It’s Halloween Time!

(It’s also time to practice the tenses and more, many, a lot of etc. Scary, isn’t it?)

Before we start talking about Halloween, let’s remember a few things about quantities and
how to express them. Read the sentence below, find the mistakes and correct them. There are ___
mistakes. Write the correct words at the end of the sentence.
Sam has much apples than Jim. _______ Jim’s father has bought Jim so much toys that now
Jim doesn’t like toys too more. ________, ______________ Jacky doesn’t have too many sugars.
_______, ________ Alfred and Klein have drunk much bottles of water today. ________ Brian
gave Gina last week a lots of breads. ____________, ________.

I know, that was too easy, but it was just the warm up. Match the sentences in the left
column to the ones in the right column by writing the correct number. Be careful; it can be
tricky (but not trick-or-treaty)

1. I have a little money on me, so…
2. I have little money on me, so…
3. Jack has few bottles of coke left, so…
4. Jack has a few bottles of coke left, so…
5. Jim has a lot of toys, so…
6. Vernon has lots and lots of toys, so…
7. Jack hasn’t finished his homework, so he…
8. Greg is so fast, so, to finish his homework, he…
___ … we can have one more party!
___ … maybe we have to buy more.
___ … he has more toys than Jim.
___ … he can play without getting bored.
___ … I can lend you some.
___ … needs a little time to finish it.
___ … I can’t lend you any.
___ … needs little time to finish it.

So, you think that you got it? Have more, then. Choose the correct variant.

a. They live in a very small flat because they don’t have too ________ (many, much, little, a little)
money.
b. Jack doesn’t have an expensive car because he makes _____ (a little, a few, little, few) money.
c. I want to see Jimmy. I really have ________ (a few, few, a little, much) questions to ask him.
d. Can I have ___________ (a few, a little, little, a lot of) more of this wine, please?
e. They say that he is not such a good person because he has very ________ (little, few, many, more)
friends.
f. Your play was a success! I’ve heard quite ________ (a few, a lot, few, a little) people say they
liked it.
g. Sam feels ________ (a little, little, more, a lot of) better now, but he still has to stay in bed a
couple of days, whereas Johnny feels _________ (more, a lot, lots of, a lot of) better, so he can get
out of his bed and walk around the room.
h. The room was looking ________ (lots of, a lot of, much, little) better than before: there were
_________ (few, a few, little, much) flowers in a vase and not _________ (to much, too little, two
more, too much) dust on the furniture.
g. We have too ________ (few, little, a little, a few) sugar in our house. Go ask Gina to give you
_________ (a little, little, more, many) sugar because I know that she has ________ (few, little, a
little, a few) packs of sugar left from the last party when she baked ____________ ( lots of, a lot,
much, more) cookies.

Tired of little, a little, few, a few, lots of, many, much and more? Me too, but I can’t resist
the temptation to ask you to make one sentence for every word mentioned above. You know, little, a
little, few, a few, lots of, many, much and more. You can write them here: _____________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

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________________________________________________________________________________
______

WE GRAMMAR

Exercise 1. Use many, much, more, little, a little, few, a few, a lot of to fill in
the blanks.
Gina has ______ apples than Jim. Jim has only _______ sugar left, so he
cannot make too _______ jam, and he cannot make too ______ cookies,
either. Sam could lend Jim ______ sugar, because he has _______ it, but he
doesn’t want to. Sam also has __________ apples, too, so he can make
_______ apple jam. Last year he made _______ apple jam than anybody else,
but he made only ______ apple juice, so he finished it very quickly. Virginia made quite _________
bottles of juice last year, so she her brother ________ of them, but she didn’t give Sam any.

Exercise 2. Samantha has been learning English for one year, but she still makes a lot of
mistakes. Find all her mistakes and write the correct words at the end of the line. There are
____ mistakes. Be careful: there may be two mistakes in one sentence!
“My sister is more faster then I am. _________________ Brian is the goodest in his class. _______
___________My cousin has the more beautifulest doll in the world. _______________________
My uncle can run so fastly! ___________________ Jimmy is worst child that I know, and I think
that he is worst than Bobby! ______________________ Gina lives further than Mike, but Sam lives
the furthest. ____________________ We are better then other people. ___________________ My
neighbors have the uglyest dog than I have ever seen! ___________________ She is the more
beautiful girl in the world. ____________________ My brother has the must interesting magazine
about cars. _____________________ Hanna bought an expensiver dress. ___________________
George makes sweeter cakes Jack. ___________________

Exercise 3. Write the plural of the nouns below. If the noun doesn’t have a plural form, draw
an X.
Cat ____________ person _____________ sheep _____________ city ______________
Goose __________ deer ______________ sugar _____________ woman ___________
Cherry _________ boy ______________ piano _____________ potato ____________
Toy ____________ banjo _____________ milk _____________ deer _____________
Man ____________ child ______________ watch ____________ tooth ____________
Jam ____________ ox ______________ box _____________ fish _____________
Mouse __________ brush _____________ homework ________ advice ___________
Church __________ bread _____________ pepper __________ beautiful _____________
Knowledge ______________ furniture ________________ advice ______________
Information ______________ phenomenon ______________ curriculum ______________
Activity ______________ stomach ______________ avocado _______________

Exercise 4. Use the words given to make sentences in the appropriate tense and write them in
your notebook. See the model.
Model: Sam – to eat – not – yesterday. Sam didn’t eat yesterday.
1) Jim – to fly – never in his life. 2) Mike – to do homework – no. 3) Abigail – to study for exam –
since morning. 4) Amelia – to sleep – when I called her. 5) Ann – to know – not – anybody in this
town. 6) Bill – to know many people / because he – to live in this town – for ten years. 7) Bobby –
to write letters – for three days. 8) Bobby – to write five letters – in the last three days. 9) Brian – to
buy a book – two days ago. 10) Brice – to buy a book – not – since 2009.

Exercise 5. Use the verbs below to make sentences in Present Simple, present Continuous, Past
Simple, Past Continuous. Present Perfect Simple, Present Perfect Continuous, Past Perfect Simple,
Past Perfect Continuous, Future Simple, Future Continuous, “To be going to”- Future (in this order)

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affirmative, then turn them into interrogative and negative sentences: to build, to play tennis, to
drive, to do homework, to sleep, to steal, to throw, to wear, to write, to see.
Many, Much and Little

Many – more (than) – the most (of) E.g. I have more apples than Gina, Jack and their
friends, but Jim has the most apples of all because his father has his own orchard.
Much – more (than) – the most (of) E.g. I have more sugar than Jim, Kim and their
friends, but Gina has the most sugar of all because her father has a sugar factory!

What two IMPORTANT things did you have notice? a) Gina is in both sentences; b) much
and more have the same forms; c) many is for countable nouns and much is for uncountable nouns;
d) sugar an apples don’t start with the same letter.

