Modal Verbs

Como hemos visto en clase, los verbos modales son verbos diferentes al resto de los verbos. Tienen una serie de características especiales. Estos verbos pueden expresar: obligación, necesidad, prohibición, ausencia de necesidad, probabilidad, posibilidad, habilidad, petición…

• CARACTERÍSITCAS PROPIAS:
  • Son verbos incompletos. No tienen participio ni infinitivo, y necesitan otros verbos para completar su conjugación: CAN se completa con la perífrasis BE ABLE TO, MUST con HAVE TO, etc.
  • No llevan -S en la 3ª persona singular del presente simple, excepto HAVE TO (HAS TO)
  • Todos van seguidos de otro verbo en infinitivo sin TO, excepto OUGHT TO, HAVE TO y NEED TO.
  • Como no necesitan verbo auxiliar, construyen la interrogativa invirtiendo el orden del sujeto y el verbo, y la negativa añadiendo NOT.

• 	VERB	USE	EXAMPLES	NOTES
  PURE MODALS	CAN (presente)	- Expresar habilidad	- We can drive very well	- Be able tocomplementa a cancuando indica habilidad y posibilidad: infinitivo, futuro, present perfect y gerundio, e.g. I will be able to play the guitar in a year.
  		- Expresar posibilidad o imposibilidad	- I can't talk, I've got a very sore throat
  		- Expresar o pedir permiso	- Can I sit down?
  		- En negativa expresar deducción y prohibición.	- She can't be at school. It's holiday. - You cannot smoke here.
  	COULD (pasado)	- Expresar habilidad en pasado.	- Jane could drive before she was 18.
  		- Pedir algo educadamente.	- Could you pass the salt, please?
  		- Expresar posibilidad o imposibilidad en el pasado.	- It was so hot I couldn't walk in the sand.
  		- Hacer especulaciones (posibilidad remota)	- This passport could be his.
  		- Hacer sugerencias.	- We could play bingo today.
  		- Remplaza a can en el estilo indirecto	- They said they could do it themselves.
  		- Expresar una crítica.	- You could have bought some more food.
  	MAY (PRE/FUT)	- Pedir algo.	- May I leave the classroom?	- Cuando MAY indica posibilidad indica que algo no es seguro. (quizá, tal vez, puede que)
  		- Expresar permiso.	- You may go to the toilet.
  		- Expresar posibilidad (presente o futura)	- The headmaster may visit the class today.
  		- Hacer especulaciones.	- That may be the thief that was arrested by the police.
  	MIGHT	- Expresar posibilidad (más dudosa)	- They might invite us to the party.	- La posibilidad es muy dudosa (pudiera ser que)
  		- Hacer especulaciones	- They might have broken the window…
  	SHOULD	- Dar y pedir consejos (debería)	- You should do more physical exercise
  		- Expresar obligación moral o que algo no es lo adecuado que esperabamos	- You should be more tolerant
  		- Criticar acciones pasadas	- She should have been quiet
  	WILL	- Hacer un ofrecimiento	- I'll carry the suitcase for you.
  		- Pedir algo educadamente	- Will you bring me a coffee, please?
  	SHALL	- Hacer un ofrecimiento	- Shall I open the window?
  		- Pedir sugerencias	- What shall we do tonight?
  		- Tomar decisiones	- I shall speak to the headmaster
  	WOULD	- Hacer un ofrecimiento	- Would you like some tea?
  		- Rutinas en el pasado (afirm.) (solía)	- When I was a child, I would go fishing.
  	MUST (presente)	- Expresar obligación (autoridad fuerte)	- You must go to school	- HAVE TO complementa a MUST en los tiempos que este carece, e.g. She had to get up early yesterday.
  		- En negativa: expresar prohibición	- You mustn't smoke in hospitals
  		- Expresar deducción (afirmativa)	- They must be happy. They've won the lottery
  	NEED	- Expresar necesidad	- Need we go now?
  		- Con sentido pasivo	- The trees need pruning.
  		- En negativa: ausencia de obligación = don't have to	- You needn't get up early at weekends
  	OUGHT TO	- Dar consejos	- You ought to do more physical exercise
  		- Expresar obligación moral	- You ought to be more tolerant
  	USED TO	- Expresar hábitos o rutinas en el pasado	- I used to play tennis, but now I play basket
  MODALS IDIOMS	HAVE (GOT) TO	- Expresar obligación (+ suave)	- You have to be 18 to drive a car
  		- En negativa: ausencia de obligación	- You don't have to wear a uniform in this school
  	HAD BETTER	- Dar consejos o sugerencia (sería mejor)	- It's getting dark, we'd better go home now
  	WOULD RATHER	- + infinitivo: preferir algo 2 sujetos iguales - + Oración en pasado simple: (preferiría) sujetos diferentes - + infinitivo + than + infinitivo	- I'd rather stay at home (prefiero) - I'd rather she studied harder - I'd rather listen to music than dance
  	BE USED TO + -ING	- Expresa "estar acostumbrado a.."	- I'm used to going to bed late.
  	GET USED TO + -ING	- Expresa " acostumbrarse a.."	- I can't get used to his way of cooking.

