Modal Verbs in English

[Mr1Luciano]

You're a great teacher ◄▬

Speak more about modal verbs ◄▬

Thank you ◄▬

[you3007]

perfect explanation thanks !

[oorishawo]

Hi my best English teacher, Past participle follows have words, does it apply to the negative as well i.e have not? I will appreciate your reference if you've posted a lesson on that already.

Ola

[Elfavzla]

u look like my ex boyfriend, do you have any brother missing or something.. ? lol : )

[RijssenAnthony]

We must be look this in the netherlands for school, its hellp thand, but you're a lunatic lol

[Debedeb]

Thank you for sharing your great abilities to teach English. I am a older student trying to go back to school. ;) I enjoy watching, and learning from your videos. English is my weakness.

thanks,

[jabbawockeez6221]

Hi,

Your teaching is really good.

And on your next video can you teach people about how to make sentences.

thanks !

[tenseman08]

whats up with that silly james bond villain moustache..lol..joke

[anera28]

Keep uploading teacher! I love your videos ... I hope you can upload to some of english slangs and meanings behind them .. Thank you!

[boquita38]

Hi teacher! I'm an argentine English student, and I would like to know which verb is used to express "can" ( verb "poder" in spanish) to the future tense? Thank you so much!! You're an excellent teacher!!!

[CuteChadz]

I do British English video but this is great!

Check my videos!

[mayituck]

Hey teacher, take a look at this:

/watch?v=CEEMU3CDzBg&feature=r­elated

So, 'ought to' is also considered a modal? It has 'to'! The same applies for 'need to'! So, what are the 'real' modals?

[64well]

thanks,you explain very well,I'm brazilian and I'm learning english

[DGCAD]

Really you are a good teacher, this lessons are very usefull for my english practice.

One question:

Why do you pronoums "Will" like "Wool" or something like that?

Thanks friend.

[silentgoodhrm]

i also hear that as you as "wool" instead of will but what i have heard is the same word as would

[gulfland]

oops, I spot a blooper made by this teacher, " would is the past tense of would"! a slip of his tongue!

[TheMaria9110]

@gulfland ummmmm uhhhh I found something on your channel and I'm not even talking about it..

[anjalirohan]

very clear teaching .like dis

[petercurso]

Great explanation. Very useful

[Lucero643]

Thank you for teaching us verbs, it has helped me a lot threw school.

[lilyvampirita]

very good!!! I`m student of modern languages in Venezuela.. and I have some problems with passive voice and modal verbs.. I like your videos.

Can you help me with Passive Voice? Thank you.

[alftevio]

OMFG!! you must be my teacher xD

[ddsharper]

I don't know how you could possibly use can and may, expressed in the question, 'may i help you', interchangeably. can is incorrect in that it means the person is asking another if they themselves have the ability. I have always learned it that way growing up in American schools so have things changed due to usage, wrong usage, like ending a sentence with a preposition? thank you.

[learnamericanenglish]

Yeah, I know the difference between "may" and "can," and the rule regarding prepositions is another quaint old custom slowly dying. Languages change. English is a good example of that--especially American English: Who are you talking to? To whom are you talking?

Which question is correct? Which one would you actually use? I teach my students actual American usage. "To whom are you talking?" Too funny.

[ddsharper]

Can means is a person physically able to do something.

May means does a person have permission to do something.

For example:

Student: "Miss, can I sit in this chair?"

Teacher: "Yes, you can but you may not."

I love and study english too and understand that languages change but do not agree that this is one of those changes. That is just my opinion.

[catirinabengala]

You are very good teacher!

Thanks. From Brazil

[donjuangovea]

Thank you man.

[learnamericanenglish]

Yeah, you can do that with "need" but not "help." However, many Americans don't use "need" because it sounds a little affected. Here's an example:

"You needn't bring anything to the party." Is similar to "You don't have to bring anything to the party."

The emphasis on my website and in the videos is American English. British English is a little different in the area of modal verbs.

[slytherin100]

hay! Thanks for the vids.

I got a question here.