Little – less (than) – the least (of) E.g. I have little money, Gina and her friends have less
money than me because they spent some on make-up, and George has the least money of us all
because nobody has ever given him any money!

What are these three words and their forms good for?
1. To express quantity, for both countable and uncountable nouns; the forms of many and more
talk about a bigger quantity and the forms of little talk about a smaller quantity.
E.g. Maybe you have more pencils than me, because your family has a factory of pencils, but you
have less apples than me because… well… you don’t like apples! Anyway, I have the most pencils
in all the school, and you have the least apples of all.
2. To help the long adjective form their comparison degrees. Look at the adjective beautiful
and watch it trying to form the degrees like a short adjective:

I am the beautifulest of all. I am beautifuler than everybody… Argh, I sound more

stupider than my dog! I need a confortabler chair to sit!
Yes, indeed, it sounds pretty bad. As a matter of fact, it sounds worse than many things. It
might be the worst thing that you have ever heard. But the best thing is that we can fix this. It is
better to say “more beautiful” than “beautifuler”. Actually, “more beautiful” is the only way to say
it.
Let’s put these in a nutshell:
1) If Gina has 10 apples, Sam has 6 and Bobby has 3, then Sam has fewer apples than Gina
and Bobby has the fewest apples of all, or Sam has more apples than Bobby and Gina has the most
apples of all.
2) If Gina has a 100% interesting book, Sam has a 80% interesting book and Bobby has a
60% interesting book, then Sam’s book is more interesting than Bobby’s, but Gina’s book is the
most interesting of all, or Sam has a less interesting book than Gina and Bobby has the least
interesting book of all. Poor Bobby!

Task 1. Compare using the numbers (use both more, the most and less, the least)
1. Sam-12 chairs; Vicky-10 chairs; Jim-18 chairs _________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
_
________________________________________________________________________________
_
2. Adam-2 kg of sugar; Bill-3 kg of sugar; Carl-2.5 kg of sugar ______________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
__
3. Comfortable degrees: blue sofa 78%, red sofa 67%, green sofa 59% ________________________

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________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
__
4. Amusing stories: Jim’s 90%, Jack’s 98%, Jane 100% ____________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
__

Exercises – not boring at all!

Exercise 1. Close your notebooks, put on your jackets and go home. Yeah, you
wish! Stay here and use these words to fill in the blanks: little, a little, less, the least; few,
a few, fewer, the fewest.
a) I have _____________ water, not enough for both of us, but I have __________ bottles of
coke, so I can share them with you. b) Even if I eat ________________ pizza of all my
friends, I can make the best one! c) ____________ than 7 people came to the party, but they
brought quite ______________ bottles of coke, so we all got sick from drinking too much
sugar, water and artificial flavour… d) Only ______________ people know that “less” can
be used with numbers (as in “less than 7 people”), but when the number is not mentioned,
“fewer” must be used: “Compared to last year, this year came _____________ people.” e) I
have ____________________ bananas of all my friends, because I have a monkey at home!
f) If you have _________________ jam, you can’t spread it on too many slices of bread, can
you? g) I drove _________________ cars in my life, yes sir, and I can say that
____________________ comfortable of all is the Trabant. h) …In conclusion, we use
________________ when we don’t have enough apples, _________________ when we
everybody else has more sugar than me and I compare myself with them,
_________________ when I have enough apples, but not very many, __________________
when some people have more sugar than me and I compare myself with them,
_______________ and _________________ when some people have more apples than me
and I compare myself with them. Happy, now?

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 THE MIGHTY ADJECTIVE

You are right!

Let’s remember: The Adjective

There are long, short and irregular adjectives. Take a look at the table below:

Short Long Irregular

(short, long, fast, happy etc.)
long
longer than
the longest (of)
e.g. Snake A is long.
Snake B is longer than snake
A.
Snake C is longer than A and
B, so it is the longest of all.
(interesting, beautiful etc.)
beautiful
more beautiful than
the most beautiful
e.g. My movie is beautiful,
but Jim’s movie is more
beautiful than mine. Anyway,
Vicky’s movie is the most
beautiful of all.
as … as
not as ... as / less … than
the least … of all.
(good, bad, much, more,
little, far, old)
Good – better than – the best
Bad – worse than – the worst
Much – more than – the
most
Many – more than – the most
Little – less than – the least
Far – farther than – the
farthest / further than – the
furthest
Old – older than – the oldest /
elder than – the eldest

e.g That airplane is as fast, as comfortable and as good as any other airplane in the world.
My cousin is not as tall as your cousin. We have to respect our elders.
No dog in the world can be “the ugliest dog”, especially if it belongs to somebody, but it
can be the least beautiful dog there is!
She is less noisy now than you were yesterday.

Practice time! Look at the table and then compare the given bicycles. Imaginative
bicycles. Use everything there is in the table above, including as...as, not as...as etc.
Quality / bicycle Megas Fistbike Valeybike Nowheels
Good 8 8 10 7
Expensive 7 6 6 3
Heavy 9 8 8 6
Beautiful 9 8 9 10

Task 1. Complete with the necessary comparison degree of the adjectives in parentheses.
1. I have seen many ___________________ (beautiful) countries in my life, but there is no country
__________________________ (beautiful) than Imaginarya.

5
2. Wow, look at that basketball player! I think that he is _________________ (tall) man in the world.
He is ___________________ (tall) a giraffe!
3. Okay, maybe my story is ____________________________ (interesting) your story, but Jim’s
story must be the _________________________ (interesting) story in the world because, when he
read it, even the hamster fell asleep!
4. I am a ______________ (good) player than you because you are _____________ (bad) than I am.
But, don’t worry, you are not ______________ (bad) player in the world, yet.
5. This is the _________________ (happy) dog that I have ever seen!

Task 2. Complete with the comparative degrees of few and little.

1. Jim has five apples and Jack has three apples, so Jack has _____________________ than Jim.
2. Sam has nine books and Tim has one book, so Tim has _____________________ than Sam.
3. Nick has three kilograms of sugar and Nancy has five kilograms of sugar, so Nick has _________
_____________ than Nancy.
4. Abe ate five slices of pizza and Bob ate nine slices of pizza, so Abe ate ___________________
than Bob.
5. I have ________________ sugar than I need. Would you, please, go and buy more for me?

