Corpus Activity: Modal Verbs Scavenger Hunt

Instructions:
1. Sign into the Corpus of Contemporary American English (corpus.byu.edu.edu/coca).
2. Search for examples of each word or group of words in the far left column.
3. Put your examples in the correct square according to the functions listed in the top row (you might not
fill in every box, but that is ok).
4. If you find any examples that do not fit on this chart, can you think of another category to put them in?
5. Can you make any conclusions about what the different modal verbs on this worksheet are used for
and/or not used for? Discuss your findings with your partner and share them with the class.
6. Post your completed chart in the dropbox on ANGEL.
7. Print your chart or email it to yourself. For homework, write down your own examples for each box
that you filled in.
Request
Should

Would/
would
like to

Could

May

Might

Prediction

Permission

Possibility

Necessity

Must

Can

Need(s)
to/
needed
to
Have
to/ has
to/ had
to