Modal verbs in English
Summary
TLDREste vídeo ofrece una introducción a los verbos modales, un subconjunto de verbos auxiliares que expresan el humor, posibilidad, necesidad, permiso o capacidad del verbo principal. Se explica que el verbo principal debe estar en forma base sin conjugar. Se detallan los usos de 'can' para expresar habilidad, posibilidad y permiso; 'could' para habilidad pasada y solicitudes educadas; 'will' para futura sencilla, promesas y decisiones espontáneas; 'would' para solicitudes educadas y situaciones hipotéticas; 'shall' para sugerencias y ofertas formales; 'should' para dar consejos y expresar obligaciones; 'must' para necesidad fuerte y prohibiciones; 'may' para permiso, posibilidad y deseos; y 'might' para posibilidades menores y sugerencias educadas. El vídeo enfatiza la importancia de comprender cada verbo modal para usarlos adecuadamente en diferentes contextos y niveles de formalidad.
Takeaways
- 😀 Los verbos modales son un subconjunto específico de verbos auxiliares que expresan el humor, posibilidad, necesidad, permiso o capacidad del verbo principal.
- 📝 Al usar verbos modales, el verbo principal debe estar en forma base, sin conjugar.
- 🔄 Los verbos modales funcionan como verbos auxiliares y no requieren de verbos auxiliares adicionales para formar negativas o preguntas.
- 🎹 'Can' se utiliza para expresar habilidad, posibilidad, permiso o solicitud.
- 🏃 'Could' generalmente se usa para expresar habilidad pasada, solicitudes cortés o condiciones.
- 📅 'Will' se emplea para describir acciones futuras, promesas, decisiones espontáneas o condiciones en el primer condicional.
- 🍵 'Would' se utiliza para hacer solicitudes cortés, ofertas, expresar preferencias o situaciones hipotéticas.
- 📘 'Shall' se prefiere en contextos formales, especialmente con la primera persona, y se usa para invitar, ofrecer ayuda o prometer.
- 📚 'Should' se utiliza para dar consejos, recomendaciones o expresar obligaciones.
- 🚫 'Must' indica una fuerte necesidad o prohibición, y también se puede usar para hacer deducciones lógicas o sugerencias enfáticas.
- 🗓️ 'May' y 'Might' se usan para expresar permiso, posibilidad, probabilidad, solicitudes y deseos, siendo 'Might' menos probable que 'May'.
Q & A
¿Qué son los verbos modales y qué expresan?
-Los verbos modales son un subconjunto específico de verbos auxiliares que expresan el humor, posibilidad, necesidad, permiso o capacidad del verbo principal.
¿Por qué el verbo principal no se conjuga cuando se usa con un verbo modal?
-El verbo principal debe estar en su forma base sin ningún sufijo, ya que el verbo modal ya funciona como un auxiliar.
¿Cómo se forma una pregunta en affirmative con un verbo modal?
-Para formar una pregunta affirmative con un verbo modal, se antepone el verbo modal al sujeto del verbo principal, como en '¿Debería trabajar en un restaurante?'.
¿Cuál es la diferencia entre 'can' y 'could'?
-'Can' se utiliza para expresar habilidad, posibilidad, permiso o solicitud, mientras que 'could' se utiliza en muchos casos para expresar habilidad pasada, solicitudes cortés o condiciones.
¿Para qué se usa el verbo modal 'will'?
-'Will' se utiliza para expresar futuro simple, promesas, decisiones espontáneas o condiciones en el primer condicional.
¿Cómo se usan los verbos modales 'would' y 'should' para hacer solicitudes cortés?
-Los verbos modales 'would' y 'should' se pueden usar para hacer solicitudes cortés, como en '¿Te importaría cerrar la ventana?' o '¿Deberías comer más frutas y verduras?'.
¿En qué contexto se utiliza el verbo modal 'shall'?
-'Shall' se utiliza en contextos formales o oficiales, especialmente con el primer persona 'yo' o 'nosotros', para hacer ofertas, expresar promesas o en manuales de políticas de la empresa.
¿Qué expresa el verbo modal 'must' y cómo se utiliza en las prohibiciones?
-'Must' se utiliza para expresar una necesidad fuerte o obligación, y en las prohibiciones se usa para indicar que algo no es posible o está prohibido, como en 'No se debe fumar aquí'.
¿Cuál es la diferencia entre 'may' y 'might' en cuanto a la probabilidad?
-'May' se usa para expresar permiso, posibilidad, probabilidad, solicitudes y deseos con una probabilidad del 70-80%, mientras que 'might' reduce la probabilidad a alrededor del 50-60%.
¿Cómo se usa el verbo modal 'could' para expresar condiciones pasadas?
-El verbo modal 'could' se usa para expresar condiciones pasadas o solicitudes cortés hechas en el pasado, como en 'Ella preguntó si podría usar el baño'.
