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Teaching Modals: Lesson Plans
Schedule for Teaching Modals
Day Two - part 3: Questions With Past Modals [Allow students time to take notes as you go along]
The basic formula for making a simple past modal question = Modal + Subject + have + p.p. verb
The basic formula for making a simple past continuous modal question = Modal + Subject + have + been + verb+ing
- Label the category something like "Questions". Just like with the present modals, there are a couple different approaches for teaching past question modals. You can just chose a few common ones [like: can, could, may, & would] and make sample sentences. However, it may prove more beneficial to explain modal questions by organizing them by the tasks they do. For instance:
- ask for permission [not common--so skip it]
- make a request [also not common--so skip it]
- ask about ability/possibility
- ask for advice
- ask about a requirement
Ask about Ability/Possibility [Usually done with....
Ask students to give you examples of ability/possibility questions with Could, Might, and then Would. If none are forthcoming, help them out with one to start with...
Can ex: Might he have been telling the truth? His story sounds believable [past possibility]
Could ex: Could he have been running behind schedule? [past ability]
Could ex: Could he have gone to Miami last week? [past possibility]
Could ex: Would he have gotten that dog if he knew it already had eaten two people? [past possibility]
Ask someone's opinion
Should in the past question form is not really used for advice or even criticism directly, so it will probably be hard for students to come up with an example. Provide an example to get things started.
Should ex: Should he have been feeding that alligator?
ex: Should Tom have eaten at a different restaurant?
Ask about a requirement [Did they really have to have done that?]--usually said in annoyance
Ask students to give you an example of a past question with Must about something annoying someone did
Must ex: Must Tom have brought his annoying friend with him on the date?
Note: This form is not common, and could be skipped.
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