All 9 English modal verbs explained in under 5 minutes

Nick (0:00)

Let me ask you something. Do you feel confident using modal verbs in English? And can you name all nine of them? Well, English modal verbs are a really important aspect of speaking English fluently, and understanding the many ways we use each one will help you improve your communication. So in this lesson, we're going to try to cover all nine of them, and their many meanings in less than five minutes. That's right, just five minutes.

Welcome to a new lesson from Coffee Break English. These episodes are short, focused, and designed to help you build your confidence with useful grammar and vocabulary that you can use in real situations. Today, we're looking at all nine modal verbs in English, and they are must, should, can, could, will, would, shall, might, and may.

We'll go through the key meanings and uses, so you can start recognizing them more easily, and using them more confidently.

And before we begin, it's worth mentioning that this lesson is based on a video, where you can see the examples on screen and follow along more easily.

So if you can, we recommend checking out the video version or reviewing it afterwards.

So let's get straight into it. Must is used for obligations and rules. If we say, you must wear a helmet when you ride a bike, this is a rule, you need to do this. And if I say, you mustn't cheat in an exam, this is an action that is prohibited. You're not allowed to do it. We also use must for strong advice. You must take our course on modal verbs, means this is a really good idea. But we also use must to speculate. It means that we are certain about something. He has been running for four hours. He must be tired, means we're sure he is tired. Okay, now should. Should isn't as strong as must. We use it when something is a good idea or the right thing to do. But it isn't a rule. We normally use it to give advice. For example, I think you should watch this series on modal verbs after this lesson.

Now we can also use should for speculation. Again, it isn't as strong as must. It means something is probable. You should be more confident with modal verbs after this video. Well, that's my prediction. Can is used to talk about ability or possibility. For example, I can speak Italian, but I can't speak French.

Possibility or permission could be, can I have a coffee or can I take this seat?

Could is closely related to can. It can be considered the past form and the conditional form of can. As the past form of can, it means that something was possible or you were able to do something in the past. For example, I could ride a bike when I was four years old, but not very well. We can use could for a conditional possibility too. For example, in this video, we are covering modal verbs in just five minutes, but I could talk about modal verbs all day. And finally, we use the conditional meaning of could to be polite. Like when we say, Please could I have a coffee? The meaning is, Please could I have a coffee if it isn't a problem for you. Now will. We use will to describe the basic future. This covers spontaneous decisions, future facts and predictions. And the negative of will is often contracted to won't. A spontaneous decision is a decision made in the moment. Like at a restaurant when we say, I'll have a margarita pizza please. That's my favourite. An example of a future fact is that my birthday will be on a Monday this year. It's certain that this will happen. And we can also use it for predictions. Like I think you will be able to use modal verbs really well after this video. Well what about would? Would is used to show a conditional or hypothetical element to a sentence. We often use it in the second conditional with if. For example, if you studied more, you would get better grades. And we can also use it in phrases like would like to be more polite or formal. When we're ordering food, we often say I would like the steak please. Now shall, shall is very specific. We only use it in the first person. So with I or we and only in questions. When we make a suggestion or offer, for example, shall I make you a tea? Well, that's an offer. Or shall we go cycling at the weekend? That is a suggestion. Okay, now on to might. We use might for probability. We're saying that something is possible. For example, it might rain at the weekend. So I don't think we'll go to the beach.