Modal Verbs Exercises Intermediate: 20 Best Free Questions, Part 1

These modal verbs exercises intermediate level turn the main uses of modals into a free Jeopardy game with 20 questions for A2 to B1 learners: ability and permission, obligation and necessity, advice and offers, possibility and deduction in the present, and modal verbs in the past. Need to review first? Read our Modal Verbs 101 lesson, then try our past perfect exercises and the free English grammar exercises for Moroccan students.

Modal Verbs Exercises Intermediate Level: Play the Jeopardy Game

What Are Modal Verbs Exercises Intermediate Level?

Quick answer: modal verbs exercises practise the small verbs that change the meaning of the main verb: can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would and ought to, together with semi-modals such as have to, need to and had better. A modal tells us how the speaker sees an action: possible, necessary, forbidden, advisable or certain.

The 20 questions in this game check two things at the same time. First, the function: which modal expresses ability, permission, obligation, advice, possibility or deduction. Second, the structure: modal + base verb for the present and the future, and modal + have + past participle for the past.

How to Play the Modal Verbs Exercises Intermediate Level Game

• Choose 1 to 6 teams. You can play alone, with 2 teams or with the whole class.
• Teams take turns to pick a tile. The categories are hidden, and the bigger the number, the harder the question.
• Pick one answer within 20 seconds. The timer has Pause and Restart buttons.
• A right answer wins the points. A wrong answer puts that team out, and the next team can choose another answer.
• The Reveal answer button shows the correct answer and a short explanation, with no points. It is separate from the timer.
• A tile disappears after its question is closed. Use the -100 button to give a penalty and the Full screen button to play on a projector.

Modal Verbs Structure: 5 Rules to Remember

Most mistakes in modal verbs exercises are mistakes of form, not of meaning. Learn these five rules and you will avoid most of them.

• Modal + base verb. The verb after a modal has no to, no -ing and no -ed: She can swim. You should rest. (Not: She can to swim.)
• No -s with he, she and it. Modals have one form for every subject: He must go. It might rain. (Not: He musts go.)
• No do, does or did. Make questions by putting the modal first, and negatives by adding not: Can you help me? You shouldn’t shout.
• Ought to and have to keep to. They are the exceptions: You ought to study. We have to leave.
• For the past, use modal + have + past participle. He must have missed the bus. I should have studied harder.

Negative Forms and Short Forms

Modal	Negative	Short form
can	cannot	can’t
could	could not	couldn’t
may	may not	(no short form)
might	might not	mightn’t (rare)
must	must not	mustn’t
should	should not	shouldn’t
will	will not	won’t
would	would not	wouldn’t
need (modal)	need not	needn’t

Functions of Modal Verbs in the Present

In the present and the future, every modal is followed by the base verb. What changes is the function, the job the modal does in the sentence. Here are the functions you need for the modal verbs exercises above, with clear examples.

Ability: can

We use can to say that someone is able to do something now. The negative is can’t. For other tenses we use be able to: I will be able to drive next year.

• John can speak English, but he can’t speak Spanish.
• My little sister can read short stories.

Permission: can, could, may

To ask for permission, can is informal, could is more polite and may is the most formal. To give or refuse permission we say you can, you may or you can’t.

• Can I go out, please?
• May I open the window, please?
• You can use my dictionary.

Requests, Offers and Suggestions: could, would, will, shall

Could you…? and Would you…? make polite requests. Would you like…? makes a polite offer. Shall I…? offers help and Shall we…? makes a suggestion.

• Could you bring me a cup of tea, please?
• Would you mind closing the door?
• Shall I carry your bag?
• Shall we go to the cinema?

Obligation and Necessity: must, have to

Must often shows an obligation that comes from the speaker, a rule or a strong feeling. Have to often shows an obligation that comes from outside: a job, a law or a timetable. In many sentences both are correct.

• You must do your homework.
• My sister is a nurse, so she has to work at night.
• All passengers must wear a seatbelt.

Prohibition and No Obligation: mustn’t, don’t have to, needn’t

This is the most important difference in modal verbs exercises. Mustn’t means it is forbidden. Don’t have to and needn’t mean it is not necessary, you are free to choose.

• You mustn’t cross the road when the light is red. (It is forbidden.)
• Tomorrow is a holiday, so we don’t have to get up early. (It is not necessary.)
• You needn’t run. It’s still early.

Advice: should, ought to, had better

Should and ought to give advice or say what is right. Had better is stronger: it gives advice with a warning about a bad result. Its form is had better + base verb; the form “would better” does not exist.