Task 3. Compare the four children using all you know (including as…as, les… than, the
least… etc.)
Child / quality strong fast emotional happy inquisitive
Ryan 91 58 32 89 12
Bruce 45 78 32 98 99
Jasmine 45 91 78 79 99
Laura 92 37 99 84 75

Task 4. Write the comparison degrees of the adjectives in the table.

good
dirty
bad
little
more
fat
much
far

old

Task 5. Correct the mistakes. There is only one mistake in each sentence. Underline the wrong
used word and write the correct one in the blank space.
a) Mark can ride his bicycle really good. _____________ b) Sam is more crazier than Jim.
__________ c) Samantha sings more beautiful then Vicky. __________ d) My uncle owns the
older turtle in the world: 256 years old! e) We have to respect our olders. _________ f) If Gina is
better than Tina, but not as good as Mina, and Phil is less good than Will, but better than Mina, then
Phil is the best. __________ g) She must be most beautiful girl in the world! _________ h) This is
the nastyest smell I have ever felt! _________ i) That bridge is as beautiful like this bridge. ______

Task 6. Circle the mistakes and write the correct word or words. Sometimes there are more
mistakes in one sentence and sometimes there is none.
1. Stanley lives further then Hack, who has less brothers. ____________________________
2. Today she made a few money, so she is more happy. _______________________________
3. My uncle has the less black chickens off all. ______________________________________
4. The dog barked a few times and then ate the stone. _________________________________

6
5. That is the more beautiful car I have ever seen in my life! ___________________________
6. I have fewer glasses for juice then you, but less juice. _____________________________
7. Sandra is best student, and she has the more good grades. ___________________________
8. I’ve made a few dollars, we ca buy little sugar if we want to. _________________________
9. The elephants are heavyer then deers. ___________________________________________
10. Last year we ate less apples than two ears ago. ___________________________________
11. This year I have got fewer good grades than last year, and the least happy about it is my mother.
_____________________________________________________________________
12. The more apples I eat, the fewest I have left! ____________________________________
THE… THE… (what?!)

Exercise 1. Use the… the… to form

Wait! What do we have here?
sentences.
1. If you learn more and more, you get
the + more/less/-er, the more/less/-ing better and better grades. _____________
_________________________________
and also _________________________________
2. If your food is healthier every day, you
the more, the less, the fewer + noun/pronoun become stronger and stronger. ________
_________________________________
E.g. The stronger a car is, the bigger it gets. _________________________________
The bigger a car is, the more expensive it can 3. If you have more and more friends, you
be. The more expensive it is, the more money get happier and happier. __________
you have to pay. The more money you pay for _________________________________
_________________________________
a car, the less you have for gasoline. The less
4. If she uses less and less make-up, she gets
money you have for gasoline, the fewer more and more beautiful. _________
places you visit. The less you travel, the more _________________________________
you stay home. _________________________________
Check this out, too: The cheaper, the better. _________________________________
The more, the merrier. 5. Bigger horses eat more.
______________________________________________________
6. I drink more water in hotter days. ______________________________________________
7. If they days get longer, the nights are shorter. _____________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

Exercise 2. Circle the correct short variants below or make it by yourself.

1. A) The harder you study, the higher the grades. B) The harder, the higher the grades are.
2. A) The higher, the better. B) The higher I jump, the better I feel.
3. A) The longer the days, the shorter the nights. B) The longer they are, the shorter they get. 4. A)
The more children run around and play, the noisier the place gets. _________________
___________________________________________ 5. A) The more I learn about things, the less I
know about them. ________________________________________________________

Exercise 3. Match the two fragments of sentence so as to create full sentences which make
sense. Remember: The sooner, the better. The more interesting the story, the more people will read
it. The faster the car is, the more expensive it gets.
1. The more people will come to the party,… ____ … the richer the are, of course!
2. The sooner he finishes his homework, … ____ … the more people will read it.
3. The more money people have, … ____ … the happier Bill, who turns 20, will be.
4. The strongest the wind blows, … ____ … the more dangerous it gets.
5. The faster Sam runs, … ____ … the sooner he can go outside and play.
6. The funnier the story, … ____ … the more chances he has to win the finals.

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 VICTOR MAKES MISTAKES - ADJECTIVES

Task 1. Victor does not know how to use the comparative degrees of the adjectives.
Circle his mistakes and write the correct word at the end of the sentences, if necessary.
Some of the sentences might be correct, but do not count on that!
a. I am Victor and I am the more popular boy in my school. _____the most
popular___________
b. I am Victor and I do not think that there is anyone the more popular then me. _____anyone
more popular_______
______________
c. There are many good skateboards, but mine is the goodest. __________the best_____
d. If I want to, I can be the baddest! _________corect_______
e. I am friends with the more beautiful girl in the school. ____the most beautiful__________
f. My teacher lives far from the school, but I live further than them. ______corect________
g. They are the heaviest animals in the world. _________corect____

Task 2. Victor had to write all the comparison degrees for the adjectives below, but he
failed to do so. Do it for him, but use your notebooks. Please!
fat, strong, interesting, happy, many, little, good, bad, old, far
Model: short, shorter than, the shortest of all, as short as, less short than (not as short as);
beautiful, more beautiful than, the most beautiful of all, as beautiful as, less
beautiful than (not as beautiful as).
fat,fatter than, the fattest of all, as fat as, less fat than
strong, stronger than, the strongest of all, as strong as, less strong than
interesting, more interesting than, the most interesting of all, as interesting as, less happy
than
happy, happier than, the happiest of all, as happy as, less happy than
little, lesser than, the least of all, as little as, less little than
Bad, worse than, the worst of all, as bad as, less bad than
old,older than, the oldest of all, as old as, less old than
far, farther than, the farthest of all, as far as, less far than

VICTOR MAKES MISTAKES – ADJECTIVES AND PRONOUNS

Task 3. Pronouns and possessive adjectives are a nightmare for Victor. Correct his
nightmarish homework. Circle the wrong words and write the correct ones on the
blank spaces.
1. That is she’s house. Hers house is as beautiful as my. Of course, mine parents have the
house, but I always say that what is their, is also me. _______________________________

8
2. Jack has a skateboard, but he’s skateboard is broken. I saw he when he broke it.
_____________________strong, stronger____________
3. They have a house, and them house is beautiful. I told theirs that I like they house, but
they told my that their is not as beautiful as them parents’ house. ______________________
________________________________
4. Give we the book back, please! That is we book, not your! _________________________
5. Mine dog has a house, but it’s house is not very bog. Jill’s dogs have a house, too, and
there is a lot bigger than me dog’s house! ____________________________
(As you have already noticed, in Task 3 Victor knows the comparison degrees of the
adjectives!)

Task 4. How many mistakes did Victor make when he was talking to Helen: 5, 6 or 7?

You have to love this word: homework!

Make one sentence for each of the following words or group of words: him, their, there,
us, mine, hers, her, ours, hours, they’re, he’s, its, it’s, as good as, less heavy than, the
farthest, older than, not as dangerous as, the habit of…, vivid colors, imagination,
monstrosity, missed him by inches, science fiction novel.

