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Modal verbs : permission , obligation and necessity - 1. Can, must , should , ought to , had better These are the most common verbs for talking about permission and obligation .
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Modalverbs: permission, obligation and necessity - 1 • Can, must, should, oughtto, hadbetter • These are the most common verbsfortalkingaboutpermission and obligation. • Shouldhaveto or oughttohave + pastparticipleare usedto talk abouteventswhichdidnothappen and whichweregret. • Hadbetterisstronger and more urgentthanshould/oughtto and isoftenusedtogive strong advice or warning.
Modalverbs: permission, obligation and necessity - 2 • Haveto/havegotto • Havetocan beused in anytenseto express obligations. • Havegotto, which can alsobeused, referstospecificoccasionsratherthanrepeated or generalobligations. (I’ve gottobuy a birthdaypresentformybrother.)
Modalverbs: permission, obligation and necessity - 3 • Need • Needto/don’t needtoreferstosomethingnecessary/unnecessary and cover habitual, general and specificnecessity. • We can alsouseneedn’t + bare infinitive whenwewanttosaysomethingisunnecessary on a specificoccasion. • Usedon’t neettoforhabitual or generalnecessity. • Whensomethingwasnotnecessary, butyoudidit, we can useeitherneedn’t have + pastparticiple or didn’t needto + infinitive.
Modalverbs: permission, obligation and necessity - 4 • Be ableto, beallowedto, bepermittedto, besupposedto • Weoftenusetheseformsto talk aboutwhatispossible or permittedinsteadof can, particularlywhenwewanttouse a formwhich can doesnothave (future, presentperfect etc.) • Be permittedto + infinitive isused in formalsituations, eg, notices and announcementstosaywhat can/can’t bedoneaccordingto the law or torules and regulations. • Tobesupposedtosuggests the idea thatrules are notnecessarilyobeyed, eg, Students are notsupposedtohaveguestsafter 12.00, buteveryonedoes.