГОЛЫ
учебно-методическая разработка
по практической грамматике английского языка
для студентов 2 курса факультета ИЯ и МК
Тверь 2009
Модальные глаголы. Учебно-методическая разработка по практической грамматике английского языка – Тверь: Твер. гос. ун-т, 2009. – 27 с.
Составитель: канд. филол. наук, доцент Н.С. Шумова
Практикум по курсу «Практическая грамматика английского языка» предназначен для самостоятельной и аудиторной работы студентов дневной и заочной форм обучения. В первой части представлены сведения об употреблении модальных глаголов главным образом в виде таблиц. Вторая часть включает устные упражнения, направленные на активизацию изученных глаголов в речи студентов.
Печатается по решению кафедры английского языка (протокол № 3 от 01.10.09.)
© Шумова Н.С.
© Тверской государственный университет, 2009
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF MODAL VERBS
Modal verbs express the attitude of the speaker towards the action or state indicated by the infinitive that follows them. Thus modal verbs just like mood forms are among grammatical means of expressing modality, the lexical means being modal words. With the help of modal verbs the speaker may represent an action or state as necessary or unnecessary, possible or impossible, probable, doubtful etc.
A modal verb in combination with the infinitive forms a compound modal verbal predicate.
Modal verbs are defective verbs since they lack many forms characteristic of regular verbs.
They lack the ending –s in the third person singular. E.g. You can read it. He must do it.
They have no verbals (infinitive, gerund, participle).
They are not used with auxiliaries. They need no auxiliaries to build questions and negations. E.g. Can you read it? – No, I can’t. Shall I do it? – No, you needn’t.
Consequently they have no analytical forms (perfect, continuous, passive, future).
They are followed by the infinitive without the particle ‘to’ (with the exception of ought).
The use of modal verbs
CAN
Forms
Present: can (cannot, can’t). E.g. Everyone can see it now.
Past: could (could not, couldn’t). E.g. He could speak English when he was a child.
Subjunctive: could ( could not, couldn’t). E.g. I could have done it myself if you had not interfered (imaginative). Could I help you? (a more polite form of can). Could he have said it? (implies more uncertainty than can).
Usage
Table 1
Meaning |
Examples |
Ability (physical, intellectual) |
I cannot stand this heat. I couldn’t understand a word he said. |
Possibility |
Anybody can make mistakes. He could be seen in that park every morning. |
Supposition, implying uncertainty (only the subjunctive form could) |
He could be on his way now. Возможно, он едет. He could have been delayed. Возможно, его задержали. |
Mind!
COULD (subjunctive) + PERFECT INFINITIVE
Indicates that the action was not carried out
e.g. She could have explained the mystery. Она могла бы
объяснить эту тайну (но не объяснила). I could have
seen the house from there if it had not been so dark.
Table 2
Meaning |
Type of the sentence |
Form of the verb |
Examples |
Request |
Interrogative |
Can (present indicative) could (subjunctive) |
Can\could I phone you in the evening ? |
Permission |
Affirmative |
Can |
You can leave right now. |
Prohibition |
Negative |
Cannot (can’t) |
You can’t cross the street here. |
Reproach |
Affirmative |
Could (subjunctive) |
You could help your sister now that she is in trouble. You could have helped her when she was in trouble. |
Table 3
Meaning |
Type of the sentence |
Form of the infinitive |
Examples |
|||||
Doubt, uncertainty |
Interrogative |
Non-perfect to express present actions |
Can/could she be here now? Неужели она сейчас здесь? Can/could he be still sleeping? Неужели он все еще спит? |
|||||
|
|
Perfect to express past actions |
Can/could they have left yesterday? Неужели они вчера уехали? |
|||||
|
|
Perfect-continuous to express actions begun in the past and continued up to the present |
Can/could she have been working all the time? Неужели она все это время работает? |
|||||
Note: You can render Неужели не using the verb fail + infinitive, negative prefixes and suffixes, negative pronouns, antonyms, synonyms. E.g.1) Неужели ты его не нашел? Can/ could you have failed to see him? 2) Неужели его не было дома? Can/could he have been out? 3) Неужели он этого не знает? Can/could he be unaware of it? |
||||||||
Disbelief |
Negative |
Non-perfect to express present actions or actions simultaneous with the action of the verb in the main clause.
Perfect to express past actions or actions preceding the action of the verb in the main clause. Perfect continuous to express actions begun in the past and continued up into the present or actions begun before the action of the verb in the main clause and continued up to the time it was done. |
Ann can’t/couldn’t be so selfish. Не может быть, чтобы Анна была столь эгоистичной. He thought that Ann couldn’t be so selfish. Он подумал, что Анна вряд ли столь эгоистична. They can't/couldn't have been mistaken. Не может быть, чтобы они ошибались. She realized that they couldn’t have done it alone. Она поняла, что, вряд ли они сделали это одни.
They can’t/couldn’t have been talking the whole evening. Вряд ли они разговаривают весь вечер. He said that the children couldn’t have been there all the time. Он сказал, что вряд ли дети все это время находятся там одни.
|
|||||
Note: You can render не может быть, чтобы не ... using fail + infinitive, negative prefixes and suffixes, antonyms, synonyms. E.g. 1)Не может быть, чтобы он этого не знал. He can't/coudn't be unaware of it. 2) Не может быть, чтобы она его не любила. She can’t/couldn’t have disliked him. 3) Не может быть, чтобы его не было вчера дома. He can’t/couldn’t have been out yesterday.e HeHHE |
||||||||
Puzzlement, impatience |
Special questions |
Non-perfect Perfect |
What can/could it mean? Что бы это значило? What can/could he have done? |
|||||