THE NOUN AND FRIENDS

I. The Noun and the Article

“A”, “an”. “the” and the zero article are very good friends of the Noun. Fill in the blanks with one
of them. Of course, you do not have to fill in with the zero article. Duh!
We all know that ______ tigers do not live in Africa, but I saw ______ tiger in Pretoria,
_______ capital of _______ South Africa, at _______ Zoo. We also know that in _______ Zoo,
_______ animals do not usually have all _______ conditions that they need, but at least they have
all ________ food they need, they do not have to hunt it.
Have you ever visited ________ Netherlands? I haven’t, but I have visited _______ Italy in
_______ summer of 1997. _______ Italians are very friendly, if you do not step on their toes.
_______ cities of Italy are beautiful and _______ old buildings are part of _______ world history.
With ________ Italy, ________ more you stay there, ________ better you understand its culture. But
I think that this is ________ case for every country in _______ world. Anyway, if visiting _______
cities is _______ better than… not visiting them, living in just one city for _______ year is _______
best for you. You get to understand _______ most of _______ culture ofo _______ Italian people.
______ science always fascinated me, especially _______ science of doing nothing. Just
kidding! ________science can help you understand _______ things that you had never thought that
you could understand. For example, I know now that _______ elephants are the only animals with
four legs that cannot jump. Well, that is _______ good thing. Why? Just imagine _______ elephants
in _______ Zoos in Japan jumping at ________ same time! ______ tzunami following that would be
catastrophic. I also know that ______ gold is yellow. What? It is _______ science! I also found out,
from ________ television program, that _______ cheapest way to buy eggs is by _______ dozen.
I also like _______ Geography. I like ______ Egypt because _______ Nile has always
fascinated me. Also, _______ Pacific Ocean is one of my favourite places, but not all ________
oceans are my favourite places. I know, ________ writing is not my strong point. I also like
________ mountains. I would like to see ________ Mount Everest and ________ Rockies. After
visiting them I would like to see _______ Hague and _______ Paris. That is all.

II. The Noun and the Indefinite Adjective (some, any, no)
“Some”, “any” and “no” are used differently, according to what kind of sentence we are dealing
with. Remember: no double negation.

9
 “Do you have ____any_____ idea of what you did? You acted like ___some_____ lunatic
and you scared everybody. No, you have _____no____ excuse for what you did. I will not accept
____any____ of your excuses and I will take __some______ of the most drastic measures to make
you understand that I am not just __some______ owner of a stray dog, I am the owner of a chiwawa,
and the fact that you barked at everybody at my birthday leaves me __no______ choice but to punish
you. Two days you will not be allwed to play with ____any____ of my new neckties!”
“Excuse me, can I have _____some___ water, please? I left home ___some____ hours ago
and I have drunk __no_____ water since then. Do you have ____any___ tissue paper? ______ kind
of tissue paper will be fine, I just need to blow my nose. Yes, I have _______ kind of disease that
makes _______ doctor run away in fear when they hear what I have. No, don’t worry, there is not
_______ danger for you to catch the disease from me… unless we stay in the same room. Oh, we are
in the same room? Well, _______ luck you’ve got, huh?”
“Do you have _______ money that I can borrow from you? No? You don’t have _______
money on you? What are you, _______ kind of a poor man? Come
on, _____ man dressed like that is poor. You must have ______
change in your pocket. I bet that there are banknotes in ______ of
your pockets, no matter which one. Don’t look at me like I am
_______ kind of monster, because I am not _______ beggar, I am
the beggar. I may have _______ pride, but I have _______ of the
most expensive cars in the world. Not _______ fool can be a
succesful begger, you know?”

OTHER… STUFF

1. The Numeral

2. The Adverb

3. The Preposition (at 9, on Monday etc.)

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4. The problem of “wish”

MODAL VERBS and Friends

Activity one. Circle the true statements about the model verbs.
1. Modal verbs do not exist. They are just a myth.
2. Modal verbs do not have all the tenses.
3. Modal verbs are always followed by the “to” particle.
4. Statement No. 3 is false, false, false!
5. Modal verbs are always followed by a verb, without “to”.
6. Modal verbs need “do” and “does” to make questions.
7. Oh, my goodness, how false statement No. 6 can be!
8. “Can” in statement No. 7 is an auxiliary verb.
9. “Can” in statement No. 7 is a modal verb.
10. Modal verbs use substitutes to form tenses such as Future Simple or Perfect Tenses.

Activity two. Circle the modal verbs and match the modal substitutes with their verbs.

will would won’t could want shall shell May shoulder should

ought to may Ken can most must mighty might

substitutes: to be able to, to be allowed to, to have to, to be

capable to, to be permitted to

The Most Wanted: CAN, MAY, MUST

11
 These verbs are notorious, which means that everybody knows them. They are so
versatile, that they can work on two levels:
Level one

CAN – physical and mental ability or inability. Also, asking for permission, especially in
American English (Can I use your bathroom?) or asking for help (Can you pass the salt,
please?).
COULD (older brother of CAN) – past ability or inability. Also, asking for permission
and expressing a request (Could I use your pencil? Could you do me a favour? You could
make your bed now and then.), more polite than CAN (Could I have your phone number?).
MAY – permission (May I close this book and go out to play in traffic?).
MIGHT – permission for Indirect Speech (She said that I might go out and play…in
traffic.) and suggestion (You might tell him the truth and get that off your chest.).
MUST – obligation or prohibition (We must finish reading this book in an hour. She must
not enter the laboratory before midnight!).

Maybe not so wanted, but useful

SHALL (Yeah, old school!) – offer (Shall I open the door for you?), suggestion (Shall we
meet here around noon?) and asking what to do ( Shall I use shall, or shall I replace it with
something else, grandma?) (page 80)
SHOULD –giving advice, saying what is right (You should wake him up right now, if you
don’t want him to be late for school. He should not stay up so late.) . .
WILL (Yes, that’s right, old Will!)– instant decision (I don’t believe you, so I’ll call the
police.), offer (I will sweep the floors for you, if you like.), and promise (I will call you
back tomorrow morning.)
WOULD (past of WILL, but most of the times the more polite version of… everything)
asking for permission (Would you mind if I left early today?), request (Would you mind
taking a long walk off a short pier?), making arrangements (Would 5 o’clock be okay for
you?), invitation (Would you like to play in traffic with me?) and expressing preferences (I
would like some apple pie, please.)
OUGHT TO – saying what is right and correct (We ought to hire a professional writer to
write our presentation letter.)

Exercise 114. Circle the correct variant.

a) She can / could swim very fast when she was training for the Olympics.
b) Of course, mom will not let you play football in the house, but you may / must play
football in the backyard. may
c) Dan said that we may / might borrow his car for the weekend. He’s staying home, anyway.
d) Could / May you pass me the bread, please? might
e) Tourists may / must have a valid passport if they want to get a visa.
f) Can / Might you open the door for me, please?
g) You might / may go to your teacher and tell her that the dog ate your homework.
h) Hawks can / could fly very fast. They are amazing!
i) Could / Can you repeat that sentence, please. I did not hear it too well.
j) Go to mom and ask her if we might / may eat that piece of cake before lunch.

