Basic Modals

Modal auxiliary verbs are used to moderate the main verb, that is to enhance or restrict the verb to a certain context. The most common modal auxiliaries in English are: can may might must couldshould will would Notice the usage of modals in the following sentences: I pay my taxes. General declaration of fact. Paying taxes is something I normally do. Expresses ability. I have the means (funds) to pay. Expresses possibility, but not certainty. Maybe I will pay; maybe I won't. Expresses future intent. I resolve to do it at some later time. Expresses mild obligation. It is required, and I expect to comply. Expresses possibility. If I have nothing else to do with the money, I might pay taxes. (In this case), expresses reservation. If I had the money (but I don't). . . Expresses strong obligation. I am required and have to comply.

I can pay my taxes. I might pay my taxes. I will pay my taxes. I should pay my taxes. I could pay my taxes. I would pay my taxes. I must pay my taxes.

Modals are followed by only the base form of the verb and are not used alone unless there is a clear connection to a main verb. He must to finish his homework. WRONG He must finish his homework. Jack could heard the bell. RIGHT WRONG

Jack could hear the bell. Penny will going to the movie. Penny will go to the movie.

RIGHT WRONG RIGHT

There are many ways to make requests in English. The most common involves using the imperative and modals. See the examples below:

Using the Imperative

The imperative is the simple form of the verb. The subject of an imperative sentence is understood as "you" although it is usually not spoken. Open the door. Will you help me? (You) open the door. Yes, I will (help you).

Pick up your toys. (You) pick up your toys. Please help me. (You) please help me.

The imperative is often used by persons of authority when speaking to subordinates, e.g. parent to child.

Using Modals
To show respect and politeness, most people use modal expressions when making requests. For example: Will you...? Would you...? Would you please...? Could you (please)...? Will you open the door for me? Would you open the door for me? Would you please open the door (for me)? Could you (please)...? Could you (please) open the door?

Could you possibly...? Would you kindly...? Would you mind (Ving )...? Would you be so kind as to...?

Could you possibly open the door? Would you kindly open the door? Would you mind opening the door? Would you be so kind as to open the door?

Common Problems with Modals

1. Using "to" unnecessarily: Incorrect They going to meet us at the theater. He should to eat his dinner. I had better to go now. You must not to use that pencil. John could heard the bell. Penny will going to the movie. You should ought to speak English. She might can help me. They going to meet us at the theater. Jack supposed to take his medicine. How I can help you? Where I should go for the meeting? Correct They are going to meet us at the theater. He should eat his dinner. I had better go now. You must not use that pencil.

2. Using anything but the base form after a modal: John could hear the bell. Penny will go to the movie.

3. Using double modals: You ought to speak English. /should speak She might be able to help me.

4. Omitting "be" in certain modal expressions: They are going to meet us at the theater. Jack is supposed to take his medicine.

5. Using wrong word order in questions: How can I help you? Where should I go for the meeting?

Past modals come in two forms. The first type is the easiest and usually requires only a simple word change: I can drive. I could drive when I was 16. I have to go to California. I had to go to California. Lenny will pay tomorrow. (present ability) (past ability) (present obligation) (past obligation) (future intention)

Lenny said he would pay tomorrow. (future reported from the past)

Past modals with "have"

Some past modals can be formed by using have + the past participle of the main verb immediately after the modal. (should have, could have, would have, etc.) However, since modals express possibility, intention, obligation, etc., they do not always indicate a definite tense. Therefore, when using past modals with have, special meanings need to be considered. I should go to the funeral. I should have gone to the funeral. Lex might take Karen to the airport. (I feel an obligation to go later.) (I didn't go. Now I regret it.) (It's a future possibility.)

Lex might have taken Karen to the airport. (He may be on his way there now.) Lex could have taken Karen to the airport. Lex would have taken Karen to the airport. Otis didn't come to work yesterday. He had to take care of his children. His children must have been sick. Have to Be expected to / Has to (Most likely he didn't.) (He didn't. He had an excuse.) (past fact) (past obligation) (conjecture about the past) / Had to

These words express necessity or obligation. They usually indicate that someone else has imposed conditions on us. For example: I have to take out the garbage. (Its something I must do now. My mother told me to do it.) I am expected to take out the garbage. (Its a regular responsibility, a daily chore that my parents have given me.)

A related expression is be supposed to. I am supposed to clean my room. (Im required to do it.) In the negative, these expressions have different meanings. For example: I dont have to go to the dance this weekend. (There is no obligation. I can choose to go or not.) Im not expected to go to the dance this weekend. (There is no expectation. People will be surprised if I do go.) Im not supposed to go to the dance this weekend. (Im prohibited from going. It would probably be rude for me to go.)

