Mastering English Modal Verbs and Conditional Sentences

Modal Verbs in English

Can

Can is a modal verb that expresses ability.

• I can play the guitar very well. (Yo puedo tocar la guitarra muy bien.)
• I can speak French, Spanish, and Russian like a native. (Puedo hablar francés, español y ruso como un nativo.)

Could

Could indicates possibility or ability in the past.

• I could swim long distances when I was young. (Yo podía nadar largas distancias cuando era joven.) (Past ability)
• It could have been worse. (Pudo haber sido peor.) (Possibility)

May

May indicates permission or possibility.

• It is cloudy; it may rain later. (Está nublado, puede llover.) (Possibility)
• May I come later? (¿Puedo venir más tarde?) (Permission)

Might

Might expresses remote possibility.

Should

Should expresses moral obligation and sometimes advice.

Must

Must is also a modal verb. It indicates an obligation, prohibition, or necessity. In some cases, it can indicate probability.

• You must read this book; it's fantastic. (Tienes que leer este libro, es fantástico.)
• You must brush your teeth twice a day. (Tienes que cepillarte los dientes dos veces al día.)
• Peter is not here. He must be sick because he is never absent. (Pedro no está aquí. Debe estar enfermo porque nunca está ausente.) (Probability)

Would

Would is used to state a preference and to ask for something very formally.

Conditional Sentences

First Conditional

It is used to express a condition that is very likely to be fulfilled.

• Syntax: [If + present simple + ..., + future (will)]
• Example: If you study, you will pass the exam. / Si estudias, aprobarás el examen.

Second Conditional

It is used to express the desire to achieve something unlikely or conditions that are difficult to meet.

• Syntax: [If + past simple + ..., + conditional simple (would)]
• Example:

Third Conditional

It is used to express a condition that cannot be fulfilled since it refers to something in the past that is no longer possible to do.

• Syntax: [If + past perfect + ..., + conditional perfect (would have)]
• Example: If I had gone to the beach, I would have seen my friends. / Si yo hubiera ido a la playa, habría visto a mis amigos.

Passive Voice

Why do we use the passive voice? Mainly to highlight the action and not the subject of it. What matters here is the action being performed, not who performs it.

There are two types of passive voice in English. We'll start with the direct object passive. It is one that has a direct object, and this becomes the subject of the action.

For example, if we say Ana buys a book, in the passive voice, "a book," which is the direct object of the sentence, would become the subject, and the sentence would be: A book is bought by Ana.

The other type of passive is the indirect object passive. As its name indicates, what is highlighted here is the indirect object.

For example: I offer John a job. "John" is the indirect object, and in the passive sentence, it becomes the subject: John is offered a job.

The structure of the passive voice in English is very simple. The first thing is the subject, and to this, you must add the auxiliary to be in the tense of the active voice. That is, if the active voice is in the past simple, the verb to be will be in the past simple (was/were). After the auxiliary to be, the past participle of the verb is added.

Following the structure mentioned above, a passive sentence in English would be:

The letter is written by Ana.

The active form of this sentence would be: Ana writes the letter.