12
k) If that does not work, he must / might as well give up because that is his last chance.
l) Come here, quickly! You can / must see this!

Exercise 115. Fill in the blanks with can, could, may, might and must (with their
negative, too)
1. I ___________ come to the phone right now. Please, leave a massage after the beep (my
back is killing me!). And, then, leave a message, too.
2. __________ I do my homework some other time? I am really busy being lazy, right now.
3. The enemy _______________ get their hands on our slingshots. Hide them well!
4. You ___________ as well tell him to give you back your books. They are yours!
5. You know, you ____________ help me in the kitchen once in a while.
6. He ___________ train a lot harder if he wants to win the sleep-all-you-can contest.
7. Mom said that we ___________ use her lipstick to draw on walls. Here, you try first!
8. _________ you help me with this suitcase, please? Those rocks are pretty heavy.
9. “When I was young, I ___________ swim like a fish,” the dolphin said.
10. They _______________ get to school before us, so shut up and fly faster!
11. He ______________ eat an entire chicken if he wants to.
12. ___________ I give you a piece of advice? Do not listen to
anybody’s advice.
13. “Good morning, this is Lostin Space Travel Agency. How
__________ I help you?”
14. Our teacher has just let us know that we ___________ do
exercise 5 and then go back to exercise 4.
15. __________I interest you in buying a brand new used car? It has all four wheels…
16. We ___________ end this exercise right now! It is awfully long.
Exercise 116. Choose the correct variant:
a) Okay, okay, I will / should help you, but you have to stop crying!
b) We ought to / would apologize to him. After all, we were wrong and he was right.
c) Will / Shall I put your luggage in your room, ma’am?
d) Would / Will you mind if I were two hours late, today?
e) You will not / should not drive so fast… when you see the police behind you.
f) Would / Should this dress make your day brighter, Miss Darkson?
g) They shall / should visit their parents more often.
h) I do not know what their intentions are, but they will / ought to replace all the windows
that they have broken and apologize for the noise.
i) Trust me, they will / should be there.
j) Shall / Will we take a boat or should / shall we swim all the way to England?
k) I will / would like to have a glass of white wine and a piece of apple pie.
l) Would / Shall I open the bottle of wine for you, sir?

Exercise 117. Fill in the blanks with shall, should, will, would and ought to. Some
sentences can be negative and some are interrogative.
1. We __________ hurry up if we do not want to be late again.
2. Our coach worked so hard to train us, so we ____________ win this game for him.
3. ____________ I wash the car for you and then took it for a ride, dad?
4. ______________ you mind turning down the volume? I can’t hear myself think!
5. ______________ like to drive to the Grand Canyon and… just look?
6. Okay, that’s it! I ____________ call your mother and tell her that you took my chimp.
7. _________ we stop now and continue this latter? It is just a suggestion.
8. They ____________________ run in the classroom. It is dangerous.

13
9. I _____________ like to try that sweater over there, on the top shelf.
10. She ___________ do her best, do not worry about it.
11. You _____________ tell me the truth because you owe me one. Remember?
12. Let’s have lunch together. ___________ Amtoofull Restaurant be okay for you?

Exercise 118. Little Jimmy makes mistakes all the time. Correct his sentences and use
the most appropriate modal verb. Warning: there are other kinds of mistakes, too:
spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes, logic failure... Yeah, he is Jimmy. Write the
correct word on the empty line.
1. Mom! Moooom! Ken you, please, give me my toy? I dropped it in the alligator pit.____
2. You could be kidding me! Seriously?! You flew to the moon in a chicken suit?!_______
3. Look, dad: I should ride my bike with no hands… and a broken arm! ________
4. You see, you will make your own tea, now and then. It would not hurt to do it. _______
5. … And then, my teacher told me that I may go to the bathroom, but all I needed was a
washing machine and a clean pair of shorts. ________
6. Should you mind if I used your eraser to wipe that big smile off your face? ________
7. We ought to tells him the truth! He is such an honest guy.
8. Okay, I will give you back your pen if you yesterday bought me an apple. ____________
__________________________
9. Shell I go to him and say “hi!” or shell I do nothing and feel sorry for myself?
10. You know, you should continue running if that hurts you. ___________
11. Okay, I wheel clean the rom for you, but you have to help me with the essay. ________
12. I wood like to have more of this soup. It is delicious!

Level two

This is like a totally different level! Like, when you want to express
possibility, probability or certainty and you have like different degrees of
possibility, probability and certainty, then you have to choose like the right one.
Omg, listen to how I talk! Lol!

The Most Wanted – CAN, MAY, MUST (Have I already made this joke? I
am getting old!)
CAN – theoretical possibility (Rattlesnakes can be dangerous if you put your finger in their
mouths.) and strongly suggesting impossibility (He can’t have done such a stupid thing
because he is one of the smartest boys that I know!)
COULD – theoretical possibility in the past (This great grandfather of mine, who lived in
the last century, could be such a severe person, sometimes.), weak possibility in the present
(I could come over to your place and help you, but I don’t think that I will do it, though.)
MAY – medium-strong possibility in the present (I know that she likes to read a lot, so
she may be in the library.), possibility in the future (The sky is getting cloudier. It may rain
tonight.), wishing somebody pleasant things (May your dreams come true!... You’re not
having nightmares, are you?) suggesting something better or equally good (The weather is
rainy, today; we may as well go to see a movie.)
MIGHT – weak possibility in the present (That woman might be my brother’s form
teacher, I am not sure, I have never seen her.) and in the future (I might be able to help you
with your Math homework, but you have to know that I failed all my Math exams when I was
a student.) or in conditionals (He might join us if his boss gives him a day off.)

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MUST – Strong probability, certainty (That man, with a whistle around
his neck, wearing a sweat suit and running after those students must be our
new P.E. teacher!), deduction (Johnny’s airplane took off one hour ago, so
he must be 30.000 feet above the ground, by now.), urgency (I usually start
work at 9, but tomorrow I must be at the office before 8:30.) and firm
invitation (You must see my castle. We must play tennis together sometime.)

Not so wanted… you know the rest

SHOULD – uncertain prediction (Our tea should be stronger next year.)

WILL – certain prediction (With these new players, our team will be stronger next year.)

