Brief revision of Modals (common features mainly) and a deeper look at Modal Perfects Form and Use.

1. MODAL
VERBS

2. CAN COULD
MAY MIGHT
WILL
WOULD
SHALL
SHOULD
MUST

3. Common
Features:

4. 1. They don’t add “s” for the 3rd
Person Singular.
2. They have no –ing or –ed
Forms.
3. They are followed by a 0
infinitive (except “Ought TO”).
4. They add “not” for the
negative.
5. In questions, the word order
changes to modal + subject +

5. Similar
Structures

6. BE ABLE TO
HAVE TO
HAD BETTER
USED TO
NEED TO/
NEEDN’T

8. Modal Verbs express ideas such as
Possibility, Intention,
Obligation, Advice and
Necessity
(More on the use of Modals and similar structures in your Textbook)

9. MODAL
PERFECTS

10. FORM:
Modal (+not) + HAVE + PAST
PARTICIPLE
Interrogative: Modal + Subject + Have + Past Participle
(Remember: Always “Have”, Never “Has”)
USES:
Certainty, Guess, Regret, Possibility, Ability, …
IN THE PAST

11. Common Modal Perfects:
- Must have + past participle:
Deduction about the past we are certain about:
He must have left. I don’t see him anywhere.
(I am sure that he left)

12. - May / Might have + past participle:
Possibility that something happened in the
past, doubt that something happened:
I may have left my keys at home this morning.
(Perhaps I left them, I’m not sure)
Versus
- Could have + past participle:
Missed opportunity to have done something
that we didn’t:
She could have passed last year.
(She had the chance to pass but she didn’t)

13. - Should (ought to) / shouldn’t (oughtn’t to)
have + past participle:
Regret about something that happened (or
didn’t ) in the past:
I ought to have studied harder this term (I’m
sorry I didn’t, I wish I had)
You shouldn’t have given him the bad news
(I wish you hadn’t told him, I’m sorry you told
him)

14. - Needn’t have + past participle:
To refer to an unnecessary action that
someone has done:
I needn’t have brought an umbrella. It’s sunny
today.
(It wasn’t necessary for me to have brought an
umbrella)
- Would(n’t) have + past participle:
Used mainly for 3rd Type Conditionals:
I would have gone out if I’d had time

16. You can watch this Presentation online and
have more practice at:
http://englishteachermargarita.blogspot.com/