LESSON #4.11 OTHER VERB ISSUES
(prepared: alexcwlin; edited: Adam Lam)
4.11OTHER VERB ISSUES
A. Shall or Will
B. Would or Should
C. May or Might
D. Can or Could.
E. Will or Going To
1. Will or Shall
“Shall” and “will” are modal words used together with a verb in its base form for future tense sentences. There is a difference in choosing “shall” and “will” under the contemporary North American rules and the traditional British rules.
a. Contemporary North American Rules
Under the rule, the present form of the modal word plus a verb in its base form is used for
for a future tense sentence for 1st, 2nd and 3rd person both in the singular and the plural form. For example, (I/We/You/He/They) will drop by your house tomorrow.
There are two situations in which “shall” is used:
o asking for permission or consent:
o Shall we go to the movie?
o Shall I ship you the merchandise now?
o to indicate a command or duty:
o You shall respect your elders.
o You shall speed up to get the job done.
b. Traditional British Rules
Under this set of rules, you will use “shall” in the 1st person (singular and plural), and “will in other persons. For example:
o I shall find out tomorrow/We shall find out tomorrow.
o He will find out tomorrow/You will find out tomorrow.
2. Would or Should
The application of “would” and “should”, the conditional form of “will” and “shall”, follow similar rules as “will” and “shall” in North America and Britain.
The problem is, however, “should” always mean an obliged action in North America. Therefore “I should win the competition.” means the people running the competition are obliged to award the first prize to you and not that you are likely to win.
3. May or Might
Most of the time “might” and “may” are almost interchangeable, with “might” suggesting a somewhat lower probability. You’re more likely to get wet if the forecaster says it may rain than if she says it might rain; but substituting one for the other is unlikely to get you into trouble—so long as you stay in the present tense.
But “might” is also the past tense of the auxiliary verb “may,” and is required in sentences like “Chuck might have avoided arrest for the robbery if he hadn’t given the teller his business card before asking for the money.” When speculating that events might have been other than they were, don’t substitute “may” for “might.”
o may
We can use ‘may’ to ask for permission. However this is rather formal and not used very often in modern spoken English
o May I borrow your pen?
o May we think about it?
o May I go now?
We use ‘may’ to suggest something is possible
o It may rain later today.
o I may not have time to do it today.
o Pete may come with us
o might
We use ‘might’ to suggest a small possibility of something. Often we read that ‘might’ suggests a smaller possibility that ‘may’, there is in fact little difference and ‘might is more usual than ‘may’ in spoken English.
o She might be at home by now but it’s not sure at all.
o It might rain this afternoon.
o I might not have time to go to the shops for you.
o I might not go.
For the past, we use ‘might have’.
o He might have tried to call while I was out.
o I might have dropped it in the street.
4. Can or Could, Be Able To.
o Can is an auxiliary verb, a modal auxiliary verb. We use can to:
o talk about possibility and ability
o make requests
o ask for or give permission
o can: Possibility and Ability
We use can to talk about what is possible, what we are able or free to do:
o She can drive a car.
o John can speak Spanish.
o I cannot hear you. (I can’t hear you.)
o Can you hear me?
Normally, we use can for the present. But it is possible to use can when we make present decisions about future ability.
- Can you help me with my homework? (present)
- Sorry. I’m busy today. But I can help you tomorrow. (future)
o can: Requests and Orders
We often use can in a question to ask somebody to do something. This is not a real question – we do not really want to know if the person is able to do something, we want them to do it! The use of can in this way is informal (mainly between friends and family):
o Can you make a cup of coffee, please.
o Can you put the TV on.
o Can you come here a minute.
o Can you be quiet!
o can: Permission
We sometimes use can to ask or give permission for something:
- Can I smoke in this room?
- You can’t smoke here, but you can smoke in the garden.
(Note that we also use could, may, might for permission. The use of can for permission is informal.)
o Could is an auxiliary verb, a modal auxiliary verb. We use could to:
o talk about past possibility or ability
o make requests
o Notice that:
o Could is invariable. There is only one form of could.
o The main verb is always the bare infinitive.
The main verb is always the bare infinitive. We cannot say: I could to play tennis.
o could: Past Possibility or Ability
We use could to talk about what was possible in the past, what we were able or free to do:
o I could swim when I was 5 years old.
o My grandmother could speak seven languages.
o When we arrived home, we could not open the door. (…couldn’t open the door.)
o Could you understand what he was saying?
o We use could (positive) and couldn’t (negative) for general ability in the past. But when we talk about one special occasion in the past, we use be able to (positive) and couldn’t (negative). Look at these examples:
Past – general
My grandmother could speak Spanish.
My grandmother couldn’t speak Spanish.
Past – specific
A man fell into the river yesterday. The police were able to save him.
A man fell into the river yesterday. The police couldn’t save him.
o could: Requests
We often use could in a question to ask somebody to do something. The use of could in this way is fairly polite (formal):
o Could you tell me where the bank is, please?
o Could you send me a catalogue, please?
o Be able to
Although we look at be able to here, it is not a modal verb. It is simply the verb be plus an adjective (able) followed by the infinitive. We look at be able to here because we sometimes use it instead of can and could.
o We use be able to talk about ability
o Structure of Be able to:
The structure of be able to is: subject + be + able + infinitive
o Notice that be able to is possible in all tenses, for example:
o I was able to drive…
o I will be able to drive…
o I have been able to drive…
o Notice too that be able to has an infinitive form:
o I would like to be able to speak Chinese.
o Use of Be able to
Be able to is not a modal auxiliary verb. We include it here for convenience, because it is often used like “can” and “could”, which are modal auxiliary verbs.
o be able to: ability
We use be able to to express ability. “Able” is an adjective meaning: having the power, skill or means to do something. If we say “I am able to swim”, it is like saying “I can swim”. We sometimes use “be able to” instead of “can” or “could” for ability. “Be able to” is possible in all tenses – but “can” is possible only in the present and “could” is possible only in the past for ability. In addition, “can” and “could” have no infinitive form. So we use “be able to” when we want to use other tenses or the infinitive. Look at these examples:
o I have been able to swim since I was five. (present perfect)
o You will be able to speak perfect English very soon. (future simple)
o I would like to be able to fly an airplane. (infinitive)
5. Will or Going To
“Will” is used when the speaker is:
o talk about future facts or things, as in: “I am sure he will do a good job.”, or “Your wife will be very happy when she sees the ring.”
o doing something voluntarily or requesting someone to do something voluntarily, as in: “I will send you the information when it is available.” or “Will you help me?”;
o a promise, as in: “I will call you when my plane lands.” or “I will be careful. Don’t worry!”
“Going to” expresses something that the speaker intends to do something in the plan – regardless whether the plan is realistic or not, as in: “I’m going to be a doctor when I grow up.”, and “Who are you going to invite to the party this weekend?”
Both “will” and “going to” are used to express a prediction, as in: “Next year (will/is going to) be an interesting year for our company.”, and “Ford (will/is going to) will the mayor seat next year.”
I will do it after you have paid me.
Exercises:
1. Explain verbally:
a. When do we use “will” and “shall” under North American grammar rule?
b. When do we use “will” and “shall” under British grammar rule?
c. When do we use “should”?
d. Explain the different between “may” and “might”?
e. Explain the difference between “can”, “could”, and “be able to”?
f. Explain the difference in using “will” and “is going to”?