Exercise 119. Jim and Hellen are having a conversation, but Jim mixed up his lines.
Find Jim’s correct lines and write them on the empty space. Two lines are correct.
1. Hellen: “It may rain pretty heavily tonight.”
Jim: “May your wish come true!”
__________________________________________________________
2. Hellen: “Somebody jammed the printer. I guess that Mark did it again.”
Jim: “Yes, that should work. I have done that once, too.”
___________________________________________________________
3. Hellen: “The engine does not want to start and I do not know what to do.”
“Then you must come to my place and see my PS9!”
___________________________________________________________
4. Hellen: “I did not use to like video games, but now I love them.”
Jim: “I might be able to help you. I have seen an engine, once. In a movie…”
___________________________________________________________

5. Hellen: “I am trying to call Vicky, but she is not answering.”

Jim: “She may be sleeping. She said that she felt tired, earlier.”
__________________________________________________________
6. Hellen: “You can break a window with this feather, if you throw it hard enough.”
Jim: “You must be a genius!”
__________________________________________________________
7. Hellen: “I have just discovered a new chemical element. I will call it ‘Helenite’!”
Jim: “No way! It is too light.”
__________________________________________________________
8. Hellen: “I wish to go to London and talk to the Queen about the weather.”
Jim: “Yes, I think so. Look at those clouds!”
__________________________________________________________
9. Hellen: “I broke a vase! Do you think that I can fix it with some strong glue?”
Jim: “It can’t have been Mark because he hasn’t come to work today.”
__________________________________________________________
10. Hellen: “Have you heard the news? Henry wants to go to the medicine school.”
Jim: “He is very hardworking. He will be a good doctor.”
__________________________________________________________

Exercise 120. Read the sentences below and say what they express (e.g. theoretical
possibility, impossibility, medium-strong possibility in the present etc.)
1. Do not play with that grenade. It is live and it may explode. ________________________
2. That fly could land in your soup. __________________________________

15
3. He might win, but he needs a little bit of luck for that. _____________________________
4. They might be home, but nobody answers the door. _______________________________
6. You can fly, you do not like Kryptonite, so you must be Superman. __________________
5. They must have noticed that 5 comes after 6. They did not?! ________________________
7. You must taste the cookies that I made blindfolded! ______________________________
8. This may be the answer, but we still have to do a lot of research to get to the bottom of
this.__________________________ 9. No way! She must be kidding me!_______________
___________________ 10. It is snowing. We may as well wait for the snow to stop and then
go outside and have a snowball fight. ____________________________________________

Exercise 121. Match the sentences in the left with the sentences in the right.
1. Do not run in the classroom! You… … could hurt somebody.
2. Do not play with that loaded cannon! You… … should work better.
3. There are not too many clouds, now, but… … it might rain later.
4. I fixed the engine, so your car… … might be our new Principal.
5. I took an amazing photo yesterday. You… …may fall and hurt yourself.
6. I am not sure, but that man over there… …must come and see it.

Exercise 122 is Exercise 121 reloaded. Like a sequel, you know, but just as good.
7. That can’t be Jim because… … must be her brother.
8. If she is your sister, then you… … we will catch the pajama thief.
9. Butterflies are inoffensive, but… … I will not, because I am evil.
10. Batman promised to help, so… … Jim hasn’t been born, yet.
11. I could tell him the truth, but… …she may be crying.
12. I can’t see her face, but… … mosquitoes can bite you.
The Never-ending Story
- a story of the past –

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess. She was so beautiful, that the Sun
would hide behind the clouds, the moon would turn its dark side to us and the stars would
turn into black holes when she was outside for a walk. She had a little dog, named
Wasteoftime, who could talk and who would tell her stories all the time. One day, when
Wasteoftime was telling her a story, she told him:
“Oh, shut up and let’s do something useful! Let’s do some grammar, for example!”
And so, they did. They did some grammar, because grammar is the real never-
ending story!

The Story of Modal Verbs + Perfect Infinitives

or
Model verbs + have + V3
Annoying Ann

Sylvia: “I played a tennis match yesterday. I played well, but I lost.”

Ann : “Well, I would have won the match if I were you.”
Sylvia : “I did my best, but my adversary was just too strong for me.”
Ann : “I could have done a lot better than you.”
Sylvia : “But you were not there and you don’t know what happened!”
Ann : “You should have put more effort into it and you should have not made so many
mistakes.”
Sylvia: “But I did not make mistakes!”
Ann : “Oh, come one, you must have made a lot of mistakes!”
Sylvia: “No, I did not! I made a few mistakes,
16 all right, but everybody makes mistakes!”
Ann : “You are the worst pla… Put the sword down, put it down! Take it easy! Run,
everybody! Run!”
What is the correct conclusion, after reading the text?
1. Ann is a confused extraterrestrial.
2. We can speculate about the past using modal verbs followed by perfect infinitives (modal
verbs + have + V3).
3. Life is like a bunny wearing an astronaut costume on a day in July.

Indeed, we can speculate about the past, as it follows:

We feel sure that something happened The wind must have taken all these trees
(logical deduction a la Conan Doyle). down because I see no signs of explosion.
(must)
You must have been so happy when you
found out that you passed the exam.

We think that something was possible, but
we are not sure.
(might, could, may)
WARNING!“May” is for strong possibility,
while “might” and “could” are for weak
possibility.
When I backed up the car, I might have
scratched the paint, but I did not hear any
noise.
Henry is not here. He could have gone to the
cinema alone when he saw that we were not
coming. But we are only three days late…
He may have been an athlete in his youth, or
he may have just been born with huge
muscles!

When we feel sure that something did not

My umbrella is missing, but I can’t have left
happen. I repeat: did NOT! it at the office because it was raining when I
(cannot) left, and I remember taking it.
They say that John dyed the cat purple, but
he can’t have done that because his favorite
color is pink. Have you seen his hamster?
When we want to express an unreal I could have been a very good astronaut, but
situation. I preferred to become a janitor.
(could, would) If I had run faster that day, that dog would
have never had the chance to have a taste of
my blue jeans.

Exercise 123. Make two deductions after each case. One logical and one crazy. The
crazier, the funnier. Use “must + have + V3” for deductions about the past. See the
model.
Model: Little Jimmy is sitting on the sidewalk, crying. His bicycle has a broken wheel.
____He must have fallen off the bike and hurt himself. A dinosaur must have tried to steal
his bike, because he lives in a dinosaur reservation.___
1. It is midnight. Santa Clause’s bag is empty.

17
2. The car race finished just seconds ago. Marcus, one of the pilots, is crying.
3. The English teacher asks Adam to hand in his homework. Adam’s face turns red.
4. The children got out of the haunted house screaming and running.
5. Sam took the train to go to New York, but he got off the train in Las Vegas.
5. The author of this exercise wrote “5” again. He should have written “6”.
6. Dan’s car was very dirty a few hours ago, but now it is clean and shiny.
7. Tim is only 15, but he already has his driver license!

