Learn ALL 10 modal verbs in English: Could, Would, Should, Might

Hi, I'm Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.  

May, my can, could, should,  would let's talk about it. 

Hey, what are you up to? I think I might to go to  a party tonight. Huh? There is a problem with this  

sentence. Does this sound right to you? I might to  go to a party. Yeah, something's wrong with this,  

but what and why? And how can you say this  correctly so that you can speak real American  

English. In this lesson, you are going to learn  the most common modal verbs and how to use them  

accurately in English. You might have learned verb  tenses in English, present, the past, the future  

well modal verbs are a little bit different. I  want to make sure that you can feel confident  

using them, and speak real American English. So in this lesson, you will learn the three most  

important rules about modal verbs. Then we'll have  a little quiz. And at the end of this lesson, I  

want to teach you six common phrases that include  modal verbs that you can use in daily life. And  

that you will hear in conversations in movies,  in TV shows so that you can feel comfortable  

with English. Like always I have created a free  PDF worksheet so that you can remember everything  

that you're going to learn in this lesson. There  is a link in the description to download that PDF  

today. You'll see all of the modal verbs,  all of the rules, all of the quiz answers,  

all of the special phrases that use modal verbs.  And you can answer Vanessa's Challenge Question at  

the bottom of the PDF worksheet. There's a link in  the description and you can download it right now. 

So what in the world is a modal verb? Well,  these are the most common, but be careful  

because in just a minute, I'll tell you two, that  Americans never use. May, might, must, can, will,  

should, would, and could, these are commonly  used in American English conversations.  

But there are two that I've heard English learners  use that Americans, I'm going to say never.  

There's not often a never when it comes to  language, but let's go with it that Americans  

never use. And they are ought to and shall. Shall  I cook dinner? I ought to cook dinner. Ugh. We  

never use these in American English. So if  you would like to sound like an American,  

I recommend not using those verbs. But how can you use the others? Well,  

let's talk about the three important rules  that you need to know. With regular verbs,  

you need to change the verb based on the subject  I eat, he eats, but with a modal verb, do not  

change the modal verb. So you can say, I should  clean my room. Do not say I shoulds, or he  

shoulds clean his room. The modal verb always  stays the same. I should clean my room, we should  

clean our room. He should clean his room rule. Number two, the verb directly after the modal verb  

does not have two. It is not conjugated.  It is just simple. Take a look at this.  

He might join us for dinner. I didn't say he might  to join us or he might joining us or he might  

joins us. Nope. Our modal verb might stays the  same, and then the verb directly after that will  

also stay the same. Don't add to don't add I-N-G.  Take a look at this one. I can help you with that.  

Can is the modal verb and what's the verb directly  after that help. I can help you with that.  

I've seen some of my English students say I  can to help you with that, or I can helping  

with that, but really that word help just needs  to stay by itself, help. I can help you with that. 

And rule number three with modal verbs is when  you form a question we need to use inversion.  

What is inversion? Take a look at this. Can I  go to dinner with you? What's the subject here.  

It's I and our verb is can go. Do you see how  we have switched the subject and the modal verb?  

The modal verb is going to come first. Can I go  to dinner with you? Will we be late for the movie  

here? Our modal verb is will, and the  subject is we. And then our extra verb is be,  

will we be late for the movie? Should  you be doing that? Here we have  

you is the subject, but what's the first word.  It's the modal verb. So when we form a question,  

the subject and the verb are switched,  should you be doing that? Probably not. 

All right, before we go on to some common phrases  that use modal verbs that I would love for you to  

be able to use in daily life. Let's have a little  quiz to see how much you know, I'm going to be  

saying a little story with a blank and you need  to choose which one is the best answer. Are you  

ready? I was going to drive my car to dinner,  but I think it have a flat. I think it mights  

have a flat or I think it might have a flat. I'll  give you three seconds to think about this answer.  

I was going to drive my car to dinner,  but I think it might have a flat that's  

rule. Number one, we do not change the  modal verb. Do not add S just might. 

Let's continue with the quiz. Hmm, drive. Can you  drive? You can drive. Hmm? Which one is the best?  

Can you drive? This is rule number three, we're  using inversion. Put the modal verb first,  

can you drive? I look at it later. I shall look  at it later or I should look at it later. Hmm,  

which one's the best in American English?  

I should look at it later. Remember,  Americans don't use shall or ought to. 

If you agree to drive I you  dinner. If you agree to drive, I  

will buy you dinner. If you agree to drive, I will  to buy you dinner. Hmm. Which one is the best?  