  
  
• FORMA PERFECTA DE VERBOS MODALES:
  Se refieren al pasado: expresan conclusiones, suposiciones y conjeturas que hacemos sobre hechos pasados y se forman con un modal + have + participio.
  • MUST + HAVE + PARTICIPIO → conclusiones lógicas en el pasado, e.g. Sheila was absent yesterday. She must have been ill.
  • COULD + HAVE + PARTICIPIO
    → indica que hubo posibilidad de hacer algo en el pasado pero realmente no se hizo, e.g. He could have helped us, but he came too late.
    → en negativa, expresa la incredulidad de que lo ocurrido sea cierto, e.g. She couldn't have said those words.
    → para hacer una suposición en el pasado, e.g. She didn't come to the party. She could have been ill.
  • MAY / MIGHT + HAVE + PARTICIPIO → expresan una suposición sobre el pasado, e.g. Call her again. She may / might not have heard you the first time.
  • SHOULD / OUGHT TO + HHAVE + PARTICIPIO
    → para lamentar que no se siguió un consejo en el pasado, e.g. She looks worse. She should / ought to have seen a doctor last week.
    → para lamentar que no se haya cumplido lo que esperábamos, e.g. They should have been home by now.
    → en negativa demuestran nuestra opinión crítica sobre algo que no debería haber ocurrido, e.g. I'm very angry with her. She shouldn't have been so rude.
    
    

    Exercices:practice

Relatives exercices

You can practice relatives here:

http://www.academiacae.com/apuntes/ORACIONES%20DE%20RELATIVO.pdf

http://teacherantoniolozano.weebly.com/uploads/3/9/1/1/3911062/relativos.pdf

Future tenses

Please review the different future tenses in the following link:

http://www.ejerciciodeingles.com/formas-verbales-del-futuro-en-ingles/

Regards :-)

REPORTED SPEECH (EL ESTILO INDIRECTO)

1) DEFINICIÓN: Hay dos formas de relatar lo que una persona ha dicho: 




- Mediante el estilo directo: Repetimos fielmente las palabras de la persona que habla. Lo que la persona dijo queda metido entre comillas y utilizamos una frase introductoria (él dijo, él preguntó…) que se separa de esta oración mediante una coma. e.g. "I have lost my bag", he said.

- Mediante el estilo indirecto: Relatamos lo que una persona dijo, pero no exactamente con las mismas palabras. e.g. He said that he had lost his bag.

2) CAMBIOS: Para transformar una oración de estilo directo a indirecto debemos de realizar una serie de cambios.

2.1.) CAMBIOS EN LA PUNTUACIÓN: La coma que separa la oración introductoria de la otra y las comillas de la oración en estilo directo desaparecen.

2.2.) CAMBIOS EN LOS TIEMPOS VERBALES 
 
- Si el verbo de la oración introductoria va en presente simple, presente perfecto o futuro, entonces no se produce ningún cambio en los tiempos verbales de la oración subordinada. e.g. Peter says, "I'm trying to get a taxi". → Peter says that he is trying to get a taxi.

- Pero generalmente la oración introductoria tiene un verbo en pasado. Entonces los verbos de la oración subordinada deben cambiar a su tiempo correspondiente de pasado (backshift) según el siguiente cuadro:

CUADRO DE CAMBIOS EN LOS TIEMPOS VERBALES
ESTILO DIRECTO	ESTILO INDIRECTO
Simple present: "I never eat meat," he explained.	Simple past: He explained that he never ate meat.
Present Continuous: "I'm waiting for Ann," he said.	Past Continuous: He said that he was waiting for Ann.
Simple Past: "Obama won the elections in the USA", he said.	Past Perfect: He said that Obama had won the elections in the USA.
Past Continuous: "They were working hard", he said.	Past Perfect Continuous: He said that he had been working hard.
Present Perfect: "I have found a flat", he said.	Past Perfect: He said that he had found a flat.
Present Perfect Continuous: He said, "I've been waiting for ages."	Past Perfect Continuous: He said that he had been waiting for ages.
Future "Will": "I'll be in Paris on Monday", he said.	Conditional "Would": He said that he would be in Paris on Monday.
Future "be going to": "They are going to buy a house", he said.	Future "was / were going to": He said that they were going to buy a house.
Modals "can": "We can go to the festival", he said.	Modals "could": He said that they could go to the festival.
Modals "may": "I may go to the concert", he said.	Modals "might": He said that he might go to the concert.
Modals "must": " You must stop here", she said.	Modals "had to": She said that I had to stop there.