¿Cómo pueden los verbos modales variar según el contexto, la formalidad e intención del hablante?
-Los verbos modales son versátiles y pueden combinarse para expresar diferentes significados. Su uso puede variar dependiendo del contexto, la formalidad y la intención del hablante, siendo algunos más fuertes para expresar obligación o formalidad.
Outlines
📚 Introducción a los verbos modales
Este párrafo introduce los verbos modales como un subconjunto de verbos auxiliares que expresan el estado de ánimo, posibilidad, necesidad, permiso o capacidad del verbo principal. Se enfatiza que el verbo principal debe estar en forma base cuando se usa con un verbo modal, como en el ejemplo 'she can write'. Se contrasta con el uso de verbos principales que requieren conjugación y la adición de palabras auxiliarias para formar negativas o preguntas. Se explica que los verbos modales en sí mismos funcionan como verbos auxiliares y no necesitan palabras auxiliares adicionales. Se explora el verbo modal 'can', que se utiliza para expresar habilidad, posibilidad, permiso y solicitudes, y se señala la distinción entre su uso como verbo modal y su uso como sustantivo, como en 'a can of tuna'.
🕒 Uso de 'will' y 'would' como verbos modales
En este párrafo se discute el uso de 'will' para expresar acciones futuras simples, promesas y decisiones espontáneas, así como en condiciones con alta probabilidad de suceso. Se explica que 'would' se utiliza para hacer solicitudes cortés, ofrecer ayuda, expresar preferencias y situaciones hipotéticas. Se menciona la distinción entre el uso de 'will' como verbo modal y su uso como nombre propio o sustantivo en otros contextos.
💬 Aplicación de 'shall', 'should' y 'must' en contextos formales
Aquí se aborda el uso del verbo modal 'shall' en contextos formales y en primera persona, así como para hacer ofertas y promesas. Se describe el verbo 'should' para dar consejos y expresar recomendaciones y obligaciones. El verbo 'must' se utiliza para indicar necesidad fuerte y prohibiciones, y también para hacer deduciones lógicas y sugerencias enfáticas. Se destaca la importancia de entender el uso de estos verbos modales en diferentes contextos y su variabilidad en cuanto a formalidad e intención del hablante.
🌂 Exploración de 'may' y 'might' para expresar permiso y posibilidad
Este párrafo cubre el uso del verbo modal 'may' para expresar permiso, posibilidad, probabilidad, solicitudes y deseos, con ejemplos como 'may I go to the restroom?' y 'it may rain tomorrow'. También se trata el uso de 'might' para indicar una probabilidad menor y para hacer sugerencias cortés y situaciones hipotéticas del tercer condicional. Se señala la distinción entre el uso de 'may' como verbo modal y su significado como mes del año o nombre propio.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡modal verbs
💡mood
💡base form
💡conjugation
💡auxiliary verb
💡can
💡could
💡will
💡would
💡shall
💡should
💡must
💡may
💡might
Highlights
Modal verbs are auxiliary verbs that express mood, possibility, necessity, permission, or ability.
The main verb with a modal verb should be in its base form and not conjugated.
Modal verbs themselves act as auxiliaries, unlike main verbs which require additional auxiliaries for negatives and questions.
The modal verb 'can' is used for expressing ability, possibility, permission, and requests.
'Could' is often used to express past ability and is considered the past form of 'can'.
The modal verb 'will' is used for future simple, promises, spontaneous decisions, and first conditionals.
'Would' is used for polite requests, offers, expressing preferences, and hypothetical situations.
The modal verb 'shall' is more common in formal contexts and when using the first person.
'Should' is used to express advice, recommendations, and obligations.
'Must' conveys strong necessity, obligation, prohibition, logical deduction, and strong suggestions.
'May' is used to express permission, possibility, probability, requests, and wishes.
'Might' is similar to 'may' but indicates a lower probability or possibility.
Modal verbs can be combined to express different meanings and their use varies with context, formality, and speaker's intention.
The video is aimed at students at Carbonell and covers modal verbs for English language learning.
The presenter encourages viewers to ask questions for further clarification.
Transcripts
Hi everyone, today we're going to explore modal verbs.
Modal verbs are a specific subset of auxiliary verbs
that express the mood, possibility, necessity, permission or ability of the main verb.
