English 110
Prof. Antonio A. Ortiz Perez
Modal Auxiliaries, the Present
Progressive and the Past tense
Modals And the Present
Progressive
Modals may be used in the Present
Progressive. We form these phrases
adding be + the present participle,
e.g. The tournament winners may be
celebrating right now. Fido could be
tearing the place apart. He must be
feeling exhausted after working so
much.
Examples
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Our parents should be _________ at the bus station right about
now.
Husbands shouldn’t be ________ on their wives.
He must be ________ deaf. He can’t hear very well.
My! Look at him. He must be _______ better.
They could be _________ married.
We could be __________ a wedding soon.
His wife shouldn’t be ___________ so much money on a diet
when she can eat less and save more.
My secretary might be _________ to the dentist tomorrow; she
has a toothache today.
What kind of textbook should you be _____ in your biology
course?
Who should be _______ ready now?
Modals and the Past Tense
• Modal Auxiliaries in the Past Tense:
• Modals may be used in the Past tense by adding the
auxiliary have + the past participle.
• They can also be made negative by inserting the adverb
not after the auxiliary, e.g. She shouldn’t have gone out
without permission.
• Could + have + the past participle of the main verb
expresses conjecture in the past time, e.g. You could
have done it if you wanted to.
• Should or Ought to + have + the past participle of the
main verb expresses obligation and advisability in the
past time, e.g. She should have gone to the doctor in
time. She might have had a chance.
Modals and the Past tense
• May/Might have + the past participle of
the main verb may be used to express
uncertainty, conjecture, and slight
probability, e.g. The dog may have been
asleep because he didn’t hear the noise.
You got lost. You might not have taken
the right road. It may not have been the
right time to ask for a raise.
Modals and the Past Tense
• Must + have + the past participle of the
main verb expresses deduction or
strong probability in the past time, e.g.
Peter must have been proud when his
son, Jake, graduated with high honors
from the university. All the lights at the
Riveras’ are off. They must have gone
to bed early
Modals and the Past tense
• Must + have + the past participle of the
main verb expresses deduction or strong
probability in the past time, e.g. Peter must
have been proud when his son, Jake,
graduated with high honors from the
university. All the lights at the Riveras’ are
off. They must have gone to bed early.
Modals and the Past tense
• Yes-no and information questions are
formed in the Past tense by placing the
modal auxiliary in front of the subject
followed by the rest of the sentence and
putting the information word in front of the
sentence, respectively, e.g. Should I have
put more salt in the soup instead of
pepper? Who should have summarized
this chapter?
Examples of modals and the Past
tense
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We ________ left the bowling alley before the fight started. (Advisability)
She is not feeling well. She __________ eaten something bad. (Slight
Probability)
Some of my students ________ cheated on the mind-term exam. I doubt
it, though. (Conjecture).
Jackson _______ graduated from college, but he didn’t try hard enough.
(Conjecture)
My supervisor looks tired today. He ___________ stayed up all night.
(Strong Probability)
Someone _________ said something funny in the other room because
everyone is laughing. (Deduction)
I ____________ done nothing last summer, but I ended up working.
(Slight Probability)
He ____________ been a successful businessman, but he chose to live
in this small town. (Slight Probability).
Lisa ___________ worn a better-looking dress for her graduation.
(Obligation).
Questions with Modals
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Who _________ forgotten to turn the
lights off? (Conjecture)
What _________ I _________ done?
(Conjecture)
She ___________had a different
attitude. (Conjecture)
Who _________ done this? (Conjecture)
_________ you _________ gone back to
work last week? (Obligation)
Other Modals
• Had better, have got to, would like and would
rather:
• Had better, have got to, would like and would
like rather are normally grouped as modals.
Had better + a base form expresses
advisability and obligation. It never refers to the
past time even though had is clearly a past form.
It is contracted with personal pronouns into
you’d, he’d, she’d, I’d, etc. e.g. He’d better study
more. Her doctor had better tell her the truth or
else she is going to worry to death. Or else is
sometimes used.
Other Verbs used as modals
• Have got to + the base form is used to
express obligation and necessity and it
does not have a past form. Have got
expresses a stronger sense of obligation
than had better or even must. Have got
is conjugated in the present tense as has
got, e.g. James has a bad case of
coughing. He has got to go to a doctor
soon.
Examples
Use the following verbs to fill in the blanks:Stay, clean, answer,
go, tell, rest, pay, get, change, arrive
• The bell is ringing. You ________ it.
• I have done too much jogging for today. I ______ some.
• My hair is too long. I ___________ a hair cut.
• She spilt some milk on the table. She ________ it before her
mother sees it.
• George can’t see very well. He __________ to an eye doctor.
• My car has a flat tire. I ______ it.
• You _________ our secret to anyone.
• We __________ our bills or our credit is going to suffer.
• You ____________ in time or else we are not going to wait for you.
• They __________ here tonight. It is snowing too much for driving.
Yes-no questions
• Yes-no or information questions do not
occur in American English with had better;
instead, we use Do or Did + subject +
have(has) + the base form of the main
verb + rest of the sentence + ?, e.g.
Does she have to go now? Do they like
Hawaii? Where do you have to go after
lunch?
Exercise
• Fill in the blanks with have to or has got to + the base form of
one of the verbs in the list below):
• I _________ to the dentist.
• Why did you ___________ to paint house pink?
• Does he ___________ home tonight?
• I _____________ up the windows of my car. It is raining cats and
dogs.
• We _________ the door. There are too many mosquitoes.
• Some of us __________ another job.
• He ___________ a better car. The car he has got now isn’t very
good.
• You __________ rid of all those cockroaches in your kitchen.
• Every student ___________ to pass this course even though it is
easy.
• They ____________ the truth or their parents are going to be angry.
Would like
• Would like + an infinitive actually means
to want, except, would like is more polite,
e.g. I would like three pounds of grapes
and two (pounds) of pears. We form
questions with would like the following
way: Would you like one or two tickets?
We can also say, “Would you like to buy
one or two tickets?” What would you like
to have for lunch?
Exercise with would like
• (Fill in the blanks by adding would like to in the sentences
below):
• What ________ she _________ eat for dinner tonight?
• ________ you ________ go over the mail with me?
• She __________ see Paris.
• _________ you _________ be married?
• _________ n’t you ___________ go to a concert this coming weekend?
• _________ you _______ take care of my dog while I am away?
• She says that she ______ to take another course with another
professor.
• I don’t think I ___________ have another drink of champagne.
• What kind of jobs _______ they _____ find?
• How long _______ you __________ stay in Miami?
Would Like
• Would like + an infinitive actually means
to want, except, would like is more polite,
e.g. I would like three pounds of grapes
and two (pounds) of pears. We form
questions with would like the following
way: Would you like one or two tickets?
We can also say, “Would you like to buy
one or two tickets?” What would you like
to have for lunch?
Would rather
• Would rather + a base form indicates preference. The
word than is inserted between the choices or
preferences.
• Would rather is contracted into I’d rather, he’d rather,
she’d rather, etc. It is never used to refer to the past
time, e.g. I would rather be a doctor than a teacher.
• Negative questions are made with would rather + base
form like, Wouldn’t you rather be a senator than a
mayor?
• Sometimes we substitute or for than like, Would you
rather be a senator than a mayor?
• Sometimes we substitute or for than like, Would you
rather be a dentist or a brain surgeon?