- Hay tiempos verbales que no cambian al pasar de estilo directo a indiecto: past perfect simple and continuous, algunos modales: would, could, might, ought, should, used to...

2.3.) CAMBIOS EN LOS PRONOMBRES Y DETERMINANTES

- Los pronombres personales (sujeto y objeto), reflexivos, posesivos y los determinantes posesivos normalmente cambian de 1ª y 2ª persona a 3ª persona excepto cuando el hablante está relatando sus propias palabras.

e.g. He said, "I've forgotten the combination of my safe". →He said that he had forgotten the combination of his safe.

- Los determinantes o pronombres demostrativos también cambian: THIS pasa a THAT y THESE pasa a THOSE.

e.g. "We will discuss this tomorrow", he said. →He said that they would discuss that the next day.

3.4.) CAMBIOS EN ADVERBIOS Y EXPRESIONES DE LUGAR Y TIEMPO

- Los adverbios y expresiones adverbiales de lugar y tiempo cambian de la siguiente forma:

CUADRO DE CAMBIOS EN ADVERBIOS DE LUGAR Y TIEMPO
ESTILO DIRECTO	ESTILO INDIRECTO
Today	That day
Yesterday	The day before
The day before yesterday	Two days before
Last week / year…	The previous week / year…
A / two … week / year…ago	A / two…week / year before
Tomorrow	The next /following day
The day after tomorrow	In two days' time
Next week /year …	The following week / year
Here	There
Now	Then

3) TIPOS DE ORACIONES3.1.) ENUNCIATIVAS
- Una oración enunciativa (afirmativa o negativa) se convierte de estilo directo a indirecto:

• Se quitan las comillas y la coma de separación entre la frase introductoria y la subordinada.
• Se une la oración introductoria (que puede ir al principio o al final de la frase) con la subordinada (la que va entre comillas) por medio de la conjunciónTHAT. En ocasiones THAT se puede omitir.
• Se realizan los cambios oportunos en la oración subordinada (cambios en los tiempos verbales, cambios en pronombres y determinantes y cambios en las expresiones adverbiales.
  e.g. "We did our English exercises yesterday", he said. →He said that they had done their English exercises the day before.

- Los verbos que pueden introducir oraciones enunciativas son: say (decir), tell + objeto (decir, contar), inform + objeto (informar), comment (comentar), assure + objeto (asegurar), remark (comentar, observar), mention (mencionar),admit (admitir), promise (prometer), claim (reclamar, afirmar), explain (explicar), insist (insistir).

3.2.) INTERROGATIVAS

3.2.1.) WH- QUESTIONS →INTERROGATIVAS CON PRONOMBRE O PARTICULA INTERROGATIVA.

- Una oración interrogativa que comienza con partícula interrogativa pasa de estilo directo a indirecto de la siguiente manera:

• Se quita la interrogación y la coma de separación y se une la oración introductora y la subordinada por medio de la misma partícula interrogativa.
• El orden de los sintagmas de la frase interrogativa cambian como si fuera una enunciativa: Partícula + sujeto + verbo + CD/CI + CC.
• Realizamos los cambios necesarios en los tiempos verbales, pronombres y expresiones adverbiales.e.g. "Where are you going tomorrow morning?", she asked. →She asked where I was going the following day morning.

3.2.2.) YES/NO QUESTIONS→INTERROGATIVAS QUE NO TIENEN PRONOMBRE O PARTICULA INTERROGATIVA.

- Una oración interrogativa que no comienza con partícula interrogativa pasa de estilo directo a indirecto de la siguiente manera:

• Se quita la interrogación y la coma de separación.
• Se une la oración introductora y la subordinada por medio de la conjunción IF o WHETHER.
• El orden de los sintagmas de la frase interrogativa cambian como si fuera una enunciativa: Partícula + sujeto + verbo + CD/CI + CC.
• Realizamos los cambios necesarios en los tiempos verbales, pronombres y expresiones adverbiales.e.g. "Did you phone him yesterday?", he asked. →He asked if I had phoned him the day before.