Something to have in mind is that when we use modal verbs the main part of
the sentence should never be conjugated but it should be on its base form so here we have an
example of a correct way to use a modal verb: "she can write." Although this sentence is in present
we should not say "she can writes" we cannot say either "she can wrote" or we cannot say "she can
writing" as you can notice the main verb has to be in the base form without any kind of suffix,
right? "-es", or "-s", or in past, or ing, whatever alright. So let's compare
a modal verb with a main verb so here on top we have main verbs how do they work okay "she works
at a restaurant" so as you can notice we conjugate the main verb here because there is no modal verb
we add "s" because this is a sentence in present simple if we want to make it negative we would
say "she doesn't work at a restaurant" we need to use an auxiliary verb and the auxiliary for
present is "do" and "does" plus the word "not" so here we have an extra word two extra words if
we want to divide does from not does not work she does not work or she doesn't work at a restaurant
question does she work at a restaurant again we add an extra word for asking a question what
happens with modal verbs here is an example of a modal verb in affirmative "she should work at
a restaurant" should is used for suggestions as we will see later on negative she shouldn't work
at a restaurant there is no extra word other than not "she should not work a restaurant" there is no
other auxiliary because the modal verb on itself is an auxiliary verb so question "should she work
at a restaurant" "should she work at a restaurant" again we don't need any extra auxiliary because
the modal verb on itself works as an auxiliary so this is the main difference between modal
verbs and main verbs main verbs need auxiliaries for making negatives and for making questions
modal verbs on the other hand they don't need auxiliaries whatsoever because they themselves
are auxiliaries. And here is the first modal verb we're going to explore today I'm not going to
deepen too much on the explanation just check the examples here. Can is used for expressing
ability for example "she can play the piano" as you can see on the video. Possibility: "it can
rain later". Permission: "can I use your phone" you can add the expression "please". Request:
"can you help me with this please?" when it is not used as a modal verb can could be a synonym
of a container, for example, a "trash can" or a "garbage can". Or a container of food
for example when we say "a can of tuna" right or "a can of soda" in those examples "can" is not a
modal verb so this is something important to have in mind the word can is not only a modal verb,
sometimes it is a noun and when it is a noun is kind of a container. The second modal verb is "could".
In many cases "could" is used to express past ability so in that case it is considered
the past of "can" here is an example "when I was younger I could run faster" here I am expressing
something that I was able to do in the past, probably in the present I can no longer run
as fast as I could in the past. "could" is also used for expressing polite requests "could you
please pass me the kombucha?" it is also used for conditional: "if you could come early we would
appreciate it" remember that conditionals use the conditional word if. "If is the equivalent of "si"
in Spanish but to express a condition. Our good friend "will". "Will" remember that when it is not
used as a modal verb it has a meaning as a noun or different meanings as a noun "will" could be the
name of someone like "Will Smith", "will" is also a document in which I express my wishes to leave
my possessions to someone. That's a "will", okay and "will" is also used to express that I have a
devotion to do something, that I have willingness to do something I can say I have a strong will to
wake up early. That's the equivalent in Spanish to saying: "tengo una voluntad fuerte" in English is
will when it is not a modal verb because remember when it is a modal verb it is used to express
these things. Future simple, it is also used to express a promise, we can use it to express
a spontaneous decision, or it is also used in a conditional in the first conditional to be more specific
so in future simple: "I will meet you at the park".
for expressing a promise: "I will help you with your project"
for a spontaneous decision "the phone is ringing; I'll get it"
something spontaneous: "someone is knocking at the door, I will open it." if someone drops something,
"don't worry I'll pick up the book for you" things like that.
and conditional: "if Nicole studies she will pass the exam"
when there is a high possibility of something to be true in the future
if the condition is met. alright, the next modal verb is "would". "Would" is used for making polite
requests for example "would you mind closing in the window?". Something to have in mind here
is that if you want to cooperate if the other person wants to cooperate to a question asked
with "would" like with would you mind the correct answer would be "no", or "not at all" like "would
you mind" means "te importaría..." in Spanish and so you would say: no, I wouldn't. I wouldn't mind.
if you want to cooperate you need to say "no" or "not at all" or "no I wouldn't mind" or "I
wouldn't" that means that you want to cooperate, you want to help the other person. Polite offer:
"would" is also used for making polite offers, for example: "would you like me to carry the box for
you?" in this case, "would you like me...?" is like "te gustaría que yo..." in Spanish. Like:
"would you like me to carry...?", "would you like me to help you?", "would you like me to write for
you?", "would you like me to drive you home?" for example that is the structure. "Would you like me
to..." or "I would like you to do something" or "I would like you to finish your homework" in the
case of parents interacting with their children. "Would" is also used for expressing preference:
"I would prefer tea over coffee". For expressing hypothetical situations: "if I won the lottery,
I would travel the world" this is also a conditional, remember when we have the conditional
word "if", that means that it's a condition "if I won the lottery" so, what is the condition in
this example to travel around the world? "win the lottery". The next modal verb is "shall".
