Modals, Conditions and Hypothetical Meaning
Use can, must, should and might for ability, rules, advice and guesses, and build if-sentences for real, imagined and past situations.
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Lessons in this module
- Ability, permission and requests: can, could and be able toUse can, could and be able to for ability, and ask for permission or help politely.
- Obligation and necessity: must, have to and don’t have toSay what is necessary, what is not allowed and what is not necessary.
- Advice and suggestions: should, ought to and had betterGive advice with should, ought to and had better, and make suggestions.
- Possibility and deduction: might, may, must and can’tSay how sure you are with might, may, could, must and can’t.
- Real conditions: zero and first conditionalsUse if with a present form to talk about what always happens and what will possibly happen.
- Imagined situations: the second conditionalUse if with a past form and would to talk about situations that are not real now.
- Past and mixed conditions: third and mixed conditionalsUse if with had done and would have done to imagine a different past and its results.
- Wishes, preferences and alternatives to ifUse wish, would rather and words such as in case and as long as correctly.
- Meaning workshop: rules, guesses and alternativesChoose the modal or if-form that matches your meaning: a rule, advice, a guess or an imagined situation.