CONDITIONALS
Modals: Ability, Possibility and Speculation
1. Expressing Ability (Can-Could-Be able to)
can – could: an ability
Ex: Can you swim? / I can use his car when he’s on vacation.
Be able to: describe a special achievement or a specific situation
Ex: The fire spread so quickly but luckily people were able to escape.
At first he couldn’t jump over the table, after a second trial, he was able to jump over it.

2. Expressing Permission (May-can-could-Do you mind…?)
May I park in your driveway?
Can / could I use your computer a little bit?
Do you mind if I use your pen?
3. Expressing Request
Can you help me?
Could you please go this way?
4. Expressing possibility (May-might-could)
Present and future possibility
We use may, might, and could to Talk about present and future
Where’s Tom? “He could be in the living room.”
We aren’t sure what we are going to do tomorrow. We might go to the beach.
Possibility in the past
May/might/could + have + p.p
“ I can’t not find my wallet anywhere.”
“You may have left it at home.”
5. Expressing logical deduction (Must-can’t)
Must- can’t sth. we are sure
in the present
Ex1: You have just had a big breakfast. You can’t be hungry.
Ex2: You have worked really hard. You must be tired.
In the past
Yesterday you can’t have been at the swimming pool. It’s closed all day yesterday.
My watch said 10. It must have been stopped.
Must vs have to: Necessity or obligation
Must: oneself thinks it’s important that need to be done:
You must see a doctor.

You mustn’t enter this room.
Mustn’t: obligation not to do anything
Have to: obligation or rule

You have to see a doctor.
You don’t have to enter this room if you don’t have class today.
Don’t have to= don’t need