Structural conversion with modal verbs

PART I: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the Study
	Modal verbs are essential parts of spoken and written English at all levels. These are really difficult topics but interesting when we take deep investigation into them. Not only students but also many teachers are challenged by modal verbs. They appear in part E of Unit 11 and Unit 12 of the textbook of English 12 – basic curriculum. When teaching these points, I myself find it confusing to get students to memorize their usage. The only way to keep them in our minds is to learn by heart and to practice regularly. 
	During my teaching and carrying out extensive research into this problem, I found it necessary to provide more theory and also extra practice for teachers and students when teaching and learning this. For all the reasons, I would like to conduct my research on the topic: “Structural Conversion With Modal Verbs”. 
2. Aim of the Study
	The main aims of the research are: 
- To provide teachers and students with full theory of Modal Verbs in English used in sentence transformation exercises.
- To provide opportunity to practice writing skills, especially the skill of doing sentence transformation exercises for gifted students
- To hope to provide reference materials for any teachers or students who intend to master the language of English or want to make their English more natural and more fluent.
3. Method of the Study
	Multi-methods are integrated to conduct this research, including mainly methods of observation and analysis. Beside, the research is undertaken as a result of the reality of the long-time process of my daily teaching at school, especially my teaching gifted students. 
4. Objective and Scope of the Study
	The objective of the study is modal verbs that are often used in sentence transformation exercises, including rewrite the sentences using the given words and rewrite the sentences using the key word(s). These exercises are collected from a variety of kinds of material sources. Because of many reasons, both subjective and objective, the study will limit itself within “sentences transformation with modal verbs”, and this will mainly apply to the gifted students or those who intentionally attend the classes learning Literature, Math and English, known as group D or Math, Physics and English – group A1.
PART II: PROBLEM SOLVING
1. Theoretic basis of the problem
	As mentioned, modal verbs play a vital role in learning English. Anyone who does not know them well are not considered good learners or speakers. 
	Modal verbs occur around the textbooks of English 10, English 11 and English 12 and are the main contents of part E – Language Focus in English 12 at units 11 and 12. The only way to master them is to learn by heart and to practice them again and again. This research hopes to be a good material for both teachers and students in their teaching and learning. 
2. Practical basis of the problem
	Mai Anh Tuan High School is located in the rural area with many mountainous and poor villages. People here are mainly farmers with average and low living standard. As a result, students did not have much good chance of studying and using English until recently. Students (and even their teachers) do not have an English environment to practice. Learning English here has not still been really important to students and people here. Therefore, the teachers have so much difficulty in teaching English. 
	Working as a teacher for a long time, I myself understand the nature of the problem and usually find it necessary to find out the ways to improve the situation. I try my best to do this research with a view to getting my students and other teachers to benefit from it by giving them more opportunities to practice and to better their English.
3. Solutions to the problem
	After studying the content of the textbooks English 10, 11 and 12, especially the part E – Language Focus of units 11 and 12, and taking deep investigation into this problem, I have found out some useful measures to deal with this problem. 
	The study consists of two main parts: Part A – Theory of Modal Verbs and Part B – Practice on Sentence Transformation Exercises with Modal Verbs. Part A consists of characteristics, functions of modal verbs and structural conversion with them and synonymous expressions. Part B gives students a chance to practice doing 6 sentence transformation exercises with modal verbs at all levels. 
PART A: MODAL VERBS
FUNCTIONS AND STRUCTURAL CONVERSION 
I. Characteristics of Modal Verbs
Modal Verbs (can, could, may, might, must, will, would, shall, should) are auxiliary verbs that give imformation about ability, possibility or necessity. They take no –s in the third person singular. They come before the subject in questions and are followed by “not” in negations. The modal verbs are followed by an infinitive without TO except for “ought to” and their form doesn’t change. 
E.g. 	- He could speak French and Italian. (Not: He coulds speak)
	- Could you speak French before you lived there? (Not: Did you could speak?)
Certain verbs or expressions have virtually the same meaning as some modals. These are Need (= must), had better (= should), have to/have got to (= must), be able to (= can), used to (= would) and so on.
E.g. I have got to hurry to catch the bus. (= I must hurry)
We use modal verbs to express: ability, advice, criticism, logical assumptions, necessity, offters, obligations/duty, permission, possibility, probability, prohibition, requests/suggestions.
II. Functions of Modal Verbs and Synonymous Expressions
USE
PRESENT/FUTURE
PAST
Ability
- He can read Arabic.