One of my friends told me that "need" and "help" can be treated as a model sometimes. Is it correct?

and I need some suggestions on how to use "help".

[jjlorenzatti]

Thank you!

[jonlewisprovence]

Very pleased to hear a fellow teacher say, 'I use might instead of may!' - that's exactly what I say to my learners, that 'may' is ok, but 'might' is more common. I think that textbooks are wrong to try to differenciate between the two using percentages of possiblity (as if such a thing existed) may=50% possible might=60%+ possible!

I'm using some of your vids on my site, I hope that's OK, it should send a few visitors your way.

[learnamericanenglish]

Yes, that's okay. That's what I hope will happen. If you have any ideas for videos, just send them my way. I've made a long list from both teachers and students. Making the videos is fun.

[Johnpri01]

I really love u my friend,you've helped me a lot

GOD BLESS UU

[sksgl]

hi I´m Sofia I can see that you know a lot about Eng Grammar. Do you have a web page where I can ask you some questions? I´ll apreciate your help.

[hard1steel]

Is "ought" modal verd?

[nicoleb]

Good question. "Ought" isn't actually a modal verb, because it takes "to." = Ought to. But you don't say "might to," "should to," etc.. It's like "used to" and "want to" which aren't modal verbs either, but act a lot like one. Also, archaically, "dare" and "need" acted as semi-modal/auxiliary verbs. You'll notice, "I dare not go," is exactly the same grammatically as "I will not go."

[nicoleb]

However, "need" and dare aren't modals either, because 1) their "modal" forms can only be used in negative form (you can't say "I dare go" or "I need go" (you need "to" in between the two verbs)), and 2) they can both function as verbs on their own and thus they have tenses and can be changed, unlike modal verbs. You might call them verbs that are in between the stages of modal and auxiliary.

[ruthampton]

@hard1steel I'd say yes, though it's not really used in American English.

[07prudence]

@hard1steel ought to..

[kalsoom31]

@hard1steel yes

[hard1steel]

Good job by dedicated teacher. Thumbs up!

[oorishawo]

Hello there again, just cant emphasize my passion for English.

Ques. When two verbs 'be' are present in a sentense e.g

I am the the one who is paying. Will it be correct to say in the past:

I was the one who was crying.

[learnamericanenglish]

Yes, that sentence is okay.

[oorishawo]

Hi there, you are actualy impacting on someone here, good work God bless you.

Wondering if one could use any of the adverb of frequency with paste.g Never,Ever and If(conditional)

With Regards,

Ola

[Confucious2012]

what about shall?

[learnamericanenglish]

Most Americans don't use "shall." It sounds a little affected. However, it's common among those who speak British English.

[cecy000]

do you speak spanish?

[nliakos]

Americans use "shall" for suggestions, e.g., Shall we go to the zoo on Saturday? (=Do you want to go to the zoo? or Let's go to the zoo!) We also use "Shall I" to mean "Do you want me to...?", e.g., Are you cold? Shall I close the window?

[learnamericanenglish]

Well...if you want to use "shall," go ahead. I'm an American man. Most men in the U.S. don't use it because it sounds effeminate. It also sounds somewhat affected or pretentious, so you can certainly use it, but be aware of this.

Also, if you speak English with a foreign or British accent, its use is more acceptable than if you speak with an American accent. I never use "shall."

[ethrush]

We only do that if we're joking- pretending to be pretentious.

[islamacros]

hahahah "shall" sounds old-fashioned! don't use it!! lol

[learnamericanenglish]

Yes, you could do that, but it sounds a bit stuffy. I personally choose words that are found in common usage. A very small percentage of Americans use "dare" as you show in the example above. It depends on the kind of impression you want to make on the people you speak with.

[LetsGetThisClear]

There's also the verb DARE, which can also stand as a modal verb. "How many foes did I kill, I dare not say." (I'm not sure wether dare and not go separated... I darenot say they do.) Help me.

[Swytek]

Here are some more modal verbs from my Oxford electronic dictionary:

Shall

Ought to

Need

My dictionary also says Should is the past tense of Shall

[Swytek]

What about ought ?