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Modal Verbs: Permission

This document discusses the use of various modal verbs to express permission, obligation, necessity, ability, and expectations in English. It explains that "can, could, may, and might" are used to talk about permission, "must/have to" express obligation, "need to/have to" and "don't need to/don't have to" denote necessity, and "be able to, be allowed to, be permitted to, be supposed to/meant to, had better" have additional specific meanings around ability, rules, and expectations. Examples are provided to illustrate the proper usage and distinctions between these modal verbs.

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Yarle maría Milanez González
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66 views5 pages

Modal Verbs: Permission

This document discusses the use of various modal verbs to express permission, obligation, necessity, ability, and expectations in English. It explains that "can, could, may, and might" are used to talk about permission, "must/have to" express obligation, "need to/have to" and "don't need to/don't have to" denote necessity, and "be able to, be allowed to, be permitted to, be supposed to/meant to, had better" have additional specific meanings around ability, rules, and expectations. Examples are provided to illustrate the proper usage and distinctions between these modal verbs.

Uploaded by

Yarle maría Milanez González
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 DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MODAL VERBS

Permission
 

can, could, may, might

 
The most common modal verbs to talk about permission
are can, could, may and might.

 Can I sit here. (informal; asking for permission)


 You can/can’t sit here.
 Could I use this chair? (more polite)
 You may use this chair. (formal; giving permission)
 Might/May I use this chair. (more formal; asking for permission)
 Sorry, you can’t use this chair. (informal; refusing permission)
 Sorry, you may not use this chair. (formal; refusing permission)

was/were allowed to, couldn’t

 
To talk about the past, we use the forms was/were allowed
to or couldn’t.

 He wasn’t allowed to sit down during the lesson.


 He couldn’t sit down during the lesson. 
 He was allowed to receive visits. (NOT could)

 
Obligation
 

must / have to

 
Must and have to are used to express obligation. When we
use must this usually means that the obligation comes from the
speaker, it’s like a personal obligation, whereas have to normally
means that the obligation is external.

 I must give up smoking. (I need to, I say so)


 I have to give up smoking. (I’m obliged. My doctor says so)

In informal English can also use ‘ve got to to express obligation  I’ve


got to be there before ten. 

In the past, we use had to in every instance.

 I had to give up smoking. (because I needed to, or because my


doctor forced me to).

mustn’t / don’t have to

 
The negative forms mustn’t and don’t have to are completely
different. Mustn’t is used to express prohibition (an obligation not to do
something), whereas don’t have to is used to express an absence of
obligation. You mustn’t reveal where you get the information. (=you
have the obligation not to do it)

 You don’t have to arrive before 7. (=you can do it, but it’s not


necessary, there’s no obligation)

 
Necessity
 

need to, have to, don’t need to, don’t have to

 
We use need to/have to or don’t need to/don’t have to + infinitive to
say that something is or is not necessary.

 We need to/have to confirm our reservations before Friday. 


 You don’t need to/don’t have to believe in God to be a good
person. 

don’t need to / needn’t

 
We can use both don’t need to or needn’t + infinitive to say that it is
unnecessary to do something. However, when we are talking about
a general necessity (in general, not on one specific occasion), we
normally use don’t need to, and we can use both don’t need
to or needn’t + infinitive when we are talking about a specific
necessity (on one specific occasion).

 The doctor said I don’t need to wear glasses. (in general, all the


time)
 Tell him he doesn’t need to/needn’t wash the dishes. I’ll do it
later. (on one specific occasion)

didn’t need to / needn’t have

 
When something was not necessary but we did it, we can use
both didn’t need to + infinitive and needn’t have + past participle.

 Thanks, it’s very beautiful, but you didn’t need to buy/needn’t


have bought anything. (=you did it)
However, when something was not necessary and we did not do it,
we can only use didn’t need to.

 I didn’t buy any groceries because Sarah told me I didn’t need


to buy anything. (NOT needn’t have bought)

be able to, be allowed to, be permitted to, be supposed/meant to, had


better

be able to / be allowed to

 
We can use person + be able to / be allowed to instead of can to
express permission or possibility.

We were allowed to eat all that we wanted. 

 You won’t be able to finish before the deadline. 

We do NOT use it + be able to/be allowed to.

 You are not allowed to use your mobile phones. (NOT It isn’t


allowed to use …)

it is (not) permitted to

 
We can use it + be (not) permitted to +infinitive to express permission
or prohibition in formal or official situations, to say what the rules or
laws are.

 It is not permitted to take photos of the archive documents. 


 Picnics are not permitted in the park. 
 

be supposed to / be meant to

 
We can also use be supposed/meant to + infinitive to express
obligation or permission, to say what we should or shouldn’t do.

 We are supposed/meant to check in one hour before take-off.  


 What are you doing? You aren’t supposed/meant to be here.

had better, had better not

 
We use had better + infinitive (without to) to talk about actions we
think someone should or shouldn’t do. There is often a negative
result if the action is carried out. We normally use the
shortened form ‘d better, and the negative form is never contracted: ‘d
better not. 

 We’d better hurry up/meant to check in or we’ll miss our train.  


 You’d better not tell her you broke the vase –she’ll get very mad.

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