- She’s able to run a marathon.
- He could/was able to rea Arabic when he was four. (repeated action – ability in the past)
- He was able to escape. (single action)
Possibility
- He can win the race. (90% certain)
- They could still be at school. (50% certain; it’s possible they are still at school)
- Tom may be studying in his room. (perhaps; 50% certain; it’s possible that he’s studying)
- He might want some more food. (40% certain; perhaps he wants some more food)
- It is likely that he will arrive tonight.
- He is likely to arrive tonight. 
- She could have been killed in the car crash. (Luckily, she wasn’t killed.)
- He may have spoken to Jenny yesterday. (Perhaps he spoke to Jenny)
- He might have forgotten. (Perhaps he has forgotten)
- It was likely that he had arrived the day before.
- He was likely to have arrived the day before.
Probability
- They will be home soon. (100% certain; prediction)
- Greg should win easily. (90% certain; future only; he’ll win easily)
- They ought to be home by now. (90% certain; they will probably be home.)
- He should have received his prize by now. (He has probably received it by now.)
- They ought to have arrived an hour ago. (They have probably arrived.)
Logical Assumptions
- She must be working. (90% certain – possitive; I’m sure she’s working.)
- She can’t be over forty. (negative; I’m sure she isn’t over forty.)
- He couldn’t be at work. (negative; I don’t think he’s at work.)
- She must have been working. (possitive; I’m sure she was working.)
- She can’t have stolen the money. (negative; I’m sure she didn’t steal the money.)
- He couldn’t have been at work yesterday. (negative; I don’t think he was at work yesterday.)
Permission
- You can/can’t borrow my car. (giving or refusing permission; informal)
- Could I use your phone? (more polite; asking for permission)
- You may use the phone. (formal; giving permission)
- Might I speak to Mr. Jones, please? (more formal; asking permission)
- I’m afraid you can’t/mustn’t see the patient. (informal; refusing permission)
- Children may not be left unaccompanied. (Formal; refusing permission + written notice)
- He wasn’t allowed to/ couldn’t cross the border. 
- He was allowed to enter the country. (not: could)
Necessity
- I must buy a new jacket. (I say so.)
- He has to put some petrol in the car. (necessity coming from outside the speaker)
- I’ve got to go the bank now. (informal)
- My car needs repairing. Or:
My car needs to be repaired. (it’s necessary)
- They don’t have to/ do’t need to/ needn’t come if they don’t want to. (It isn’t necessary – absence of necessity)
- I ought to get my hair cut. (it’s necessary)
- I had to buy a new jacket. (I was obliged to)
- Since his car was being repaired he had to go to York by train.
- I had to go to the bank yesterday.
- My car needed repairing. Or:
My car needed to be repaired. (it was necessary)
- She didn’t have to go. (It wasn’t necessary – absence of necessity)
- He needn’t have worn such heavy clothes. (It wasn’t necessary for him to wear such heavy clothes but he did.)
- She didn’t need to/ didn’t have to buy any apples. (It wasn’t necessary for her to buy any apples and she didn’t.)
Advice
- You should drink more water. (general advice; I advice you)
- You ought to respect the elderly. (I advice you; most peole belive this)
- You had better finish it. (it’s a good idea; advice on a specific situation)
- Shall I buy that car? (asking for advice)
- You should have gone to bed earlier last night. (but you didn’t)
- He ought to have seen a doctor earlier. (but he didn’t)
- It would have been better if you had finished it yesterday. (but you didn’t)
Criticism
- You could at least help me.
- You could have at least helped me last night.
- They should have tried harder. (but they didn’t)
- You ought to have behaved yourself yesterday. (It was the right thing to do but you didn’t do it.)
Obligation
- I must go on a diet. (I’m obliged to; I say so.)
- I have to go on a diet. (i’m obliged to; the doctor says so.)
- We ought to help the poor. It’s the right thing to do, but people don’t always do it.
- I had to go on a diet a month ago.
- I had to go on a diet a month ago.
Requests
- Can I borrow your book? (informal)
- Could I borrow your book? (polite)
- May I have a cup of coffee, please? (formal)
- Might I used your phone? (very formal)
- Will you phone Jane tonight? (very friendly)
- Would you mind sending this fax? (polite)
Offers
- Can I/we do anything for you? (informal)
- Shall I/we do it for you? (informal)
- Would you like me to help?
Suggestions
- Shall we dance?
- I/We can go now if you like
- We could leave if you want.
