modals ...

Question

What are the modals in English?

Answer 1

Modals do not exist as words in Spanish.

There 11 of them as follows:

can-could will-would shall-should may-might used to-ought to and must

This is my attempt at explaining the connections to Spanish.

Would someone please check this for me!

I can eat bread. (abillity, permission) Puedo comer pan.

I could eat bread. (past, present, future possibility) Podría comer pan.

I could have eaten bread but there was none. Podría haber comido pan pero no había ninguno.

I will eat bread if I have some. Comeré pan si tengo algunos.

I would eat bread if I were hungry. (conditional) Comería pan si tuviera hambre.

I would have eaten bread but I was not hungry. Habría comido pan pero no tenía hambre.

I shall eat bread everyday. (future promise) Comeré pan todos los días.

I should eat bread because it is good for me. Debería comer pan porque es bueno para mí.

I should have eaten bread but I did not. Debería haber comido pan pero no lo hice.

I may eat bread if you give me permission. Puedo comer pan si usted me da permiso.

I might eat bread if it is good bread. (possibility) Puede que coma pan si es bueno.

I might have eaten bread if it had been good bread. Podría haber comido pan si el pan fuera bueno.

I ought to eat bread because it is good for me. Debería comer pan porque es bueno para mí.

I used to eat bread every day. (past habit) Comía pan todos los días. (solía comer)

I must eat bread because I am very hungry. Debo comer pan porque tengo mucho hambre.

I could have eaten bread = Yo podría haber comido - Mokay, MAY 30, 2010

Gracias Mokay - ian-hill, MAY 30, 2010

Hehehe...all these subject pronouns only a day after Heidita posted her "how to get yourself cast into the dunce corner" hilo. :) - Izanoni1, MAY 30, 2010

But some of them are not obvious from the context. - ian-hill, MAY 30, 2010

Should they A L L be removed? - ian-hill, MAY 30, 2010

All subject pronouns deleted :) - ian-hill, MAY 30, 2010

Answer 2

Hi bkgambhir86 and welcome to SpanishDict,

Here is a link to a reference regarding modal auxiliaries that you might find helpful:

modal auxiliaries (see especially p. 29)

You might also find this article informative: English Modal Verb

Great link the first one Iza - ian-hill, MAY 30, 2010

Great to see it not use the term Modal auxiliary "verb" once. - ian-hill, MAY 30, 2010

Answer 3

I can eat bread. (abillity, permission) Puedo comer pan.

I could eat bread. (past, present, future possibility) Podría comer pan

.

I could have eaten bread but there was none. Podría haber comido pan pero no había --.

I will eat bread if I have some. Comeré pan si yo tengo --

(will is not a modal verb but an auxiliary in English, in Spanish it is the simple future ending.)

I would eat bread if I were hungry. (conditional) Comería pan si yo tuviera hambre.

Would is like will, not a modal verb. The tense is correct.

I would have eaten bread but I was not hungry. Habría comido pan pero yo no tenía hambre.

same as above.

I shall eat bread everyday. (future promise) Comeré pan todos los días.

Same as above.

I should eat bread because it is good for me. Debería comer pan porque es bueno para mí.

I should have eaten bread but I did not. Debería haber comido pan pero yo no lo hice.

I may eat bread if you give me permission. Puedo comer pan si usted me da permiso.

I might eat bread if it is good bread. (possibility) Podría comer el pan si era el pan bueno.

Puede que coma pan si es bueno.

I might have eaten bread if it had been good bread. Podría haber comido pan si el pan si el pan hubiera sido bueno

I ought to eat bread because it is good for me. Debería comer pan porque es bueno para mí.

I used to eat bread every day. (past habit) Comía pan todos los días. (solía comer)

I must eat bread because I am very hungry. Debo comer pan porque tengo mucha hambre.

I will not correct any text again by an oldie if it has subject pronouns! This is a promise!

I can see you noticed, Izan jeje, indeed, dunce corner right away!

Hehehe...all these subject pronouns only a day after Heidita posted her "how to get yourself cast into the dunce corner" hilo. - Izanoni1 47 mins

Sorry Heidita "will" is a modal - what else can it be? - ian-hill, MAY 30, 2010

Sorry again "would" is also a modal - ian-hill, MAY 30, 2010

Shall is also a modal - ian-hill, MAY 30, 2010

Thanks for the corrections. - ian-hill, MAY 30, 2010

of course they are, now what a mistake! I was thinking that a verb which actually made a different tense was different from for example: can, may, ought to....which are taught in Spain as modals. the wil, shall, would, which introduce tenses, are taught a - 00494d19, MAY 30, 2010

as auxiliaries, interesting, jeje, I never even questioned that. Made perfect tense to me. - 00494d19, MAY 30, 2010

Answer 4

Deber = must

Example: Tu debes estudiar. You must study.

Poder=can Example: ¿Puedes bajar un momento? Can you come down for a moment?

querer=want poder =can