Exercise 124. Use may or might + have + V3 to express weak or strong possibility.
1. Sandy ____________________ (get) an A+ on her test. Look how happy she is!
2. I can’t find my cellphone. I _________________________ (forget) it at the office, even
though I do not remember using it while I was in.
3. Our teacher has not graded our papers, yet. He _______________________ (be) busy
doing something else.
4. The light is on, but nobody answers the door. They ______________________ (leave) the
house without turning off the light.
5. Jim is wet to the bone and not looking very happy. He ______________________ (try) to
catch fish with his bare hands. Again!
6. Sam says that I promised to lend him some money. I _____________________ (say) that,
but I do not remember when, where and why. Especially why…
7. We have been driving for three hours, but there is no sign of the city we are looking for,
and one normally gets there in one hour. We ____________ (take) a wrong turn somewhere.
8. Look! That boy is sitting on a bench, in the park, and reading. A book! He ____________
_________________ (be) born with the special power of liking reading books.

Exercise 125. Use cannot + have + V3 to express feeling sure that something did not
happen and use could / would + have + V3 to express an unreal situation.
1. The snowman ______________________ (stay) there forever if the sun had not had
something to say about it…
2. No, officer, my son ___________________ (paint) your cars purple because my son is
only 2 years old.
3. I ______________________ (wait) for you longer in that cage, but the lion started feeling
really hungry…
4. My uncle ____________________________ (become) the greatest opera singer in the
world, but he did not have voice at all, he was a little deaf and he spoke with a lisp.
5. Our team ________________________ (beat) the other team, but the weather was bad,
and we are good weather players…
6. No, King _________________________ (say) that because King is a dog!
7. If you had not scared that duck away, we ______________________ (have) a solution to
cross this river.
8. The princess _______________________ (turn) that frog into a real prince by kissing it,
but she liked frogs too much to do that.

COULD vs COULD

Activity I. Circle the correct meaning of the sentences below:

1) They could have left earlier that day, and that is why nobody answered the phone when I
called the office. A. They were allowed to leave earlier. B. They probably left earlier that
day, but maybe something else happened. C. They certainly left earlier that day.

18
2) They could have made you believe that they were extraterrestrials, but they did not want
to do that. A. They are extraterrestrials and eat stones in their free time. B. They possibly
made you believe that they were extraterrestrials. C. They had the necessary means to make
you believe that they were extraterrestrials, but they did not use them for some reason.

Activity II. Choose the correct conclusion after doing Activity I.

1. Sometimes “could” means having the ability do something and sometimes it means being
possible, but the possibility is weak.
2. Modal verbs are mean and they want to scare everybody.
3. Nobody likes traffic lights when they are red.
4. You will surely have an exercise to do after Activity II.

Exercise 126, after Activity II. Establish which sentences mean “had the ability to do”
and “weak possibility” and write your verdict on the empty line.
1. The thief could have escaped through this window, but, if it is true, he must have been a
tiny thief, because the window is narrow. _________________________________________
2. That bull could have hit you and injure you seriously. Be more careful! _______________
_______________________
3. I could have lied to him, it is easy for me to lie, but I felt sorry for him and I told him the
truth: he had just gotten fired. _______________________________________________
4. There was nobody home. They could have gone shopping, even though it was late at night.
___________________________________
5. I could have won the match, but I felt sorry for him, losing all the time, so I let him win.
___________________________________
6. The child could have stayed home, as the doctor advised, but he went to school anyway
because he did not want to miss the Math test. ________________
7. The train was late and some of us thought that it could have been trapped in snow and I
still do not know why the other Africans started laughing when we told them what we
believed that it had happened. ______________________________
8. The wind could have broken the wires if it hadn’t been for Superman to protect them.
____________________________________
9. I could have told everybody the truth, but it was so funny to see them going into that room
and then storming out screaming: “Lion! Lion!” ___________________________________
10. This ship could have sunk during a powerful storm, some hundreds years ago, but it is
difficult to prove it. _________________________________

Shhhh! Shhh! Shh! Sh! Should have + V3. (Yes!)

Choose the correct answer to this question: What does “should + have + V3” express?
1. A piece of advice more useless than a boat in the desert.
2. A way of telling somebody how wrong their decisions were and how smart your decision
would have been if you had been them.
3. A way of not helping anybody and, at the same time, a way of twisting the knife in the
wound.

Exercise 127. All three answers above are correct, so be annoying and tell Jenny what
she should have done. Let her know that she is not good at doing things. Give her
advice that is too late. Come on, be mean and do it! See the mean model and give three
replies for every situation.

19
The mean model: Jenny: “I ran after the bus and I sprained my ankle.” Annoying you: “You
should have not run after the bus. You should have reached the train station earlier. You
should have left home earlier.”
1. “I drove too fast and I got fined for speeding.”
2. “I cheated on a test, got caught and suspended three days from school.”
3. “I did not do my homework and now I have to do after-school detention.”
4. “I did not feed my dog on time and it ate my homework.”
5. “I went to a sci-fi congress and got abducted by extraterrestrials.”
6. “I ate too many apples and now leaves started growing out of my ears.”
7. “I went hunting and got bitten by a deer because I forgot my hunting firearm at home.”
8. “I tried to steal my grandmother’s honey jars, but she saw me and kicked me out of the
house.”
9. “I tried to jump over a fence, but I did not jump high enough and I just slammed into it.”
10. “I asked Jerry to help me carry a heavy bag, but he refused to do it, so I carried it by
myself and now I have sore muscles.”

Exercise 128. State the obvious and then give other pieces of advice! If Kim says “I
broke my bicycle”, you tell him “You should not have broken your bicycle!” Great
advice, right? Give as many pieces of advice as you can.
1. I sneezed and made a tree fall down to the ground.
2. Dan fell off his bike and almost flattened a penguin.
3. My brothers tried to climb a tree and the tree threw them away.
4. Jim got a tablet computer on his birthday and he broke it the next day when he tried to
play ping pong with it (not on it, but with it!)
5. I baked my first cake, I gave a piece to my cat, and now I am taking the cat to the vet.
6. My friend’s great-grandfather went to a karate tournament last week and he was defeated
by a little girl.
7. I told my mother the truth and she punished me.
8. I took my father’s camera without asking for permission and then I tried to take a picture
of a dolphin, under the water, but I broke it.
9. Janice went to the Ocean with her friends and tried to catch a shark, but swam too far and
got to Australia.
10. I tried to get to China by digging a hole through the planet, so I took my father’s shovel
and I started digging, but I broke the shovel and I stopped.

The Three Musketeers:

could have, would have and should have.

Exercise 129. Fill in the blanks with one of them, using the third form of the verb in
parentheses. (And do not tell me that the three musketeers were, in fact, four. You were not
there to know better!)
1. The boat _______________________ (sink), but Chuck Norris did not let this happen.
2. They ______________________ (not go) there without the guide. Now, they are lost.
3. Sam ______________________ (be) the one who died the cat purple, but I doubt it.
4. ________ you __________________ (help) me if I had given you my hamster?
5. I ___________________________ (not tell) mom that you hid your food under the fridge
if you had helped me hide my food in our sister’s pencil box.
6. John _________________________ (open) his umbrella when it started raining and not
when it stopped raining!
7. Jeremy __________________________ (arrive) on time, but he meant to be late.