Introducing Yourself

1. I'm John. I'm Jackie. (Use first name in informal situations)

2. I'm John Kennedy. I'm Jackie O'Neill. (Use full name in business and formal situations)

3. (It's) nice to meet you. (It's) nice meeting you. (It's) good to meet you.

4. Nice to meet you too.

Introducing People

1.

This

is

my

friend,

Jack.

Hi

Jack.

I'm

Linda

my brother, Bob. my sister, Cindy. my father, Mr. Harris. my mother, Mrs. Harris. my teacher, Ms. Watson. my student, Carrie. my friend, Mary Jones. my boss, Mr. Ritter. my co-worker, Penny Pitcher.

2. Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you too.

Identifying People and Things

1.

This That is Mr. Lewis.

is

Minnie

Rivers.

2. Mr.

Minnie Lewis Gail He She He's She's a doctor. is is is

is is

a a an a a a

writer. barber. artist. photographer. secretary. dentist.

3.

am I'm I'm

a a a

computer

programmer. businessman. businesswoman.

I'm not a mechanic. 4. We They You You are students. 5. This This That That is not a tomato. is is is an a an apple. banana. orange. are are are a writers. engineers. student.

It

is It's

a a

telephone. horse.

It's not an airplane.

Classroom Questions

What is your name? What is it? What is that? How do you say it in English? How do you spell it? Please say it again. Please speak more slowly. I don't understand. I'm sorry.

My name is Robert. You can call me Bob That's a pencil. It's a desk. Eraser. E-R-A-S-E-R All right. OK. Listen carefully. Let me explain. That's okay.

Giving Information

1. Jeremy is from Ohio. 2. Kelly is a saleswoman.

Oh really? What part of Ohio? Is that right? What company?

Columbus. Microsoft. Harvard.

3. He's a university student. Oh. What university?

4. Ronda lives in Texas. 5. I work at a restaurant. 6. I live in Florida. 8. Where are you from?

Really? What city (in Texas)? Oh really? Which restaurant? Oh yeah? Where in Florida? I'm from Delaware.

Dallas. Angelo Meroni's Orlando.

9. What is your occupation? I'm a police officer.

Simple Sentences

1. I work in a post office. Are you a letter carrier? 2. Greg works in a bank. Is he a teller? Are they senators? 3. They live in Washington. 4. I eat breakfast at 8:00 a.m. 5. She goes to work at 9:00 a.m. What do you eat? Where does she work?

No, I'm a postal clerk. Yes, he is. No, they aren't. (I eat) eggs, bacon, and toast. In the cafeteria. At the gym. At 11:00.

6. Eddy plays basketball Where does he play? every Friday. 7. Penny starts class at 10:00. 8. I don't drink beer. Why (not)?

When does she finish? I don't like it.

Simple Questions

Very Simple - Yes/No Questions Are you from Canada? Is he a doctor? Is this free? Do you like apples? Does she live in New Orleans? More examples of - Yes/No Questions Yes, she is. Is she going to the dance? Are they flying home? Are you coming to the party? Examples of simple - Wh- questions What do you do (as an occupation)? What do you do on the weekends? Where are you from? Where do you live? How do you say that in English? I'm a computer programmer. I usually stay home and watch television. I'm from Ontario, California. I live in Arizona. I live at the Chateau Apartments. I don't know. S-I-M-O-N. He's my teacher. No, they're taking the bus. No, I have other plans. Yes, I am. No, he isn't. Yes, it is. Yes, I do. No, she doesn't

How do you spell your name? How do you know Mr. Amos?

Number and Counting

1. How many fingers do you have? 2. You have eight fingers? 3. How many brothers does Ryan have? 4. How many students in your class? 5. How old is your sister?

I have eight fingers. Eight fingers and two thumbs. He has four (brothers). Thirty-five, including me. She is seventeen.

6. How many hours do you work every day? From nine to five. Eight hours. About seventy. 7. How many people are in the group? 8. How many cookies are left? 9. How many toothpicks are in the box? Five or six. More than a hundred.

Talking about Family

Introducing your family This is my mother/mom. This is my father/dad. (These are my parents) This is my wife. This is my husband. There are five people in my family. (My mother, my father, my older brother, my older sister, me, my younger brother.) I have One One brother One is younger. I have one sister. I'm number three. two older (than brothers. older. me).

is is

Asking about family How many brothers and sisters do you have? What number are you? He's the oldest (of five children). She's the youngest. Cindy doesn't have any brothers or sisters. Jared is an only child. How many children do you have? We have two. One son and one daughter. Do you have any kids? No, I'm not married.

