Verbs

Auxiliary verbs and their equivalents

December 18, 2010

Be able to instead of can Be able to often has the same meaning as can. He can walk on his hands. OR He is able to walk on his hands. I am unable to understand his motive. OR I can’t understand his motive. They were able to catch the thief. OR They could catch [...]

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Uses of need

December 17, 2010

Need is used both as an auxiliary verb and as an ordinary verb. As an ordinary verb, need is used in the sense of require. I need help. We need more people to finish the work. I need some more time to decide the question. The auxiliary need is commonly used with not. It is [...]

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Uses of Must and Ought (to)

December 15, 2010

Must remains unchanged whatever be the tense or the number and person of the subject. It can refer to the present or future. It can point to the past only when it is used with the present perfect tense of the principal verb. Compare: He must go home. (Future / present) He must have gone [...]

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Uses of May and Might

December 14, 2010

Permission May is used to express permission. May not is used to deny permission. May I come in, sir? Yes, you may. May I go home now? No, you may not. Notes Now-a-days to deny permission we often use cannot instead of may not. This usage is probably encouraged by the fact that the contraction [...]

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