Modals - Class 10 English Grammer Notes

What are Modals?

Modal auxiliaries are helping verbs which are used to indicate modality (likelihood, ability, permission, certainty and obligation). They give information about the tense and function of the main verb in the sentence. They exist only in relation to the main verbs, without which, they make little sense in the sentence.

Characteristics of Modals

Modals Used

In affirmative sentences, the modal auxiliary is placed between the subject and the main verb.

In negative sentences, the modal auxiliary is placed between the subject and the negative adverb.

Rules of Modals

They do not agree in number with the subject except for the modals ‘need’ and ‘dare’.
With the exception of ‘ought’, ‘need’ and ‘dare’, the modal auxiliaries are followed by infinitive forms of verbs without the preposition ‘to’.

She needs	to	listen.	Do you dare to dream?
I can help.	Rishab ought to study.

They have no non-finite forms (‘-en’, ‘-ed’ or ‘-ing’ forms).
All tense forms are not represented by the modal auxiliary.

Types of Modals

There are three types of modal auxiliaries:

Single concept modals – having just one meaning
Double concept modals – having two meanings
Past modals – modals in the past tense

Single Concept Modals	Double Concept Modals	Past Modals
Will	May	Would have
Might	Must	Could have
Should	Would	Might have
Ought to	Shall	Should have
Had better	Can	May have
	Could	Must have

Single Concept Modals

	Modal		Meaning	Usage
Could		Past ability		Tushar could eat 10 rotis at a time.
		Present probability (unsure)		It could move if we all pushed hard.
Can		Present ability		Gavin can help you with your homework.
		Permission		Can I try one of these?

Past Modals

These modals help to refer to actions which took place in the past.
The structure of such sentences is as follows:

+ +

Modal	Meaning	Usage
Must have	Assumption	He must have forgotten about us.
May/might have	Guessing/speculating	Raj may have bought these oranges.
Could have	Possibility (likely not to have been fulfilled)	Yash could have apprised us of the matter.
Would have	Possibility	The guests would have left.
Should have/ ought to have	Hypothetical situation which may have been ideal	He ought to have helped you.

Modal	Meaning	Usage
Will	Future	I will buy a new car.
Might	Diminished possibility (more unlikely than likely)	It might rain today.
Should	Advice, Suggestion	Ranjit should practise daily.
Ought to	Obligation	You ought to help in times of need.
Had better	Advice, warning	He had better leave if he wants to catch the 5 pm bus.
Double Concept Modals
Modal	Meaning	Usage
May	Permission	May I borrow your car?
	Increased possibility (more likely than unlikely)	It may rain today.
Must	Compulsion	You must complete the work.
	Assumption	Mahesh is absent today. He must be sick.
Would	Past habit (used to)	Mother would send her children to school.
	Future possibility	They would visit us some day.
Shall	Similar to ‘will’ Used with first person pronouns	I shall call you tonight.
	Polite expression	Shall I help you?
		Shall I take leave?

MODAL AUXILIARIES