Lesson 1A Vocabulary and Grammar — Modal and related verbs

• I can use modal and related verbs to talk about necessity, prohibition, advice, ability or permission.

Six months abroad: where would you go?

In pairs, look at the photos and answer the questions.

6.1 Listen to Amer and Fadi.

Which of these topics do they mention? What do they say about those topics?

□ food

□ language

□ local laws

□ missing friends

□ people’s behaviour

□ weather

Which modal does which job?

Six jobs, one box of modal verbs: sort them.

THINK BACK Complete the table with the modal verbs.

Necessity

No necessity

Prohibition

Duty and advice

Ability / Lack of ability

Permission

5 Study Watch Out! Then choose the best option to complete the sentences. Sometimes both options are correct.

Alia could / was able to pass her driving test.

Huda could / was able to speak four languages.

My cousin didn’t want to move to Germany at first, but his parents could / managed to persuade him.

How did you manage to / could you stay so slim when living at your grandma’s? She’s an excellent cook!

I somehow managed to / could make him believe me.

4 6.2 Complete these extracts from the recording with the words from the box. Listen and check.

I’ve ___ to settle in pretty well.

I’ve ___ in making quite a few friends.

Even my younger brother, who’s only 15, is ___ to stay out until eleven or later.

Obviously, we’re ___ to have an adult with us.

It’s ___ to chew gum.

At home, I’m not ___ to stay out after 10 p.m.

Moving to Sweden: what must, mustn’t and needn’t you do?

Things you should know before moving to Sweden

6 Complete the text with the words and phrases from the box. Sometimes more than one answer is possible.

Things you should know before moving to Sweden Littering is ___ everywhere, and if you’re caught dropping even the tiniest bit,

you ___ pay a fine.

You are also ___ by law to sort out your recycling.

Don’t expect Swedes to be chatty. They don’t talk to you if they ___.

Punctuality is important though. You ___ turn up late or early.

In some other ways they’re quite informal: at school, you ___ call your teacher Professor or Mr or Mrs as they prefer to be called by their first names.

Comparing and contrasting: a bit or a lot?

Which words say the gap is big, and which say it is small?

7 Replace the underlined words with words and phrases from the box. There are several alternatives. Which sound more formal?

Summer in Singapore is much hotter than in England but only a bit hotter than in Egypt.

Summer in England is not nearly as hot as in Singapore.

8 Choose the correct words to complete the sentences. Sometimes more than one answer is possible.

Singapore is very safe compared with / to / from other countries.

Dubai is expensive in / by / on comparison with many countries.

In Saudi Arabia, the temperatures are high during the day whereas / wherever / but during the night they are very low.

Necessity: must, have to and need

• There is no choice: A good lifeguard must be an excellent swimmer.
• Have to is very similar to must.
• It can be used in all tenses:
• I had to wear braces for two years.
• You will have to keep this a secret.
• The verb need is used as a main verb (not an auxiliary): He needs to be courageous.

• Have to/have got to are often used to indicate that the obligation is from somebody else or from outside, while must is used to show it comes from the speaker.

• A common modifier with this form is really:
• Your friend really must study harder.
• (= this is my idea – I want him to do it)
• My friend has to study harder.
• (= there is an external reason – perhaps a teacher has told him this)

No obligation vs prohibition

Not necessary is not the same as not allowed.

• We use don’t have to and needn’t to mean ‘it isn’t necessary’:
• He doesn’t have to work today.
• Pupils don’t need to/needn’t do this.

• We use mustn’t, can’t and couldn’t to say that something is not permitted:
• People can’t park their cars here.

Should and ought to: advice and duty

• We use should/shouldn’t, ought to/oughtn’t to to give our opinion or advice.
• A common modifier with this form is really:
• Animals shouldn’t suffer like this.
• You really ought to be an expert.

Could or was able to? One occasion changes the answer

Did she pass once, or could she always do it?

• We use can/can’t and could/couldn’t to describe ability or lack of ability:
• He could play chess better than anyone I knew.

• To describe the completion of a specific action in the past, we use be able to.
• In negative sentences both be able to and could are possible:
• Hamzah wasn’t able to/couldn’t visit us last week, but he was able to (NOT could) phone.

Asking and giving permission

• We use can/could/may to ask for and give permission:
• Can/Could/May I ask you a question?
• You can stay out late tonight.

Related verbs in Fadi’s and Amer’s words

Which related verb fits each extract?

Possibility: can, could and might

• We use can to talk about things which are generally possible:
• It can rain heavily in winter.
• We use could/might to say that a specific thing is possibly true:
• There could/might be life on other planets.
• We use might to talk about an uncertain future intention:
• We might go for a meal later.

Use these words in the task below.