• You should eat more vegetables.
• You ought to study more.
• It’s late. We had better go home, or we will miss the bus.

Possibility: may, might, could

May, might and could say that something is possible, but we are not sure. They mean perhaps or maybe.

• Take an umbrella. It might rain later.
• The driver may be in the car.
• Susan may not come tomorrow.

Deduction: must, can’t

When we are almost sure that something is true, we use must. When we are almost sure that something is not true, we use can’t, not mustn’t.

• He has a great car. He must earn a lot of money.
• That can’t be Sara at the door. She is in Paris this week.

Functions of Modal Verbs in the Past

Talking about the past is where learners hesitate most. Some functions have a simple past form (could, had to). Others use the structure modal + have + past participle.

Past Ability: could, was able to

Could describes a general ability in the past. For one specific success on one occasion we use was/were able to or managed to. In the negative, couldn’t is fine for both.

• My mother could swim very well when she was younger.
• The fire was big, but the firemen were able to save everyone.
• I couldn’t open the door.

Past Obligation: had to, didn’t have to

Must has no past form, so for an obligation in the past we use had to. For no obligation in the past we use didn’t have to.

• The bus didn’t come, so I had to walk to school.
• It was Sunday, so we didn’t have to get up early.

Past Deduction: must have, can’t have

To say that we are almost sure about something in the past, we use must have + past participle. To say that it is impossible, we use can’t have or couldn’t have + past participle.

• The streets are wet. It must have rained last night.
• Tom is late. He must have missed the bus again.
• He can’t have committed the crime: he was with me at that time.

Past Possibility: may have, might have, could have

When something possibly happened in the past but we are not sure, we use may have, might have or could have + past participle.

• I can’t find my keys. I might have left them at school.
• Tom is late. He may have missed the bus.

Regret and Criticism: should have, ought to have

Should have and ought to have + past participle say that something was a good idea, but it did not happen. We use them for regret and criticism. Shouldn’t have says that something happened, but it was a bad idea.

• I failed the test. I should have studied harder.
• You shouldn’t have shouted at your brother.

Unnecessary Actions: needn’t have, didn’t need to

Needn’t have + past participle means you did something, but it was not necessary. Didn’t need to + base verb usually means it was not necessary, so you did not do it.

• You needn’t have bought bread. We already had some.
• I didn’t need to take a taxi, because my friend drove me home.

Modal Verbs in the Present and the Past: Summary Table

Use this table to revise before you play the modal verbs exercises again.

Function	Present	Past
Ability	can / be able to	could / was able to
Permission	can / could / may	could / was allowed to
Obligation	must / have to	had to
No obligation	don’t have to / needn’t	didn’t have to / didn’t need to
Prohibition	mustn’t / can’t	couldn’t / wasn’t allowed to
Advice	should / ought to / had better	should have + past participle
Possibility	may / might / could	may / might / could have + past participle
Deduction (sure: yes)	must	must have + past participle
Deduction (sure: no)	can’t	can’t / couldn’t have + past participle

Common Mistakes in Modal Verbs Exercises Intermediate Level

• He cans swim. → He can swim. (No -s.)
• You must to go. → You must go. (No to after must.)
• Do you can help me? → Can you help me? (No do.)
• You would better leave. → You had better leave.
• Yesterday I musted work. → Yesterday I had to work.
• You mustn’t come tomorrow, it’s a holiday. → You don’t have to come. (Not necessary, not forbidden.)
• That mustn’t be Sara. → That can’t be Sara. (Negative deduction.)
• I should studied. → I should have studied. (Modal + have + past participle.)

Tips for Modal Verbs Exercises Intermediate Level

• Read the whole sentence first. The context tells you the function: a rule (must), a choice (don’t have to), a guess (might) or a regret (should have).
• Look for time words. Yesterday, last night or when I was young tell you that you need a past form.
• Ask: how sure is the speaker? Must = almost sure it is true, might = not sure, can’t = almost sure it is not true.
• Check the verb after the modal. Base verb for the present, have + past participle for the past.
• Learn mustn’t and don’t have to as a pair. Many exam questions test exactly this difference.
• Make your own examples. Write one true sentence about your life for each function in the summary table.

For more grammar practice and clear explanations, visit the British Council LearnEnglish grammar pages.

Frequently Asked Questions

More on This Theme

• Modal Verbs 101: the full lesson
• Past Perfect Exercises: 30 Jeopardy Questions
• The Reported Speech
• Free English Grammar Exercises for Moroccan Students
• Best 7 Moroccan BAC English Exercises for EFL Learners

Level: B1 · See more B1 exercises