MODALS IN THE PAST Aim to learn about

MODALS IN THE PAST Aim: to learn about the modal verbs in the past

WHAT MAKES MODAL VERBS SO SPECIAL THAT THEY FORM A WHOLE SPECIAL GROUP OF VERBS?

FOCUS ON THE WORDS IN BOLD AND TRY TO WORK IT OUT! 1. 2. 3. 4. He can swim. I will be able to swim. Can he swim? He cannot swim. 1. 2. 3. 4. He swims every day. I will swim. Does he swim every day? He doesn’t swim every day.

IT’S BECAUSE OF THEIR GRAMMAR. Modal verbs: 1. Have the same form for each person, so no -s ending for the third person singular. 2. Can’t form some tenses e. g. future, perfect and continuous tenses. We use some modal expressions instead. 3. Don’t need an auxiliary verb (pomocni glagol) to form questions and negative sentences. 4. They need another verb to complete them.

P. 32, EX. 1 manage to = uspeti, moci be obliged to = biti primoran da… have the ability to = biti u stanju da… lack the ability to = ne biti u stanju… I was allowed to = bilo mi je dozvoljeno da…

MODALS IN THE PAST Some modal verbs have past forms, e. g. can – could. For those modals that don’t have past forms, we use other verbs and expressions with modal meaning in the past, e. g. must – had to.

Present Past Example Must/have to Had to I had to study hard before the exam. Needn’t/don’t have to Didn’t have to We didn’t have to do the test. Can Could He could speak English when he was 7. I could do what I wanted. Can’t Couldn’t We couldn’t understand it. I couldn’t watch TV after 1 p. m. when I was younger. Can/be able to Was able to I was able to talk to the Pope. Can’t Wasn’t able to Couldn’t I wasn’t able to swim across the river.

COULD AND WAS ABLE TO We use COULD for general ability, when the actual action wasn’t performed. Mike was an excellent tennis player when he was younger. He could beat anybody. We use WAS ABLE TO or MANAGED TO when we want to say that somebody did something in a specific situation. Mike and Peter played tennis yesterday. Peter played very well, but Mike managed to beat him.