INICIO. Página Principal
PRESENTACIÓN de nuestra Web
Cursos Multimedia por Niveles
Gramática inglesa en español con ejercicios prácticos resueltos.
LISTENING. Sonidos con ejercicios prácticos, soluciones y texto de transcripción.
LIBROS completos en inglés para descargar a tu PC.
Practica tu READING con textos traducidos y ejercicios de comprensión lectora.
PROGRAMAS didácticos y utilidades educacionales para descargar a tu Pc.
EJERCICIOS multimedia para mejorar tu inglés.
Ejercita tus conocimientos siguiendo las aventuras de nuestro detective.
RECURSOS Y ACTIVIDADES de interés y utilidad.
Agrupaciones temáticas de palabras y su traducción. Con sonido y ejercicios
Información y Recursos específicos para profesores.
Material para la preparación de las pruebas de First de la Universidad de Cambridge.
PELÍCULAS EN INGLÉS
Vídeos para aprender inglés

Cuaderno de ejercicios 

de inglés. Actividades y material de aprendizaje.
Accede a nuestro grupo 

en Facebook
Busca el significado de los términos y su 

traducción.
Traduce textos o páginas web completas.
Consulta nuestros productos




 
Modals 
 

Gramática Inglesa GratisSugerencias:
- Escucha el audio sin consultar el texto. Escucha después nuevamente el audio (utiliza el "control de audio" o bien el icono "altavoz") leyendo el texto y fijándote especialmente en aquéllas palabras o expresiones que no hayas comprendido.
- Puedes descargar el Audio (a través del icono "altavoz"
Haz click para escuchar). Utiliza el botón derecho del ratón y "guardar enlace" para descargar el fichero a tu PC, tablet, Smartphone, etc.
- Aprovecha tus momentos libres (desplazamientos, ocio, etc.) para escuchar los audios.
- Puedes también descargar el Texto (copia el texto a Word, bloc de notas, etc., y guárdalo en tu dispositivo para consultarlo offline cuando quieras).

Haz click para escuchar Escucha el audio
(escucha el audio más de una vez para familiarizarte con los términos que se introducen y explican)

Consulta el diccionario onlineThis week we are going to show you how to give advice using modal verbs. Modal verbs (called modals for short) are auxiliary verbs that express a speaker's attitude and the strength of that attitude.

For example, "He should visit Prague."

In this sentence, should is the modal verb, and visit is the main verb.

The simple form of a verb goes after a modal. Do not add the third person "s" to a verb after a modal. It would sound strange to say, "He should visits Prague" or, "He should to visit Prague." The correct way is, "He should visit Prague."

There are about 17 modals in English — grammar experts do not agree on an exact number. Today we will focus on three common modals used for giving advice: should, ought to, and had better.


Using should

Let's start with should. Should has multiple meanings. It can be used to express certainty, such as, "He should be here by 5 o'clock." Should can be a substitute for the conditional word if. You might hear someone say, "Should you need help, just ask me."

But more often, we use should to give suggestions and friendly advice, such as, "You should apply for that job," or "You should try that new restaurant."

The past form of the modal should is should have + the past participle. For example, "I should have brought my wallet." Notice that the main verb brought is in the past participle form.

Use should have to express regret, or a negative feeling about the past. Imagine you trusted someone and that person later cheated on you. You could say, "I should have known better than to trust him." The Beatles used the expression in a popular song.

I should have known better with a girl like you
That I would love everything that you do
And I do
Hey hey hey

Using ought to

The next modal we will talk about is ought to. Ought to is another modal for giving advice. Sometimes ought to sounds more like "otta" as in this romantic song by Al Green.

Sit back down and talk to me
About how you want to be
You ought to be with me
Yeah you ought to be with me

Ought to is similar in meaning to should, but it is not used as often. In modern American English, ought to is seldom used with the past tense or in the question form.

Using had better

Let's move on to had better. Had better is stronger than should and ought to. Had better carries an indirect threat.

For example, if you said, "You had better finish the report," you are not making a polite suggestion. You are making an indirect threat.

In other words, if you don't finish the report, you are in trouble. Authority figures sometimes use had better when speaking to people below them. Parents also use this form often.

Listen to cartoon character Malory Archer. Malory is the head of a spy agency. People think she is arrogant and heartless. Listen to her tone when she uses had better.Curso de inglés en audio

Oh for — I'll send up some help.
And Missy, you had better watch it!

As you can hear, Malory is not making a polite suggestion. She is threatening someone in a lower position.

Had better is not always impolite, it could express a sense of urgency as in, "Your plane is leaving! You had better run!" In other words, "If you don't run, you will miss your flight." Had better has no past tense or question form.

Modals in rapid speech

Should, ought to, and had better can be difficult for English learners to hear. Native speakers often shorten these words in casual conversation. In rapid speech, modals seem to disappear because they are shortened and often fall on unstressed syllables.

We will read some examples for you. The first sentence will be in slow, careful speech. Then we will read it again in rapid, informal speech.

I should have been listening to what she had to say.
I shoulda been listenin' ta what she had t' say.

You ought to be ashamed of yourself.
You otta be ashamed of yourself.

You had better decide what you want to do.
You'd better decide whatcha wanna do.

TAMBIÉN TE PUEDE INTERESAR:

Cuaderno de inglés¿Quieres recibir en tu e-mail gratis y periódicamente ejercicios, programas gratuitos, explicaciones y otros recursos para mantener tu inglés sin esfuerzo? Apúntate a nuestro cuaderno quincenal de inglés.

La Mansión del Inglés. https://www.mansioningles.com
© Copyright La Mansión del Inglés C.B. - Todos los Derechos Reservados
. -