15472 modals part 2

Modal auxiliary verbs are verbs that cannot stand alone in a sentence; they must
be followed by a main verb which is always in the infinitive.
e.g. I wish you would help your father in the farm.
She had better finish her work before 10:00.

It expresses:
• Conditional mood
e.g. if you visited you grandmother, you
would know that she is ill.
• Polite request
e.g. would you open the window, please?
• wish
e.g. I wish you would stop smoking?
• Invitation
e.g. Would you like to come to my
birthday?
• opinion
e.g. I thought it would be nice to
offer you a new watch.

It expresses:
• advice
e.g. You are coughing, you should see a
doctor.
• expectations
e.g. Don’t call her now, she should be
sleeping.
• Be supposed to
e.g. What are you doing here? You should be
in your classroom.

“Had better/‘d better” is used to express a strong advice. “had better” can be replaced by
“ought to” or “should” or “if I were”
Example: they had better start revising. Their exam will be tomorrow.
Short form: of “had better” is “’d better”
You are very pale; you’d better see a doctor.
Negative form: of “had better” is “had better not …”
They had better not say that the fight against bribery is not their business.
“Had better” has a past form but the meaning it carries is present or future.
“Had better” is always followed by a verb in the infinitive without “to”
Example: you’d better see a doctor for your toothache.
I had better not go out now it’s stormy.


Exercise 1: Rewrite the following sentences by replacing the expressions in
bold by a modal (make the necessary changes):
1- I expected to find peter working by that time.
2- I’m inviting you to join us for our wedding party.
3- I want you to help me with my grammar exercises.
4- You are an excellent student; I advise you to pay more attention to
your spelling mistakes.
5- It is 17:30. If we don’t harry up, we will not catch the 17:45 train.
.
6- I advise you to stop smoking; it may cause you a cancer.
7- Go and pay your electricity bill otherwise they will send you a late fee.
8- She is getting too fat. I hope that she will go on a diet someday

Exercise 2: Fill in the gaps with the appropriate modal:
1-It’s a lovely evening, ........ you like to come and have dinner with
me on the terrace.
2-If I were you, I …….. not buy that dress. It’s too expensive

3-You …….. not speak to your mother in that way. It’s too rude
4-The earth is suffering from global warming, people …….. start
thinking of some solutions to this ecological problem.
5-I’m not really sure where her flat is. It …….. Be on the third floor.
6-I …….. Come, if I knew that she was in the party.
7-She is so talkative. I wish she …….. become quieter.
8-When someone is driving, he ……. Keep his eyes on the road
9- Friends ………. help each other.


Exercise1:
1- Peter should be working by that time
2- Would you like to join us for our wedding party?
3- Would you help me with my grammar exercises, please?
4- You are an excellent student; you should pay more attention to your
spelling mistakes.
5- It is 17:30. We’d better harry up to catch the 17:45 train.
6- You’d better stop smoking, it may cause you a cancer
7- You’d better pay your electricity bill otherwise they will send you a
late fee.
8- She is getting too fat. I wish she would go on a diet.

Exercise 2

Fill in the gaps with the appropriate modal:
1-It’s a lovely evening, would you like to come and have dinner
with me on the terrace.
2-If I were you, I would not buy that dress. It’s too expensive
3-You should not speak to your mother in that way. It’s too rude.
4-The earth is suffering from global warming; people had better

start thinking of some solutions to this ecological problem.
5-I’m not really sure where her flat is. It should be on the third
floor.
6-I would come, if I knew that she was in the party.
7-She is so talkative. I wish she would become quieter.
8-When someone is driving, he had better keep his eyes on the
road.
9- Friends should help each other.