Modal Verbs - Definition, Examples, Usage Table and Exercises This article is about the modal verbs in English grammar. It provides a definition of modal verbs as special auxiliary verbs that add ...

Modal verbs support other verbs in a sentence to indicate possibility or necessity. Modal verbs include must, shall, will, should, would, can, could, may and might.

Modal verbs, in combination with other verbs, express several things, namely what one can do (ability), what is required of one (obligation), the chances of something happening (possibility) and ...

"Shall" was originally a full verb (like "eat," "walk," and "play") conveying obligation or compulsion, but now it's used only as an auxiliary, as is the modal "will," which originally carried the ...

(Note that there is no past form of the modal verb should, meaning obligation, so it cannot move one tense further back.) 'Are you going shopping this afternoon? Could you get me some toothpaste?' ...

"Shall" was originally a full verb (like "eat," "walk," and "play") conveying obligation or compulsion, but now it's used only as an auxiliary, as is the modal "will," which originally carried the ...