What are modal verbs?

Modals (also called modal verbs, modal auxiliary verbs, modal auxiliaries) are special verbs which behave irregularly in English. They are different from normal verbs like "work, play, visit..." They give additional information about the functionof the main verb that follows it. They have a great variety of communicative functions.
Here are some characteristics of modal verbs:

• They never change their form. You can't add "s", "ed", "ing"...
• They are always followed by an infinitive without "to" (e.i. the bare infinitive.)
• They are used to indicate modality allow speakers to express certainty, possibility, willingness, obligation, necessity, ability

List of modal verbs

Here is a list of modal verbs:

can, could, may, might, will, would, shall, should, must

The verbs or expressions dare, ought to, had better, and need not behave like modal auxiliaries to a large extent and my be added to the above list

Use of modal verbs:

Modal verbs are used to express functions such as:

1. Permission
2. Ability
3. Obligation
4. Prohibition
5. Lack of necessity
6. Advice
7. possibility
8. probability

Examples of modal verbs

Here is a list of modals with examples:

Modal Verb	Expressing	Example
must	Strong obligation	You must stop when the traffic lights turn red.
	logical conclusion / Certainty	He must be very tired. He's been working all day long.
must not	prohibition	You must not smoke in the hospital.
can	ability	I can swim.
	permission	Can I use your phone please?
	possibility	Smoking can cause cancer.
could	ability in the past	When I was younger I could run fast.
	polite permission	Excuse me, could I just say something?
	possibility	It could rain tomorrow!
may	permission	May I use your phone please?
	possibility, probability	It may rain tomorrow!
might	polite permission	Might I suggest an idea?
	possibility, probability	I might go on holiday to Australia next year.
need not	lack of necessity/absence of obligation	I need not buy tomatoes. There are plenty of tomatoes in the fridge.
should/ought to	50 % obligation	I should / ought to see a doctor. I have a terrible headache.
	advice	You should / ought to revise your lessons
	logical conclusion	He should / ought to be very tired. He's been working all day long.
had better	advice	You 'd better revise your lessons

Remember

Modal verbs are followed by an infinitive without "to", also called the bare infinitive.

Examples:

• You must stop when the traffic lights turn red.
• You should see to the doctor.
• There are a lot of tomatoes in the fridge. You need not buy any.

Sports Collocations

hold / organise

a race / competition / tournament / a championship / an event



go

jogging / sailing / swimming / surfing / windsurfing / skiing / cycling



do

sports/karate/kung-fu/any martial arts



play

basketball / football / baseball



take part

in a competition



do

adventure racing is a sport you ____ in teams



going

anyway, it's not just like ______ jogging or running or something like that



organised

the races are all ________ in all sorts of different places



held

the majority are ______in mountains or deserts



taking part - competing

Many people who are at the top of their sport in other fields are now ___________ because they find that, rather than_________ as individuals, ....they need to work as a team



organise/hold - compete

I think local governments should ________ competitions for schools in their area where any student over 15 can __________



go - taking/doing

I would encourage people to __________ swimming two or three times a week because I think it's an excellent way of _______ exercise.



play-play-go

People who enjoy team sports often __________ basketball or football, whereas people who enjoy individual sports _______ golf or ____ windsurfing

go, do and play

'Do yoga? Play yoga? Go yoga?'

We use the verbs play, do and go with sports and activities. Here is the information you need to know to use them correctly:

play

Play is used with ball sports or competitive games where we play against another person:
'How often do you play tennis?' - tennis is a ball sport.'I play poker with my friends on Friday night.' - poker is a competitive game. We play to win.'I don't like playing computer games.' - again, computer games are competitive so we use play.

do

Do is used for a recreational activity or a non-team sport that does not use a ball:
'I heard that you do karate.' - karate is a non-team activity.'I do crossword puzzles in my free time.' - crossword puzzles are not competitive.

go

Go is used with activities that end -ing. We go somewhere to do something:
'I'm going fishing on Sunday.'
'Are you going skiing this winter?'
'She said she was going swimming.'

Now try the interactive online exercise to see if you understand. Click on the link below.

http://www.ecenglish.com/learnenglish/lessons/how-use-play-do-and-go/

Grammar (So and Such)

Try this online interactive exercise to practise your understanding of these two difficult words

Click on the link below to start

http://www.autoenglish.org/generalgrammar/gr.such.i.htm

Phrasal Verbs

Here's where you can practise using phrasal verbs.

Click on the link below to go to the web-link and answer the questions in this online exercise by choosing from the drop-down menu.

http://www.english-grammar.at/online_exercises/phrasal_verbs/pv006-phrasal-verbs.htm

You can also try these two interactive exercises by choosing the phrasal verbs from the box to complete the sentences.

http://www.english-grammar.at/online_exercises/phrasal_verbs/phrasal_verbs2.htm

http://www.english-grammar.at/online_exercises/phrasal_verbs/phrasal_verbs1.htm

Sentence Structure

Simple sentences:
A simple sentence has only one clause:


The children were laughing.
John wanted a new bicycle.
All the girls are learning English.

Compound sentences:

A compound sentence has two or more clauses:

(We stayed behind) and (finished the job)
(We stayed behind) and (finished the job), then (we went home)

The clauses in a compound sentence are joined by co-ordinating conjunctions:

John shouted and everybody waved.
We looked everywhere but we couldn’t find him.
They are coming by car so they should be here soon.

The common coordinating conjunctions are:

and – but – or – nor – so – then – yet

Complex sentences:

A complex sentence has a main clause and one or more adverbial clauses. Adverbial clauses usually come after the main clause:

Her father died when she was very young
>>>
Her father died (main clause)
when (subordinating conjunction)
she was very young (adverbial clause)

She had a difficult childhood because her father died when she was very young.
>>>
She had a difficult childhood (main clause)
because (subordinating conjunction)
her father died (adverbial clause)
when (subordinating conjunction)
she was very young (adverbial clause).

Some subordinate clauses can come in front of the main clause:

Although a few snakes are dangerous most of them are quite harmless
>>>
Although (subordinating conjunction)
some snakes are dangerous (adverbial clause)
most of them are harmless (main clause).

A sentence can contain both subordinate and coordinate clauses:

Although she has always lived in France, she speaks fluent English because her mother was American and her father was Nigerian
>>>
Although (subordinating conjunction)
she has always lived in France (adverbial clause),
she speaks fluent English (main clause)
because (subordinating conjunction)
her mother was American (adverbial clause)
and (coordinating conjunction)
her father was Nigerian (adverbial clause).

There are seven types of adverbial clauses:

	Common conjunctions
Contrast clauses	although; though; even though; while;
Reason clauses	because; since; as
Place clauses	where; wherever; everywhere
Purpose clauses	so that; so; because + want
Result clauses	so that; so … that; such … that
Time clauses	when; before; after; since; while; as; as soon as; by the time; until
Conditional clauses	if; unless; provided (that); as long as

Cambridge FCE July-September Lunch 2016

 Cambridge FCE July-September Lunch 2016

Congratulations to all the students who completed their Cambridge First course September 2016.

Well done to Leo, Pier Paolo, Vitor, Ping, Haruka, Jeongsik, Jussara, Thalita, Nathane, Alex, Mari, Manuel, Fannye, Toshihiro and Tetsuya.