(Past Tense), She might have called you, had you not been out of town. Verify your answer with the answers provided in the end of the exercise. Modal auxiliary verbs, also known as helping verbs, follow a different set of rules from regular verbs, and people use them differently in different parts of the country. (past), Could you please do me a favor? For Ex-. Suppose Squiggly says to Aardvark, “I may go skiing in November.” If Aardvark is talking to Fenster about Squiggly later on, he might say, “Squiggly said he might go skiing in November.” The modal verb may gets put into the past tense might,not to indicate past time or show modal remoteness, but just to match the past tense said. When they were kids they would play all day long. She also have an adorable skills of adaptability and research proficiency which makes her work more impactful, eye catching and informative. One of these functions is called modal remoteness, which is a technical term for unlikelihood. Neal Whitman PhD is an independent writer and consultant specializing in language and grammar and a member of the Reynoldsburg school board. If Aardvark tells Squiggly, “You’re my second-best friend,” and Squiggly tells Fenster about it later, he might say, “Aardvark said I was his second-best friend,” using was just to match the past tense said. Quick & Dirty Tips™ and related trademarks appearing on this website are the property of Mignon Fogarty, Inc. and Macmillan Holdings, LLC. Had she studied, she would have excelled. That is, if two languages are learned, then it can be difficult and it can be helpful to call the police. when I was a kid), You couldn’t ride in night few decades back. (future possibility), There may be a power cut today. one of the types of Auxiliary Verbs which facilitate the main verbs providing more information like- mood For Ex-, ‘Would’ can also be used to talk about the result or outcome of a situation, action or event. Please note that ‘can’ only expresses a possibility but not certainty. Modal Auxiliary Verb ‘will’ is used to express an event that is possible in the near or far future or is believed to appear. Ltd. All rights reserved. Go through the below example sentences-, ‘Would’ is used as the Past Tense of ‘will’. (Past obligation), Answers- 1)b, 2)a, 3)b, 4)a, 5)b, 6)c, 7)c, 8)b, 9)a, 10)c, 11)b, 12)a, 13)a, 14)b, 15)c, 16)b, 17)b, 18)c, 19)b, 20)a, 21)b, 22)c, 23)b, 24)b, 25)c, 26)b, 27)a, 28)b, 29)c, 30)a, 31)b, 32)b, Verb The Modal Auxiliary Verb ‘can’ remains same for I, he, she, we, they, singular noun or a plural noun. Subject-Verb Agreement Even outside conditional sentences, past-tense modals show this kind of remoteness. For example, telling someone “She would help you” suggests that you just need to give her the word, whereas “She will help you” means it’s as good as done. (inability), 6) ________ you prepare the dinner please. (ability), 5) The police ________ catch the thief. They also don’t have infinitive forms, so even though it would make sense, a sentence such as They seem to should practice more is ungrammatical. Another consists of forms of have: have, has, had and having. All the uses of ‘shall’ have been described below with examples.