- Los verbos que pueden introducir oraciones interrogativas son: ask (preguntar) + objeto, want to know (querer saber), enquire (preguntar), wonder (preguntarse)…

3.3.) ORDENES, CONSEJOS Y PETICIONES

- Cuando queremos pasar una orden, un consejo o una petición a estilo indirecto lo hacemos de la siguiente manera:

• Unimos la frase introductora con la subordinada por medio de TO + INFINITIVO (del verbo que tengamos) si es afirmativa, o, NOT TO + INFINITIVO si es negativa.
• Hacemos los cambios necesarios en los pronombres, determinantes y expresiones adverbiales.
• Elegimos un verbo introductor adecuado:
  • Ordenes: command (ordenar) + objeto, order (ordenar) + objeto , tell (decir) + objeto…e.g. "Stop talking now", he said. →He commanded me to stop talking then. "Don't touch it!", he told. →He told him not to touch it.
  • Consejos: advise (aconsejar) + objeto, warn (avisar) + objeto, encourage (animar) + objeto…e.g. "If I were you, I'd stop smoking", I said. → I advised him to stop smoking to post some letters for him.
  • Peticiones: ask (pedir)+ objeto, beg (pedir) + objeto, invite (invitar) + objeto, implore (implorar) + objeto, urge (rogar) + objeto …e.g. "You might post some letters for me", said my boss. → My boss asked me to post some letters for him.

C.4.) SUGERENCIAS

- Cuando queremos pasar una sugerencia a estilo indirecto :

• Utilizamos el verbo introductor SUGGEST seguido de el verbo de la oración subordinada terminado en –ING (si el hablante está incluido en la sugerencia) o seguido de una oración introducida por THAT + sujeto + el verbo modal should (si el hablante no está incluido en la sugerencia).e.g. "Let's have a drink", he said. → He suggested having a drink.
  " Why don't you study for the exam?", he said. →He suggested that I should study for the exam.

IMPORTANT NOTE! Si no sabes distinguir en inglés una orden, un consejo, una petición , una sugerencia etc:

TIPO DE ORACIÓN	EJEMPLOS
ORDENES (COMMANDS)	"Stop now", "Don't shout"
PETICIONES (REQUESTS)	"Can / Could you mail this letter?", "Would you mind / Do you mind mailing this letter?",
CONSEJOS (ADVISE)	"You should / might go there", "If I were you, I would go there", "I would go there", "It might be a good idea to go there", "You'd better go there"
SUGERENCIAS (SUGGESTIONS)	"Let's have a drink", "Why don't we/you have a drink?", "What about having a drink?", "Shall we have a drink?", "Do you feel like…?"

Past simple

 The aim of this file is to help you improve and master the main verbal tenses in the past so that you can effectively NARRATE events in the past, reporting what happened in the past , that is, how a series of events took place at a particular moment in time.

You can download the file here: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0By2Yjhpech7rSEhHb0RxMlRLN28/view?usp=sharing

Specially vs especially

Dear students,

I have noticed several mistakes when it comes to using these 2 adverbs. take a sneak peek at this.

These two adverbs are often confused and can sometimes be used with the same meaning.

specially - for a particular purpose

Specially is its adverb form.  it means "particularly, in a disintguishing manner, or for a particular purpose.":

• This shower gel is specially designed for people with sensitive skins.
• This computer programme is specially for children with learning difficulties.
• My father made this model aeroplane specially for me.

especially - particularly / above all

We tend to use especially for emphasis, meaning particularly or above all:

• These butterflies are particularly noticeable in April and May, especially in these meadows.
• You'll enjoy playing tennis at our local club, especially on weekdays when it's not so busy.

Before adjectives, meaning particularly, especially is more usual:

• The road between Cairo and Alexandria is especially dangerous at night.
• It is a bit nippy, but it's not especially cold for this time of year.

special - especial

Note that the adjective especial is rarely used nowadays. Its use is confined to particular contexts where it collocates with particular nouns, e.g. especial interest, especial value when we want to emphasise the exceptional nature of this interest or value:

• The police took especial interest in his activities and watched the house continuously.
• The Koh-i-noor diamond, now among the British crown jewels, has especial value as its history dates back to the 14th Century.

In all other cases and contexts, when it means important or different from normal, special is preferred:

• You're a very special person in my life - never forget that.
• On special occasions we have wine with our meal, but certainly not every day.
• In special cases, prisoners are allowed out on day release twice a week.
• He has such ability, I think he'll be the next special adviser to the President.
• The special effects in the Lord of the Rings films are quite mind-blowing.
• The grapes at the supermarket are on special offer - less than half price.