- He could have consulted a lawyer.
Prohibition
- You can’t smoke there. (You aren’t allowed to)
- You mustn’t smoke there. (It’s forbidden.)
- You may not smoke there. (formal)
- They couldn’t smoke there. (They weren’t allowed)
Duty
- Everyone must obey the law.
- People ought to be more tolerant. (It’s the right thing to do but they do not always do it.)
- All the villagers had to obey the law.
- He ought to have been more tolerant. (It was the right thing to do but he didn’t do it.)
*. Some special notes
1. Can – could – was able to (ability)
- Can expresses ability in the present and future. Could expresses ability in the past. The verb can is used only in the present or future and could in the past. Can borrows the rest of its tenses from be able to. E.g. He could climb up mountains before he had an accident. He cana’t climb mountains now but he had been able to do so before his accident.
- Was able to (= managed to) is used to express ability in the past for either single or repeated actions. E.g. He was able to reach Brighton before midnight. (single action) (Not: could)
- Could is used in statements to express general ability in the past for repeated actions. E.g. She could/was able to read when she was four. (could/was able to are both correct). However with “feel/hear/see/smell/understand” we normally use could for single actions. E.g. I could hear a noise coming from the dining room. (single action) (not: was able to)
- Could/Was able to are both used in negations and questions for either single or repeated actions. E.g. They weren’t able to/ couldn’t win the race. (single action). Could you/Were you able to drive a car when you were fifteen? (repeated action – general ability in the past)
2. Must – have to – have got to
- Must is used when the speaker decides what it is necessary to do. E.g. I must buy some new clothes. (I say so. I decide what to do.)
- Have to is used when the necessity comes from outside the speaker or when others decide for the speaker what it was necessary to do. E.g. He has to be at work at 9.00. (The boss says so.)
- Have got to has the same meaning as have to but it is used in spoken English. E.g. “Mum, I’ve got to go to the library.”
- Must is stronger than have to and indicates urgency and importance. E.g. I must meet Jane tonight. (It’s very urgent that I meet her.) I have to meet Jane tonight. (I need to meet her.)
- Must is used only in the present or future. E.g. I must go to the meeting tomorrow. It borrows the rest of its tense from have to. E.g. She had to be present at the lecture last Monday.
3. Mustn’t – needn’t
- Mustn’t (it’s forbidden): You mustn’t get off the bus before it stops.
- Needn’t/ Don’t have to (it isn’t necessaryy): Today is a holiday – you needn’t/don’t have to go to work.
4. Needn’t – Didn’t need to – Needn’t have
- Don’t have to/ Don’t need to/ Needn’t + present infinitive (it is not necessary in the present or future)
E.g. You don’t have to/ don’t need to/needn’t worry about it any more. I’ll take care of that. (It is not necessary to worry)
- Didn’t need to/; didn’t have to (It was not necessary in the past and we may not know if the action heppened or not.) E.g. She didn’t need to/ didn’t have to buy a dress for the party. (It wasn’t necessary for her to buy a dress, and we don’t know if she bought one.)
- Needn’t + bare perfect infinitive (We know that something happened in the past although it was not necessary.) E.g. You needn’t have said that. She was very upset by your remarks. (You said it, although it was not necessary.)
5. Expressions similar to Modal Verbs
- Be supposed to + infinitive means “should” but it expresses the idea that someone else expects something to be done. E.g. I’m supposed to attend the seminar. (The manager expects me to do so. I should attend the seminar. It’s a good idea because I might get some useful information.)
- Be to + infinitive means “must” but it expresses the idea that someone else demands something. 
E.g. I am to be at the air port at 9.00. (My boss has told me to go there, so I can’t avoid it.) I must be at the airport at 9.00. (If I don’t go there, there will be no one to meet Mr.Jons who is coming tonight.) Be supposed to and be to are used to express what someone expects about a previously arranged event. E.g. The conference is supposed to/is to start tomorrow. (it is sheduled.)
- Be likely to mean “may” (possibility). To express possibility in questions we don’t use “may”. We use: Is he likely to ?, Is it likely that he ?, Can he ?, Could he?, Might he?. E.g. Is he likely to win the reace? Is it likely that he will win the race? Could he win the race? etc
- Would you mind is used to express polite, formal requests. E.g. Would you mind lending me a hand?
- Lets/How about?/Why don’t we?/ What about? are used to make suggestions. E.g. Let’s go for a ride. How about going for a ride? Why don’t we go for a ride? What about going for a ride?
