Modals

EN Study

• Must x Have to
• Don't have to and must not
• Should and ought to
• Could (present)
• Can
• May and might
• Shall
• Will
• Would
• Need and need to
• Dare
• Related non-modal expressions
• Had to and Didn't have to
• Should have and Ought to have
• Could have and couldn't have
• Could (past)
• May have and might have
• Must have and can't have
• Would not
• Would have
• Needn't have and didn't need to
• Adverbs and modals

Must x Have to

• Must - vychází ze mě
• Have to - vychází z okolností (např. pravidel)

Don't have to and must not

• Don't have to refers to an absence of obligation (povinnost)
  • You don't have to work tomorrow. (nemusíš)
• Must not refers to an obligation not to do something
  • You must not leave the room before the end of the test. (nesmíš)

Should and ought to

• Should = Ought to - téměř se nepoužívá
• Expectation
  • This film should be really good.
• Recommendation
  • You should see a doctor.
  • In writing, should (but not ought to) can be used to express a strong obligation politely
    • Guests should vacate their rooms by midday.
• Criticism of an action
  • You shouldn't eat so much late at night.
• Uncertainty
  • Should I leave these papers on your desk?
• Should and verbs of thinking (to make opinions less direct)
  • I should think that model would sell quite well.
• Should with be and adjectives (odd, strange, funny=odd) describing chance
  • What a coincidence. It's strange that you should be staying in the same hotel.
• Should after in case to emphasize unlikelihood
  • In case I should be out, this is my mobile number.

Could (present)

• Could is used to express possibility or uncertainty
  • This could be the house.
• Could is used with comparative adjectives to express possibility or impossibility
  • This situation couldn't be worse.
  • It could be better.
• Could is used to make suggestions
  • We could go to the cinema.
• Could is used to express unwillingness
  • I couldn't possibly leave Tim here on his own.

Can

• Can with be is used to make criticism
  • You can be really annoying, you know!
• Can is also used with be to refer to capability
  • Winter here can be really cold.

May and might

• May can be used to express although clauses
  • She may be the boss, but that is no excuse for shouting like that.
• May/might as well
  • This describes the only thing left to do, something which the speaker is not enthusiastic about. (To popisuje to jediné, co zbývá udělat, něco, z čeho řečník není nadšený.)
  • Nobody else is going to turn up now for the lesson, so you may as well go home.
  • Nikdo další se teď na lekci nedostaví, takže můžete jít domů.
• May and might both express possibility or uncertainty. May is often used in formal language.
  • The peace conference may find a solution to the help.
  • It may rain. x It might rain.
    • May více pravděpodobné než might
• There is an idiomatic expression with try (may - present, might - past or present)
  • Try as I might, I could not pass my driving test. (Although I tried very hard, I could not pass my driving test.)

Shall

• Shall can be used in the first persion to emphasize something which the speaker feels is certain to happen or wants to happen
  • I shall definitely give up smoking this year.
  • We shall win! (Shall is stressed in this sentence.)
• In the second and the third persons, shall is now only used in very formal contexts, such as rules and regulations
  • No player shall knowingly pick up or move the ball of another player.

Will

• Will can be used to express an assumption (předpoklad)
  • The phone's ringing. That will be for me.
• Will/won't can be used emphatically to tell someone of the speaker's intention, or to forbid an action, in response to a will expression
  • A1: I'll take the money anyway, so there!
  • B1: You won't!
  • A1: I will!
  • A2: I won't do it!
  • B2: Yes, you will!

Would

• Would is often used in situations where a conditional sense is understood but not stated
  • Nobody would agree with that idea. (if we asked them)
  • Life wouldn't be worth living without you. (if you weren't here)
  • I think Jim would be the best candidate. (if he was consideration for the job)
  • Sue wouldn't do that, surely! (if she was in that situation)

Need and need to

• Need to is a modal auxiliary, and behaves like a normal verb
  • Do you need to use the photocopier?
• Need is a modal auxiliary, but mainly in question and negative forms
  • Need you make so much noise?
• Need doing
  • The car needs washing.

Dare

• Dare can be used in two ways. It can be an intransitive verb followed by infinitive with to
  • I didn't dare to say anything. - Neodvážil jsem se nic říct.
• It can also be a modal auxiliary, mainly in question and negative forms
  • She dare not refuse. - Neodvážila se odmítnout.
  • How dare you? - Jak se opovažuješ?

Related non-modal expressions

• Had better
  • This is a recommendation and refers only to the present or future
    • You had better not phone her again. - Už jí radši netelefonuj.
  • It can be reported in the past without change of form
    • He told me we had better come back another day.
• Be bound to
  • This makes a future prediction of certainty
    • It is bound to rain tomorrow. - Zítra určitě bude pršet.

