obligation in the present - HAVE TO / MUST "I have to tell you something / I must tell you something", ability in the present  - CAN "I can speak Chinese fluently", permission in the present (1) - CAN "Can I sit here?", permission in the present (2) - MAY "May I use this computer?", ability in the past - COULD / BE ABLE TO "I could already read when I was three", obligation in the past - HAD TO "There was a lot of work yesterday so I had to work overtime", possibility in the present  - MAY / MIGHT / COULD "It might rain later", certainty in the present - MUST "They must be brothers because they look alike", inability in the present  - CAN'T "I can't find my keys!", impossibility in the present - CAN'T "They can't be brothers because they are completely different from each other", advice - SHOULD / OUGHT TO "If your knee still hurts, you should go to the doctor", speculation in the past (certainty) - MUST HAVE "He must have forgotten his keys because they're here", speculation in the past (possibility) - MIGHT HAVE / COULD HAVE / MAY HAVE "She might have missed the train because she is late to the meeting"", speculation in the past (impossibility) - CAN'T HAVE / COULDN'T HAVE "He can't have been the murderer because he was with me yesterday", prohibition in the present - MUSTN'T "You mustn't park your car here", lack of obligation in the present - DON'T HAVE TO / NEEDN'T "You don't have to wear a uniform at this private school" , lack of obligation in the past (you did something in the past, however it was not necessary)  - NEEDN'T HAVE "You needn't have bought anything. Anyway, it's so kind of you", lack of obligation in the past (you didn't do something because it was not necessary) - DIDN'T NEED TO "I didn't need to take my umbrella, it wasn't raining" , criticism / regret - SHOULD / SHOULDN'T HAVE "You should have told me the truth" / "I shouldn't have told you my secret",

Modal Verbs B2

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