- Would you like to/ Would you like me to? (= Shall I?) are used when we offer to do something. E.g. Would you like me to pick up your laundry? (Shall I pick up your laundry?)
- Be allowed to is used to express permission, to say what the rule is. E.g. He was allowed to cross the border. (Not: He could cross) Was he allowed to enter the building?
6. Adverbs and Alternative to modals
Adverbs like also, always, never, sometimes, just and only come after modal verbs: 
E.g.	You should always carry plenty of loose change.
	You must never do that again.
To add extra emphasis we can use really before the verb:
E.g.	You really have to see it to believe it.
Adverbs like certainly, probably, possibly, perhaps and may can be used to express similar ideas to modal verbs:
E.g.	He had probably been attacked and robbed. (= he must have been attacked)
We can use it + be + certain/likely/probable/possible/impossible to express ability, probability and possibility:
E.g.	It is possible to program your computer to translate texts automatically. (= you can probram your computer)
E.g.	It is possible that the train will be late. (= the train might be late)
III. Structural Conversion of Modal Verbs
May = Perhaps	Must = I think/ I suppose, I strongly believe	Can’t = I don’t think, I don’t suppose
STRUCTURAL CONVERSION
- Perhaps she is abroad. 	
- Perhaps she moved to Rome. 
- Perhaps she wasn’t taking a bath. 
- Perhaps he was studying/ he has been studying. 
ó She may be abroad.
ó She may have moved to Rome.
ó She may not have been taking a bath.
ó He may have been studying.
- I think she has lost her way. 	
- I suppose he has left Austria. 
- I think he was in Germany. 	 
- It is certain that he’ll fail. 	
- It is certain that she (has) attended the ceremony. 
ó She must have lost her way.
ó He must have left Austria. 
ó He must have been in Germany.
ó He is bound to fail.
ó She is certain to have attended the ceremony. / She must have attended the ceremony.
- I’m sure she is sleeping. 
- I’m sure he hasn’t left. 
- It’s forbidden to smoke in hospitals. 
- I must reject this plan. 
- I don’t think she’s forgotten. 
- I’m sure he isn’t lying to us. 
ó She must be sleeping.
ó He can’t have left.
ó You mustn’t smoke in hospitals.
ó I have no option but to reject this plan. / I will have to reject this plan.
ó She can’t have forgotten. 
ó He can’t be lying to us. 
- He is likely to win the race. 
- She is unlikely to pass her exams. 
- He is likely to win the prize. 	
ó It is likely that he’ll win the race. ó He’ll probably win the race.
ó It is unlikely/ not likely that she’ll pass her exams./
ó There’s little likelihood/ possibility of her passing her exams.
ó There’s little likelihood/ possibility that she’ll pass her exams. 
ó It’s doubtful whether she’ll pass her exams
ó In all probability, he will win the prize
ó It is likely that he will win the prize.
ó It is very possible that he will win the prize.	
ó He could certainly win the prize.	
ó There is every likelihood that he will win the prize.
- It wasn’t necessary for you to finish it today. 
- Was it necessary for Ann to leave the party that early? 
- It isn’t necessary to do the ironing today. 
- It wasn’t necessary for you to buy so many roses as you did. 
- Was it necessary for her to behave like that? 
- It wasn’t necessary for me to walk to work as he gave me a lift. 
- There’ no need to correct the tests today. 
- He isn’t obliged to tell you the truth. 
- It is important for you to learn to drive. 
- Are exams compulsory at this school?
- Senior students don’t have to take tests.
- It is against the rules to write your answer in ink. 	 
- It is forbidden to speed in the city centre. 
ó You needn’t have finished it today.
ó Did Ann need to/have to leave the party that early?
ó You don’t have to/ don’t need to/ needn’t do the ironing today.
- You needn’t have bought so many roses. 
- Did she need/ have to behave like that?
- I didn’t need to walk to work as he gave me a lift.
- Don’t bother to correct the tests today. 
- It isn’t necessary to correct the tests today.
- You needn’t correct the tests today.
- You don’t need to correct the tests today.
- He needn’t tell you the truth.	
- He doesn’t need/ have to tell you the truth. 
- You need/have to learn to drive. 
- Do you have to sit for exams at this school?
- It’s optional for senior students to take tests./ It’s not compulsory for senior students to take tests.
- You mustn’t write your answer in ink.
- You mustn’t speed in the city centre. / Under no circumstances