We were in a workshop targeting strategies for teaching English Language Learners when the instructor brought up the term modal verbs.
"Do you know what they are?" she asked.
Given that the words would, might, and could had been highlighted on the previous slide, I guessed that they were some kind of auxiliary verb, and indeed they were. A modal verb is an auxiliary verb that expresses necessity or possibility. English modal verbs include must, shall, will, should, would, can, could, may, and might.
"Your students might not know those words and how they affect the meaning of a sentence," the presenter continued. "For example, they may not know the difference between I might do my homework and I will do my homework."
"Oh," I whispered to my colleague. "Several of them definitely don't know that!"
We laughed.
"But it's not really a language issue, is it?" she said.
"Do you know what they are?" she asked.
Given that the words would, might, and could had been highlighted on the previous slide, I guessed that they were some kind of auxiliary verb, and indeed they were. A modal verb is an auxiliary verb that expresses necessity or possibility. English modal verbs include must, shall, will, should, would, can, could, may, and might.
"Your students might not know those words and how they affect the meaning of a sentence," the presenter continued. "For example, they may not know the difference between I might do my homework and I will do my homework."
"Oh," I whispered to my colleague. "Several of them definitely don't know that!"
We laughed.
"But it's not really a language issue, is it?" she said.
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