If you agree to drive, I will buy you dinner.  This is rule number two, do not add two  

with this verb just will buy. I will buy  you dinner. I for your movie ticket too  

since, I'll also need a drive home.  I can pay for your movie ticket too,  

or I cans to pay for your movie ticket too,  which one feels the best? Three, two, one.  

I can pay for your movie ticket two. Remember  the modal verb does not change. So it stays can,  

and you don't need to with a modal verb, I can  pay for your movie ticket. Well, how did you do?  

I hope you did well on that quiz because  now it's time to take it to the next level. 

I'd like to introduce you to six common phrases  that are six phrases in American English,  

that you will hear people use in conversations  and you can use as well. And they all include a  

modal verb. You may have heard of some of  these before, or they may be new to you.  

Let's start with the first one. I think I can. I  think I can. I think I can. This phrase is from  

this book, The Little Engine that Could, that  almost every child in the whole us has read.  

And we often use this phrase when there's  something difficult or tricky that you're trying  

to encourage yourself that yes, I can do it. I  think I can. I think I can. I think I can. And  

this repetition is what makes it from this book  because the little train is trying to go up the  

hill and it doesn't know if it can do it, but it's  trying to encourage itself. I think I can. I think  

I can. I think I can. So you can use this as well. The next modal verb phrase is a fun one coulda,  

shoulda, woulda. What does this mean? These  are all reductions of could have, should have,  

would have, but in normal conversation,  fast conversation, we reduce this to coulda,  

shoulda, woulda. We use this when we have done  something that we regret, but we don't want to  

keep feeling this regret. So we dismiss it with  this phrase. Let's imagine that you have a big  

exam and you just didn't study enough. You didn't  sleep enough, and the exam does not go well. Well,  

after the exam, you could beat yourself up. You  could feel really bad about this. Maybe you feel  

some regret, but you don't want to feel the regret  forever. So you can use this phrase. Oh, I should  

have studied more. Why didn't I sleep more? Ah,  coulda, shoulda, woulda. Oh, so you're kind of  

pushing off this stress. I'm not going to let  this worry me, even though I regret what I did. 

Modal verb phrase, number three is as ready  as I'll ever be. As ready as I will ever be.  

If someone asks you, are you ready to graduate  college? You could say, Hmm, as ready as I'll  

ever be. This means that you are prepared. You  don't know if you're 100% ready, but you've done  

your best. So you could say, yeah. I'm as ready  as I'll ever be. Modal verb phrase number four is  

I should hope so. I should hope so. Should is our  modal verb, and notice how hope comes directly  

after that. There's no to, no conjugation.  Just, I should hope so. If somebody drives  

their car and hits your mailbox, well, they  should pay for your mailbox to be fixed, right?  

So you could say, well, he's going to pay for it.  I should hope. So this is something you expect.  

Someone's done something bad to you and you  expect them to make it better. I should hope so. 

Modal verb, phrase, number five, be careful what  you wish for, it might come true. Our modal verb  

here is, might notice how the next verb comes  directly after that. Come, it might come true.  

Well, not everything that you want is really  the best. So be careful what you wish for,  

it might come true. If somebody says, oh, I just  wish I could be in charge of everything. Nobody  

knows how to do this project. You might say, Hmm,  be careful what you wish for, it might come true.  

If you were in charge of this project, it might  be not as great as you imagined. It might come  

true. And you might not be happy about it. Our sixth and final modal verb phrase that you  

will commonly hear in daily English conversations  is as luck may have it. As luck may have it.  

We use this as an interjection in the  middle of a phrase to show that something  

good and surprising happened. You might say I  got a flat tire in the middle of the highway,  

but as luck may have it, the man who helped me  fix my tire is the man who I ended up marrying.  

Okay, so this is destiny. You had a flat tire in  the middle of the highway, terrible place, not a  

good experience, but as luck may have, it may as  our modal verb and have as the verb directly after  

that. As luck may have it, the man who helped  me, I ended up marrying what wonderful luck. 

Well, great work, expanding your mind with these  modal verbs. And now I have a question for you.  

Can you use one of the modal verbs here on the  screen, in the comments below? Test yourself, try  

to use them correctly and beautifully, like you're  speaking real American English. And don't forget  

to download the free PDF worksheet with all of  these rules, sample sentences, questions, ideas,  

all of the specific fixed phrases that use  modal verbs. All of this is available for you  

in the free PDF worksheet. There's a link in the  description so that you can download that today.  

Well, thank you so much for learning English with  me, and I'll see you again next Friday for a new  

lesson here on my YouTube channel, bye. The next step is to download the free  

PDF worksheet for this lesson. With this  free PDF, you will master today's lesson  

and never forget what you have learned. You  can be a confident English speaker. Don't  

forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel  for a free English lesson every Friday, bye.