MODALS

                                                         

     Teofilo Gutiérrez can play soccer         Nicolás De Zubiria can cook delicious dishes

                                                           

                                  We can see the lake from our bedroom window.
CAN

Can you speak any foreign language?   Yes, I can.     /     No, I can´t

We use can  to say that something is possible or that somebody has the ability to do something.


The negative is can't    or    cannot

I'm afraid    I can't come to the party on friday ...


(BE) ABLE TO ...

  
Are you able to speak any foreign language?    Yes, I am     /     No, I am not

(Be) able to... is possible instead of can, but can is more usual.

But can has only two form can (present) and could (past). So sometimes it is necessary to use (Be) able to.

         

      I can't sleep

      I haven't been able to sleep recently 

COULD

Sometimes could is the past of can. We use could especially with see, hear, smell, taste, feel, remember, and understand.

     * She spoke in a very low voice, but I could understand what the said.

We also use could to say that somebody had the general ability or permission to do something.

     * My grandfather could speak five languages

Negative form: couldn't

MUST

You have been travelling all day. You must be tired 

We use must to say that we feel sure something is true.

We use can't  to say that we feel sure something is not possible

   * They haven't lived here for very long. They can't know many people 

You can use must to talk about the present or future,but not the past


MAY  OR    MIGHT

        She might know or she may know 

We use may or might to say that something is a possibility. Usually you can use may or might, so you can say.

        It may be true 

        It might be true 

The negative form are: may not and might not 

      It may not be true 

       It might not be true 

SHOULD

      You look tired, you should go to bed 

You should do something = it is a good thing to do or the right. thing to do. You can use should to give aduice or to give an opinion.

The government should do more to help homeless people.

We often use should with I think / I don't think 

I don't think you should work so hard.

You shouldn't do something = it isn't a good thing to do.

     

     You shouldn't believe everything you read in the newspaper.

Should is not strong as must.


ACTIVITIES

1. Choose the correct form of the verbs.

a) I loved staying with my grandparents when I was a child. They let me read all the books in the house and told me I could / was able to  go to bed as late as I wanted

b) Why did I listen to you?  I can be  / could have been at home by now instead of sitting here in the cold.

2. Answer the following questions with suitable suggestions, using may or might and the words in brackets.

a) Terry:  Why is John wearing sunglasses? It is not sunny,
    You: (have some problems with his eyes) He __________________________________.

b) Jill: Why didn´t Jane come to the party last night?
    You: (have a row with her boyfriend) She ______________________________________

3. Match the two halves of these sentences

a) You can´t have lived in Tunisia for ten years     * after all your hard work
b) You must know Tokyo is expensive                   * after touring the world for years.
c) You must have met some fascinating people    * if you have lived there.
d) You can´t be tired                                              * without learning some Arabic
e) You must be exhausted                                     * where you have just had a holiday.
f) You may find it difficult to settle down                * during your trip to Africa

Taken from: Focus on grammar
                    English grammar in use.
                   
https://elt.oup.com/student/practicegrammar/basic/b_audiozone/opg_basic_dialogue03?cc=co&selLanguage=en