Talking about Favourite Things

1. What is your favorite color? 2. What's your favorite kind of music? 3. Favorite sport? 4. Do you have a lucky number? 5. What kind of food do you like best? 6. How about movies?

Purple. I like pop music. Kung fu. Yes. It's eight. I like Cantonese food. Action.

7. Who is your favorite movie star? 8. What city do you like most?

Jackie Chan. Hong Kong, of course!

Talking about here and now

1. What is Ms. Chan doing?

She is writing a letter.

Oh. That's nice.

2. What is he doing? 3. What are you doing? 4. Who is singing that song? 5. Who is washing the dishes? 6. Where are you going now?

He's playing hockey. That's interesting. I'm reading a book. Is it interesting? Frank (is). Oh. It sounds good.

The children are.

That's great.

I'm going to the library.

Okay. Have fun.

Describing People

Personality and Appearance 1.Tell me about your father. What kind of person is he? 2. What does he look like?

Description Well, he's very friendly, smart and funny. He's young, short and handsome. He has straight black hair and green eyes. She's tall, thin and beautiful. She has blonde hair and wears glasses.

3. What does your mother look like? 4. How about your little sister? Clothing 5. What is your brother wearing? 6. What kind of shoes does he

She has curly red hair and a cute smile. Everybody likes her. He's wearing light brown pants and an orange t-shirt. Sneakers, and he's wearing white socks. No. She's wearing a blue skirt and a yellow blouse.

have

(on)?

7. Is Susan wearing a dress? 8. Anything else?

Yes. She's wearing boots and carrying a purse.

Talking about Feelings/Health Issues

How's the weather today? It's really cold. How do you feel? How are you feeling? Is everything okay? What's wrong? What's the matter? Are you all right? What happened? I'm fine. Not too good. I feel sick.

Let's stay inside. That's good. Sorry to hear that. That's too bad.

I have a headache. Here's some aspirin My leg hurts. I cut my hand. He broke his arm. Let me help you. That looks serious. Call 911!

Telling Time

7:00 12:00 3:10 7:14 9:15

It's seven o'clock. It's twelve o'clock. It's three ten. It's seven fourteen. It's nine fifteen.

It's seven p.m. / a.m. It's noon / midnight. It's ten (minutes) after three. It's fourteen after seven. It's (a) quarter after nine.

1:21 11:05 2:09 6:30 4:50 10:45 8:35

It's one twenty-one It's eleven oh five. It's two oh nine. It's six thirty. It's four fifty. It's ten forty-five. It's eight thirty-five.

It's twenty-one minutes past one. It's five after eleven. It's nine minutes past two. It's half past six. It's ten minutes to five. It's quarter to eleven. It's twenty-five minutes to nine.

Talking about Past Actions

1. What did you do last Friday? 2. Where did you go? 3. When did you get back? 4. Where did you stay? 5. What did Sally have for lunch? 6. What did he eat last night? 7. How was the weather?

I went to a baseball game. I went to Detroit. I got back on Saturday night. I stayed with my parents. She had soup and sandwiches. He ate Chinese food. It was wonderful.

Talking about the Future

1. What will you do tomorrow?

I'll help my mom with the housework. In the afternoon.

2. When will you finish? 3. What will we do in class today? 4. Where will they put the table? 5. When will Joe leave for New York? 6. How will he get there? He'll leave right after dinner. We'll play some word games. They'll put it next to the window.

He'll take the bus.

Note: Another way of talking about the future is with the phrase "be going to" + verb. For example, I am going Mr. Wolfe is going to stay home. What are you I'm going to visit my grandmother. How are I'm going Please be careful! you to walk to eat out tonight.

going

to

do

tomorrow?

going through

to the

get forest.

there?

Talking about Life Events

1. When is your birthday? 2. What year? 3. Were you born and raised here? 4. Did Sam grow up here? 5. Where did Lisa go to school? 6. Which university did Rick go to? 7. When will she graduate? 8. When did they get married? 9. When was your son born? 10. What day is your wedding anniversary? 11. When did they move to Pittsburgh? 12. When did his grandfather pass away/ (die)?

December 29(th) That's personal. No. I wasn't. Yes, he did. In California. Princeton. Next April. They got married in June. Two months ago. It's July 17th Last September. Five years ago.

Expressing Likes and Dislikes

1. I like fruit. 2. Helen likes sports. 3. Ms. Cramer doesn't like coffee.

What kind?

Oranges and bananas.

What kind of sports? Football and tennis. Really? Does she like Yes, she does. tea? (He likes) drama.

