2º BACHILLERATO (B2C) (B2AC) School year 2022-2023 I.E.S. ALHAKEN II (A.R.) MODAL VERBS VERB CAN COULD (past tense / conditional mood) BE ABLE TO MUST MAY MIGHT BE ALLOWED TO SHOULD MEANING-FUNCTION SPANISH EQUIVALENCE EXAMPLE To be able to do something Poder, Ser capaz de I can run the marathon To ask for permission poder Can I go to the party? To make a formal request poder Can I have some more coffee, please? To express possibility poder It can happen tomorrow To make deductions (negative) poder It can’t be raining. The ground is not wet. To be able to do something Poder, Ser capaz de I could run the marathon when I was 20. To ask for permission poder Could I go to the party? To make a formal request poder Could you tell me the time, please? To express possibility poder It could happen tomorrow To make suggestions poder We could have a drink in the pub next door. To be able to do something in all tenses Poder You will be able to drive when you turn 18. (especially others than Present and Past Simple) ser capaz de Strong obligation deber You must stay there Prohibition (negative) deber You mustn’t smoke in hospitals To make deductions (positive) deber They must be very happy. They have won the lottery. To ask for permission poder May I open the window? To express possibility poder It may rain To make a formal request poder May I stay a bit longer? To ask for permission poder Might I open the window? To express possibility poder It might rain To have permission to do something dejar/estar permitido/ tener permiso para algo debería I wasn’t allowed to have a dog when we lived in a flat. Weak obligation /Suggestion You should read more often. 2º BACHILLERATO OUGHT TO (B2C) HAVE TO (B2AC) School year 2022-2023 Weak obligation /Suggestion debería I.E.S. ALHAKEN II (A.R.) You ought to read more often. Strong obligation tener que / deber You have to stay there Lack of obligation (negative) tener que You don’t have to buy anything. There is plenty of food in the fridge. NEED(N’T) WOULD SHALL USED TO BE/GET USED TO (+ing) HAD BETTER WOULD RATHER MUST HAVE + (-ed) To deny the obligation no es necesario, no hace falta You needn’t stay here any longer. To make an offer Would you like some tea? To make a formal request Would you pass me the salt, please? To talk about habits in the past (positive) – When we were children we would go fishing every equivalent to used to Saturday morning. To offer to do something Shall I open the window for you? To ask for suggestions What shall we do tonight? To talk about routines in the past Solía / “Pr. imperfecto” I used to play Indians and cowboys To be/get in the habit of Estoy acostumbrado a Me estoy acostumbrando To give advice Mejor que … subjuntivo I am used to drinking tea. I am getting used to drinking tea. We’d better go home now To express preference Preferiría + infinitivo I’d rather stay at home A certainty or logical conclusion about an event debe haber __do The driver must have lost his way. A guess about something which happened in puede/podría ser que She might /may have bought a new car. the past. [+ SUBJ.] The ability to do something in the past, but podría[...]haber __do You could have avoided that accident. debería[...]haber __do He should have listened to me. in the past. MIGHT/MAY HAVE + (-ed) COULD HAVE + (-ed) which in the end was not done. SHOULD HAVE + (-ed) Advice which was not followed in the past. Expectations which were not fulfilled in the past. They should have won the competition Son indeclinables, excepto HAVE TO, BE ABLE TO y BE/GET USED TO. Sirven como auxiliares para oraciones afirmativas, interrogativas y negativas (con la excepción de HAVE TO y USED TO). No tienen infinitivos ni participios.