Had to and Didn't have to

Musel x nemusel - povinnost

• The past form of must and refers to a past obligation (povinnost)
  • Sorry I'm late. I had to post some letters.
• The negative form didn't have to refers to an absence of obligation

Should have and Ought to have

Měl jsem - očekávání, kritika, zdvořilost

• Expectation
  • The parcel should have arrived by now.
• Criticism of an action
  • You shouldn't have eaten so much last night.
• Should have and verbs of thinking (to make opinions less direct)
  • I should have thought that model would sell quite well.
  • Měl jsem si myslet, že se tento model bude docela dobře prodávat.
• With be and adjectives describing chance
  • It was strange that you should have been staying in the same hotel last year.
  • Bylo zvláštní, že jste měli bydlet ve stejném hotelu minulý rok.
• As a polite expression of thanks on receiving a gift
  • I've done the washing up for you. - Oh, you really shouldn't have!
  • Umyl jsem za vás nádobí. - Ach, to jste vážně nemusel!

Could have and couldn't have

Mohl, nemohl - možnost, nejistota (domněnky), neochota, mohl jsem něco udělat, ale neudělal

• Could have refers to past possibility or uncertainty
  • David could have won the race if he had tried.
  • David mohl vyhrát závod, kdyby to zkusil.
  • It could have been Sue, I suppose.
  • Mohla to být Sue, předpokládám.
• Couldn't have can be used with comparative adjectives
  • We couldn't have been more surprised.
  • Nemohli jsme být více překvapeni.
• Could have can also express unwillingness (neochota)
  • She could have gone to the party with her friends. (but she didn't)
  • Mohla jít na párty se svými přáteli. (ale nešla)

Could (past)

Mohl, nemohl - schopnost v minulosti (uměl jsem něco), povolení v minulosti (měl jsem něco dovoleno)

• Could refers to past permission or past ability
  • When I was sixteen I could stay out till 11. (I was allowed to)
  • Jenny could swim when she was five. (she actually did)
    • Jenny could have swum when she was five. (but she didn't)

May have and might have

možná, asi - nejistota

• Might have refers to past possibility which did not happen
  • You might have drowned! (but you didn't)
  • Mohl ses utopit!
• Might have and may have express uncertainty
  • I suppose I may have been rather critical.
  • Předpokládám, že jsem byl možná spíše kritický.
• Both can be used in the negative to express uncertainty
  • They might not have received our letter yet.
  • Možná ještě nedostali náš dopis.
• Might have is used to express annoyance at someone's failure to do something
  • You might have told me my trousers were split!
• I might have known + would is na idiom by which the speaker expresses ironically that an action was typical of someone else
  • I might have known that he would be late.
  • Mohl jsem vědět, že bude pozdě.

Must have and can't have

Musel x nemohl - jistota

• These express the speaker's certainty about a past action
  • Someone must have taken it. (I'm sure someone did)
  • Někdo to musel vzít.
  • You can't have lost it. (I'm sure you didn't)
  • Nemohl jsi to ztratit.
• Both can also be used with surely in exclamations
  • Surely you can't have eaten all of it!
  • Určitě jsi to nemohl sníst všechno ty.
  • Surely you must have noticed it!
  • Určitě jste si toho museli všimnout!

Would not

• The express an unwillingness in the past
  • Everyone was angry because Sam wouldn't turn off the television.
  • Všichni byli naštvaní, protože Sam nechtěl vypnout televizi.

Would have

Dělal bych - bych udělal v minulosti

• Would have can refer to events in the past which did not actually happen
  • I would have accepted the job, but I didn't want to move house.
• Assumptions (předpoklady) about the past are also possible with would have
  • A: Someone called after you left but didn't leave a message.
  • B: That would have been Cathy, probably. - Pravděpodobně to asi byla Cathy.

Needn't have and didn't need to

• Needn't have done refers to an unnecessary action which was actually done
  • You needn't have paid all at once. (you did pay)
  • Nemusel jste platit vše najednou.
• Didn't need to refers to an unnecessary action which was not done
  • I didn't need to go the dentist again, luckily.
  • Naštěstí jsem nemusel/nepotřeboval jít znovu k zubaři.

Adverbs and modals

• Adverbs such as easily, just, really, well are often used to emphasize (zdůraznit) modal expressions, in both present and past time
  • You could easily have been killed.
    • Mohli jste být snadno zabiti.
  • I might just take you up on that.
  • You couldn't really have managed without me.
    • Beze mě bys to opravdu nezvládl.