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The most common modal verbs in English are: can, could, may, might, must, will, would, shall and should.
A modal verb goes before another verb to give it extra meaning.
- ability – having the knowledge or skills to do something
- possibility – something being possible
- permission – something being allowed
- obligation – being told to do something and you have no choice but to do it
- deduction – the process of thinking in a logical way
- advice – suggestion or recommendation
- probability/expectation – something that is likely to happen
Modal verbs are difficult to use correctly because the same modal verb can express several different meanings.