Samacheer Kalvi 10th English Grammar Modals

Samacheer Kalvi 10th English Grammar Modals

Tamilnadu Samacheer Kalvi 10th English Grammar Modals

General Characteristics Of Modals
1. Modals are never used alone. A Principal verb is either present or implied;
as—
I can sing. He will help you.

2. Modals do not change according to the number or person of the subject;
as—
I can. We can. You can. He can. They can. etc.
I may. We may. You may. He may. They may. etc.

3. Modals have no Infinitive, Present Participle or Past Participle forms.
4. Modals cannot be used in all the tenses. When a modal does not fall in this pattern, it works as a Principal Verb;
as—
God willed so.
Heiny needs a pen.
Malathi dared to go into the dark forest.
(Here will, need and dare are used as main verbs)

Relationship of Modals with Tenses
(i) May, can, shall and will are in present forms while might, could, should and would are their past forms.
The two forms express different meanings, but usually no difference of time, e.g. the difference between may and might is often that of degree of probability,

as—
Sheela may come today. (possibility/likely to happen)
Sandra might come today. (remote possibility/less likely)

(ii) However, if the verb in the main clause is in the past tense, the forms might, could, should and would serve as regular past tenses;

as—

1. He said, “I can help you.”
   He said that he could help her.
2. You said, “She will come back soon.”
   You said that she would come back soon.
3. Sheetal said, “May I use this pen, madam?”
   Sheetal asked her teacher if she might use that pen.

(iii) When we want to express the past time in verb phrases involving modals, we use the Present Perfect Tense of the Principal Verb;
as-
Senthil must have reached home by now.
You ought to have told me all the facts.

Quasi / Semi Modals
Quasi modals are also called semi-modals. There are four quasi modals: ‘used to’, ‘need to’, ‘dare to’ and ‘ought to’.

Fill in the blanks choosing the correct modal given within the brackets to suit the sentence.
1. They ……………………….. (can/might) be away for the weekend but I’m not sure.
2. You ……………………….. (may/might) leave now if you want to.
3. ……………………….. (Could/Might) you open the door a bit, please?
4. He ……………………….. (can/could) be a Bengali, judging by his accent.
5 ……………………….. (May/Can) you play the violin?
6. Listen, carefully, you (may not/might not) ……………………….. speak during this exam.
7. They ……………………….. (can’t/may not) still be out!
8. You ……………………….. (mustn’t/might not) smoke on the bus.
9. With luck, tomorrow ……………………….. (can/could) be a rainy day.
10. You (can/might) ……………………….. be right but I’m going back to check anyway.
11. I don’t know Hindi and so I ……………………….. (must/should) learn before I go to Delhi.
12. ……………………….. you stand upside down for a minute? No, I (can’t/could)
13. You ……………………….. leave small objects lying around. Children swallow it by mistake, (shouldn’t /may)
14. This is a public place. You ……………………….. (must/should) not smoke.
15. ……………………….. (May/Can) I ask a question?
16. He had been toiling for the past fifteen hours. He ……………………….. (must/should) be exhausted.
17. Drivers ……………………….. (must/should) stop the vehicle when they see the red signal.
18. According to the weather forecast, it ……………………….. (will/may) rain tomorrow.
19. Please try to reach the venue before me. I ……………………….. (will/may) be late.
20 ……………………….. (Could/Would) you mind lifting this box for me?
21. Anyone ……………………….. (can/could) come for a trial but it was up to Sir to decide who to accept.
22. Ajit was called aside and suggested that he ……………………….. (must/should) bring me back when I was a little older.
23. My induction into the Mumbai cricket circuit ……………………….. (could/may) have ended in failure.
24. I was delighted and I ……………………….. (must/should) say it was an opportunity that transformed my life.
25. The schedule was rigorous and Sachin ……………………….. (must/would) be exhausted by the end of the day.
26. I am sure that Zigzag ……………………….. (must/should) be Uncle Somu’s pet snake.
27. Some ……………………….. (might/can) be your best friend, but most of them were absolute nuisances!
28. You ……………………….. (may/can’t) deny that it was a great hit with everyone.
29. ……………………….. (Can/May) I take Zigzag to school, Papa?
30. He ……………………….. (can/could) even recite French Poetry!
Answer:
1. might 2. may 3. Could 4. could 5. Can 6. may not 7. can’t 8. mustn’t 9. could 10. might
11. must 12. Could/can’t 13. shouldn’t/may 14. must 15. May 16. must 17. should 18. will 19. may 20. Would
21. could 22. should 23. could 24. must 25. would 26. must 27. might 28. can’t 29. May. 30. can