Modal Verb Tutorial

Modals are special verbs which behave very irregularly in English. Englishpage.com has created one of the most in-depth modal tutorials in print or online. Study the modal explanations and complete the associated exercises and take another step toward English fluency. If you want to use the Modal Verb Tutorial as a reference only and do not want to complete the tutorial Click Here .

The tutorial should be completed as follows:

1. Read this introduction page including the section below titled "What are Modal Verbs?"
2. Complete the exercises below. After each exercise, we have listed the modals covered. Just click on the modal link to learn more about its use.

EXERCISES	TOPICS COVERED
Modal Exercise 1	Can , Could , Have to , Must , Might and Should
Modal Exercise 2	Have to and Must
Modal Exercise 3	Might , Must and Should . Afterwards, you can repeat the exercise using Could , Have to and Ought to
Modal Exercise 4	Couldn't and Might not
Modal Exercise 5	Have got to , Had Better , May and Shall
Modal Exercise 6	Could , Might , Should and Would
Modal Exercise 7	Modal Verbs Forms
Modal Final Test	Cumulative Modal Test

What are Modal Verbs?

Modal verbs are special verbs which behave very differently from normal verbs. Here are some important differences:
1. Modal verbs do not take "-s" in the third person.

Examples:

• He can  speak Chinese.
• She should  be here by 9:00.

2. You use "not" to make modal verbs negative, even in Simple Present and Simple Past.

Examples:

• He should not be late.
• They might not come to the party.

3. Many modal verbs cannot be used in the past tenses or the future tenses.

Examples:

• He will can go with us. Not Correct
• She musted study very hard. Not Correct

Common Modal Verbs

Can Could May Might Must

Ought to Shall Should Will Would

For the purposes of this tutorial, we have included some expressions which are not modal verbs including had better, have to, and have got to. These expressions are closely related to modals in meaning and are often interchanged with them.