20
8. Samantha __________________________ (finish) her homework before going out, and
not after.
9. I ________________________ (read) that book, but I could not read when I was three!
10. She __________________________ (call) me on the phone, but I have no missed calls.

Exercise 130. Match the sentences in the left with the ones in the right.
1. I am going to tell Kenny that he is a. He should have walked instead of
the biggest liar in the world. ___ running.
2. I will sell my bicycle and, with that b. You should not have used the fire hose!
money, I will by a motorcycle. ___ c. I would not do that if I were you. He
3. Michael ran downstairs, tripped over has been practicing karate for years.
a toy and fell. ___ d. They should have called him on the
4. Nobody helped me install my new cellphone and ask for the correct address.
DVD player, so I did it myself. ___ e. You should buy a rickshaw and save
5. I wanted to wash the dishes, but I the planet…
broke five plates, four glasses, three f. I would have helped you, but I was
bowls and all the cups in the sink. ___ busy hating you for getting a new DVD
6. I invited them to my place, but player…
nobody showed up that day. ___ g. They would have come if you had
7. When they saw that the address was given them the correct address.
not correct, they started crying. ___
EWAS Studio presents

THE REPLACEMENTS
Part Two

This is an interview with the director of the movie, Mr. G. Rammar:

Reporter: “What is this movie about, Mr. G. Rammar?”
G. Rammar: “Can’t you read, son? It is about some replacements who replace.”
Reporter: “What do they replace?”
G. Rammar: “They replace the actors who could not play in my movie.”
Reporter: “How many actors could not be in your movie?”
G. Rammar: “None of them. They were all busy playing in movies made by the competition:
Simple Tenses Studious. But they can make only one movie: Simple Present. One of the
actors can also play in Simple Past, but that is all they can.”
Reporter: “Who are these actors?”
G. Rammar: “Mr. Can, Mr. Must and Mrs. May. They are all friends of mine, but they are
really limited and my artistic vision is too much for them.”
Reporter: “Thank you for your time, Mr. G. Rammar. I hope that you will be able to finish
the movie on time.”
G.Rammar: “Hey, you know Mr. Will Beable! He is one of the replacements! Good job,
son!”

Activity 1. Guess who replaces who? Write the correct replacements next to the verbs
they replace. These are the replacements: to be able to, to be allowed to, to have to, to be
permitted to, PMiNU^%@OH
Can _____________________ may ____________________________________________
must ____________________ JIKuiNH%NKO& __________________________________

21
Exercise 131. Cross out the incorrect sentences:
1. Shawn will may go out and play after he has finished his homework.
2. Next year, I will be allowed to drive again as I will get my license back.
3. Jackie may drive alone for the first time last week
4. Sam was allowed to drive his father car after he got his driving license.
5. I haven’t mayed (what?!) to go out and play since I threw that vase through the window
and broke my mom’s car windshield.
6. They have not been allowed to play with me since I threw that vase through the window…
7. Adrian has could swim like a fish since he was a little frog.
8. She has been able to read and write since I was one year old. Of course, she was six, then.
9. I will can solve difficult Math problems next year because I am studying hard this year.
10. She will be able to speak Japanese next year because she married a Japanese actor.
11. Last summer, Jack could run like the wind, but before that, he had not been able to run at
all because he was too little.
12. Two days ago, I must pick up my cousin from the kindergarten, but I forgot. I will go and
pick him up now.
13. Candy had to give back the books which she took from the library before reading them.
14. Next week, I will must hand in my report on how mosquitoes affect penguins’ lives.
15. Next month I will have to wake up early in the morning, but this month I can stay in bed
till late because I go to school only in the afternoon.

Activity 2. Circle the correct conclusion in as far as the sentences above are concerned:
1. The substitutes of the modal verbs replace these verbs for tenses such as Past Simple (only
may and must), Future Simple or Perfect Tenses.
2. Neither the modal verbs, nor their substitutes can be used with Continuous tenses.
3. Santa Claus can breathe under water.
4. Cats wear pajamas when they go to wash the yellow submarine.
5. “Might” can be the past of “may” in Indirect Speech: “I may go home earlier.” “He said
that he might go home earlier.”

Exercise 132. Read the dialogues, if you can, and if you can’t read all the words,
because not all the words are there, fill in the blanks and read again. Use the
replacements of the modal verb used by Jeremy. Good luck!
Jeremy: “Look, I can kick the ball so hard that it moves half a meter!”
Shawn: “Big deal! I 1______________________ to kick the ball like that since I was
five.”
Jeremy: “Look! I can jump as high as… me!”
Shawn: “Big deal! Last year, I 2_________________ to jump higher than me.”
Jeremy: “Look, I can dance like Michael Jackson!”
Shawn: “Big deal! I 3_____________________ to dance like him before he was born!”
Jeremy: “You can be so annoying!”
Shawn: “Big deal! I… what did you call me?”

Jeremy: “My mom says that I may play on the see-saw this afternoon.”
Shawn: “Big deal! Tomorrow I 4___________________ to play with the chainsaw!”
Jeremy: “My dad says that I may start the engine of our car, so he can drive it.”
Shawn: “Big deal! I 5_____________________ start the engine on our submarine since we
bought it, eighty years ago.”

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Jeremy: “My teacher says that I may go to the bathroom every time I need, without asking
for permission.”
Shawn: “Big deal! Last year I 6______________________ go outside, cross the street,
climb a tall tree, jump onto a truck and travel all the way to the North Pole to see Santa.”
Jeremy: “My sister say that you may be the biggest liar in our galaxy.”
Shawn: “Big deal, I am a bigger… What did she call me?”

Jeremy: “Life is hard! The doctor says that I must eat chocolate and pizza every day.”
Shawn: “Big deal! When I was your age, I 7_____________ eat hamburgers all day long.”
Jeremy: “Life is good! I must read one book every week and I must write a report on it!”
Shawn: “Big deal! When I grow up, I 8_______________ write one book every week,
translate it into old Greek and write a report in Latin.”
Jeremy: “Life is cruel! I must live on the same planet with you.”
Shawn: “Big deal! I ha… Why don’t you like me? Why do you hate me? I just want to be
friends with you! I want us to be like brother! Boohoo…”
Jeremy: “Oh, come on, stop crying! And, by the way, we are brothers: we have the same
mother and the same father.”

Final notes:
1. The replacements, the model substitutes, can be used in any tense: I can swim – I am
able to swim.
2. As you may have noticed, the substitute for must (to have to) is not used for Perfect
Tenses. It is possible to use it, but nobody really does it, so forget it.

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