silent_sam

Hello everyone,

Many students on this site have asked me to talk about “Modals”

Students are confused and don’t know how to use modals at first.  Well I guess we will have to do a series on Modals to help you relax and use them with confidence. J

First, you need to know why we use modals in English …

Modals let us know the feeling, attitude or mood of the speaker.  They help us understand the deeper meaning of a sentence even if we don’t hear the other person’s voice.

This is a list of modals in English:

Now you should remember that each modal can have more than one meaning.

We will start with May:

1) “May” can be used as a polite request: this form is very polite and not used in day to day conversation very much … but it is good to know ;)

May I borrow your pen?

May I ask you name?

2) “May” can also be used to talk about certainty (when you are sure about something).  When we use “may” in a sentence it mean 50% sure.  Also remember Might has the same meaning  … look at these examples:

John may be in the library. 

(This means I am not sure if John is in the library or not. There is a 50% chance he is there)

Sarah might call you tonight.  

(This means there is a 50% chance of a Phone call)

Kiyoko might visit Beijing next summer.

Kumar may be at home.

Ok this is the end of part one on modals.  Hope this is helpful and I will post part two in a few days.

Have fun learning