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Week 8

The document outlines the agenda for Week 8 of the English Language 2 course, focusing on the use of modals. It covers various modal verbs including can, could, must, may, and should, along with their meanings and usage in different contexts. Additionally, it includes exercises for students to practice these concepts.

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11 views15 pages

Week 8

The document outlines the agenda for Week 8 of the English Language 2 course, focusing on the use of modals. It covers various modal verbs including can, could, must, may, and should, along with their meanings and usage in different contexts. Additionally, it includes exercises for students to practice these concepts.

Uploaded by

Que-Qui
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Week 8

ENGLISH LANGUAGE 2 [G5061112]

ACADEMIC YEAR: 2024/2025


Coordinator: Tamara Bouso
(tamara.bouso.rivas@usc.es)
Agenda
01 Modals (Murphy 2019: Units 26-37)

02 Pre-Test (see Campus Virtual == Task 11: Modals)

03 Post-Test (see Campus Virtual == Task 12: Modals)


Modals
can, could and (be) able to
could (do) and could have (done)
must and can’t
may and might
have to and must
must, mustn’t and needn’t
should
should
I’d better ... it’s time ...
would
can, could, would you ... ?
can, could and (be) able to
Can
Something is possible: We can see the lake. (able to is also possible but much less frequent)
Somebody has the ability to do something: Can you speak any foreign languages? (able to is also poss. but
less frequent)

Could
Sometimes could is used as the past of can and be able to (My father could see them and My grandfather
could speak five languages); but note that to say that somebody succeded in doing something in a specific
situation, we normaly use: was/were able to or managed to: Jack and Andy played a match yesterday, but I
managed to find him in the end.

Exercise 26.1
could (do) and could have (done)
Could
As previously mentioned, sometimes could is used as the past of can and be able to (e.g. My grandfather
could speak seven languages.). Could is also used for possible actions now or in the future, especially to
make suggestions: A: What shall we do tonight? B: We could go to the cinema. Could is also used for actions
that are not realistic: I’m so tired, I could sleep for a week.

Could have
We use could have (done) to talk about the past (I’m so tired, I could sleep for a week vs I was so tired, I could
have slept for a week.) and to say that something was possible, but did not happen (Why did you stay at a
hotel? You could have stayed with me.).

Exercise 27.2
must and can’t
Must
We use must to say that we believe something is certain: You must be tired.
For the past we use must have: They must have gone out (= there is no other possibility).

Can’t
We use can’t to say that we believe something is not possible: You’ve just had lunch. You can’t be hungry already.
For the past we use can’t have: Sarah hasn’t contacted me. She can’t have got any message.

Exercise 28.1
may and might
May, might and could
We use may and might to say that something is possible: It could / may / might be true.
For the past we use may / might have: Sarah hasn’t contacted me. She could / may / might have been asleep.

May and might are also used to talk about possible actions or happenings in the future: I may go to Ireland. or It
might rain later.

We might / may as well do something = we should do it because there is no better alternative. There is no reason
not do it: Buses are expensive these days, you might as well get a taxi (Sp. ‘como si’ / ‘tanto da si’).

Exercise 30.1
have to, must, musn’t, needn’t
Have to and must
I have to / must do something = it is necessary to do it, I am obliged to do it.
We use had to (not must) to talk about the past: I went to the meeting yesterday, but I had to leave early.

Mustn’t and don’t have to are completely different:


1. You musn’t do something = don’t do it.
2. You don’t have to do something = you don’t need to do it (but you can if you want)

Needn’t and don’t need to


You needn’t / don’t need to do something = it’s not necessary to do it (but you can if you want)

Needn’t have (done) and didn’t need to (do)


He needn’t have done something = he did it, but now we know that it was not necessary.
He didn’t need to do something = it was not necessay to do it. It doesn’t matter whether he did it or not.

Exercise 32.2
Should
Should
You should do something = it is a good thing to do or the right thing to do.
You should have done something = you didn’t do it, but it would have been a good thing to do.
You ought to have come. (= You should have come)

You can use should after insist, demand, recommend, suggest and propose. E.g., I insisted that he should apologise.
You can also leave out should in such examples. E.g. I insisted that he apologise.
Remember that after suggest we do not use to. E.g. I suggested that she (should) buy a car.

Common collocations
You can also use should after some adjectives, as in It’s strange / odd / funny that he should be late.
We can also say if something should happen as in We have no jobs at present, but if the situation should change, we
will contact you. Starting with should is also possible: .. should the situation change, we will ...

All exercises.
I’d better ... it’s time ...
I’d better do something = it is advisable to do it. If you don’t do it, there will be a problem or a danger.
Remeber that had better is similar to should but not exactly the same. We use had better only for a specific
situation not for things in general. You can use should in all types of situations to give an advice: It’s late. You’d
better go. or You should go.

You can say It’s time (for somebody) to do something or it’s time + past (it’s time they went home): The meaning is
the same, i.e. they should have already done it or started it. It’s about time they did something is another
alternative.

All exercises.
Would
We use would or wouldn’t when we image a situation or action, for instance, It would be nice to buy a new car, but
we can’t afford it. Similarly, we use would have (done) when we imagine something that didn’t happen in the past: I
don’t know what we’d have done without their help.

You can also use would to talk about things that happened regularly in the past: Whenever Richard was angry, he
would walk out of the room. In this respect, would is similar to used to (= ... he used to walk out of the room).

All exercises.
can, could, would you ... ?
Asking people to do things (requests) and asking for things:

Can you wait a moment, please?


Could you wait a moment, please?
May I ask a question? (This alternative is much more formal than can and could; it is used to ask for things politely)

To offer or to invite we use Would you like ...? as in Would you like some coffee?

All exercises.
THANK YOU VERY
MUCH FOR YOUR
ATTENTION!

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