English exercises / A2 / Verbs & tensescan, must, should, have to: obligation, advice and deduction.
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Must vs have to
Must is obligation you impose on yourself; have to is obligation imposed from outside. The difference matters far more in the negative: mustn’t means it is forbidden, while don’t have to means it is optional. Those are opposites, not variants.
Read the full explanationCan vs could vs be able to
Can covers present ability, could covers general past ability, and be able to fills every gap the two modals cannot reach: the future, the perfect, and any position after another modal. For a single successful effort in the past, English prefers was able to or managed to.
Read the full explanationModal verbs: worked examples
Five from the set, with the answer filled in and the rule that decides it.
- 01
She grew up in Rome, so she can speak Italian perfectly.
Modals take the bare infinitive and never add -s: she can speak.
- 02
When he was six years old, he could already play the piano.
'could' is the past of 'can' for a general ability.
- 03
In a few months you will be able to hold a whole conversation in English.
'can' has no future form, so we use 'will be able to'.
- 04
The music was so loud that we couldn't hear each other.
- 05
Excuse me, may I come in?
'May I ...?' is the formal way to ask for permission.