So "shall" was more popular in Old English if you like to read the Bible for example you will notice
that "shall" is used all the time, however, nowadays is still used in formal contexts or
in official papers and especially when using the first person "I" or "we" doesn't mean that with
other subjects is not used but it is preferred with "I" or "we". Okay, let's see some examples
"Shall we begin the meeting?". In this example we are using it instead of saying "let's begin
the meeting" like an invitation a suggestion to do something. If I don't feel confident enough with
the person I'm inviting, I better say "shall we". "shall we go to the cinema tonight?" if
I feel more confident I would say: "let's go to the cinema tonight". Probably with a, with
my best friend, or with my girlfriend I would say that: "let's go to the cinema tonight". But
with someone I just met or someone with whom I don't feel confident enough I say: "shall
we go to the cinema?" so with your boss or with your co-workers you should be more formal that's
why in this example it says: "Shall we begin the meeting?" it is also used to make offers: "I shall
help you with the cleaning". In this example it is used as a replacement of "will" but to sound more
formal. I shall help you with the cleaning" is the same as saying "I will help you with the cleaning"
I'm offering my help it's also used to express promises. "You shall be the first person to know",
like: "you will be the first person to know" I promise you this. As I pointed out before "shall"
is also used in legal and official language, example: "clients shall receive their packages
within a week of purchase" probably this is a rule in a company, it lies in the manual, in the
policies manual of the company. If the client does not receive their purchase within a week,
probably there will be some kind of compensation for the time. Next modal verb is "should".
"Should" is used to express advice. If you want to give a piece of advice to someone, example: "you
should eat more fruits and vegetables" to express a recommendation, example: "the doctor said I
should consume more probiotics and antioxidants" example, kombucha. Obligation: "students should
attend all classes". "Must". "Must" is used to express strong necessity or obligation, something
that is mandatory, example: "you must follow the rules" prohibition: "must" is also used to express
when something is not possible, right? example: "you must not smoke here" he's not allowed to
smoke here, so, "you must not smoke here". "Must" is also used to express a logical deduction:
"the roads are wet, it must have rained". Strong suggestion: "you must watch this movie,
it's awesome" in here we are not expressing an obligation or a Prohibition, in this case if I
like something very much, and I want to recommend it to the other person and I want to emphasize
that it is extremely good, then I say: "man you must read this book, it was amazing". "you must go
to this place, it has the best food in the city", things like that. The next modal verb is "may".
Remember that "may" has another meaning as a noun. When it is not a modal verb, "May" could be the
month of the year, the fifth month of the year. "May" could be the name of of someone, like "Aunt
May" in the movie Spider-Man. But when it is used as a modal verb it is used to express permission,
possibility, probability, requests, and wishes. Permission: "may I go to the restroom?". If I want
to be polite I use "may". a possibility in the present or in the future: "it may rain tomorrow"
okay. Probability: "he may arrive late, he's often late". So here I'm expressing a probability,
if someone does something repeatedly, I can express a probability statistically speaking,
you know, "he may arrive late today because he's often late". Request: "may I borrow your pen,
please? Wishes: "may all your dreams come true" this is commonly used in Christmas, for example,
when you want to wish something good to someone: "May the good Lord bless you in this beautiful
day", "may all your dreams come true", "may you get what you expect in life", "may you achieve
the biggest goals you have", etc. "Might" is similar to "May". Let's pretend when I say "may"
it's like 70 or 80 percent of the possibility, but when I say "might" it goes to 60 or 50 even. Let's
see some examples: "I might go to the party if I finish my work". What I'm saying is that there
is no such a big possibility for me to go to the party, maybe I have a lot of work so if I say "I
might go" it's like: "de pronto voy" in Spanish. "De pronto voy, si termino mi trabajo" that would
be this example. And this sentence itself is a conditional. Probability: "she might be at home;
let me check" there is a small possibility that she is a home maybe she usually works at this time
so I'm not sure but I say "she might be at home". Suggestion, a polite suggestion: "you might want
to try the new restaurant". Instead of saying "you must try this restaurant" which is a little rude,
or "you have to try this restaurant" if I'm not confident enough with a person I would say:
"you might want to try this new restaurant", I am suggesting politely. Hypothetical situations,
again a conditional: "if I had studied harder, I might have passed the exam" that's something that
didn't happen, this is the third conditional. Past permission, or polite requests: "she asked if she
might use the restroom" so this is something called reported speech but what I'm reporting
is conditional so in the active form, though she would have said "may I use the restroom,
please? so if I am reporting I have to report that in past and instead of saying "may" which is what
she used in her question "may I use the restroom" when I am reporting something that used "May" in
the active voice, then I have to use "might". Modal verbs are versatil, and can be combined
to express different meanings, please keep in mind that their use may vary depending on the context,
formality, and the intention of the speaker. Some are stronger like when I want to express
obligation, or when I want to be more formal, so make sure you understand how
each of them work before you use them. So guys, that's all for today thank you very
much for watching let me know if you have any questions. I made this video for my students
at Carbonell. Let me know guys if you have any questions and good luck in the exam. Bye bye
[Music]
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