Present Perfect: Modal Verbs

What are Modal Verbs?

Modal verbs are special verbs which behave very differently from normal verbs. Here are some important differences:
1. Modal verbs do not take "-s" in the third person.

Examples:

He can speak Chinese.
She should be here by 9:00.

2. You use "not" to make modal verbs negative, even in Simple Present and Simple Past.

Examples:

He should not be late.
They might not come to the party.

3. Many modal verbs cannot be used in the past tenses or the future tenses.

Examples:

He will can go with us. Not Correct
She musted study very hard. Not Correct

Common Modal Verbs

Might _ Ought to _ Shall _ Should _ Will _ Would_ Could _ May _ Can

Can
Could
May
Might
Must

Ought to
Shall
Should
Will
Would

For the purposes of this tutorial, we have included some expressions which are not modal verbs including had better, have to, and have got to. These expressions are closely related to modals in meaning and are often interchanged with them