4. Tony does not like action Oh. What kind does movies. he like? 5. Does Terry like swimming? 6. Does Phil like soft drinks? 7. Does Sheila like salad? 8. Do you like Chinese food? Yes, he does. No, he doesn't. No, she does not. Yes, I do. No, I don't. A little.

Contractions

In speaking, contractions are often used in place of auxiliary verbs such as is, are, am, will, have, has, had, and would. See the following examples: Regular I am British. He is Chinese. They are Italians. Contracted I'm British. He's Chinese. They're Italians.

There is a man at the door. Where is the butter? What is he doing? Who is that? She is going to the beach. We are going to eat now. They are not ready yet. I will be back in a minute. There will be lots of food. I have seen that movie already. She has finished her homework. I had played that game before. We would be glad to help. They would like to go now.

There's a man at the door. Where's the butter? What's he doing? Who's that? She's going to the beach. We're going to eat now. They're not ready yet. I'll be back in a minute. There'll be lots of food. I've seen that movie already. She's finished her homework. I'd played that game before. We'd be glad to help. They'd like to go now.

Simple Shopping

1. Where are the pencils?

They're on the second shelf.

Okay, thanks. Okay. I'll take it. How about this one?

2. How much is this mirror? It's $19.95. 3. How much does this cost? That one is $5.00. 4. How much are these?

They're $4.00 each. That's too expensive. Large.

5. Do you have any t-shirts? What size? Medium or Large?

Your change is $3.41 6. That comes to $26.59. 7. That will be $17.48. Here's $30.00. Here's $17.50. Keep the change. Thanks.

Short Questions and Answers

Are you a doctor?

Yes, I am. No, I'm a nurse. Yes, he is No, he isn't. No, he's from Venezuela. Yes, it is. No, it isn't. Not yet. Yes, she is. No, she isn't. I don't know. Yes, they are. No, they aren't.

Is he from Colombia?

Is it time to go?

Is she married?

Are they here yet?

Do you live in Oklahoma?

Yes, I do. No, I don't. No, I live in Texas. Yes, she does. No, she doesn't. No, she drinks tea. Yes, it does. No, I don't think so. Yes, I do. No, I'm fine. Yes, you can. No, you can't. Yeah. Okay. No, not yet. Sure. No, sorry.

Does she drink coffee?

Does it fly?

Do you need some help?

Can I have this?

Should we go?

Could you help me?

Closing a Conversation

Before closing It's been Nice talking to you too. nice talking to you.

(I'm sorry, but) I have to go now.

Closing Good-bye Bye. See you later. See ya (informal) Catch you later (informal)

Expressing Thanks

Expressing Thanks Thanks Thank you I appreciate it.

Thanks for the tour. Thanks for your time. Thank you for the nice gift. I appreciate your kindness.

Situation: at a Store

When you enter the store/start a conversation with the clerk: What a clerk might say: May I help you? Can I help you? Can I help you find something? What can I do for you? What a customer might respond: Yes. I'm looking for ________________. Do you have any ___________ (s)? Can you tell me where the ___________is/are? When you check out/leave the store: Clerk: Did you find everything you needed? Did you find what you were looking for? Did you find everything okay? Will that be all (for today)? Is that everything? (Will there be) anything else? What a customer might say: Excuse me. Do you work here? Can I ask you something?

Describing a picture

What do you see in the picture? There There's a There There're some Is there a . . . ? Are Locations On the right/left Near the window Actions The man is _______ ing The woman is __________ing By the door In the box On the chair Under the table there (some) . . . ? is a

are

some

Clothing What is the man/woman wearing? She/He some Opinions What do you think I think is wearing a

Tell a Story Yesterday, Ms. Jones . . . Use PAST tense

Talking about Occupations

A: What do A: What is your occupation?

you

do

for

living?

B: I'm a____(mechanic)___________. A: A____(mechanic)_____________? That must be a lot of work. B: It is. Every day I ___(fix)_____ ___(cars)______. A: How interesting. How many___(cars)_____ do you __(fix)____? B: I ___(fix)_____ about __(8)____ __(cars)____ every day.

Match the occupation with the daily activity. Occupation 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Mechanic Teacher Dentist Doctor/Nurse Journalist Fisherman Gardener Chef/Cook Fire fighter Photographer j. Activity a. catch fish b. take pictures c. fix cars d. cook meals e. pull teeth f. plant flowers g. put out fires h. take care of patients i. teach classes write news stories

Greetings

1.Hi. Hello. 2. Good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening. 3. How are you? How are you doing? How ya doing? (Informal) 4. Fine. How about you? 5. Okay. Thanks.