Second conditional modal verbs exercises

If we say it right after hearing it, we will probably use the present tense. Reporting Henry's statement we can have either of the following, depending on which tense we want to report in. Note: Henry leaves off 'if my car were stolen'. Jonathan says, 'What would you do if your car were stolen?' 'would' is available in a direct quote, so it is available in a present-tense report. So when you report what someone says in the present tense (he says, she says.

All modals are available for a statement with a single clause. Note how 'can', 'will', and 'may' are restricted to the present, and the corresponding forms 'could', 'would', and 'might' are used to report 'can' or 'could', 'will' or 'would', or 'may' or 'might' in the past. ('shall' is the least used of the modals shown above.) The result of all these historical changes is that in modern English we have far more choices in sentences with a present point of view than in those with a past point of view. 'should' has lost most of its force as a past tense and is better thought of as a present tense form in modern English, meaning 'it is advisable'. However, 'could' and 'might', meaning 'may' ('it is possible'), can be used with present tense verbs (as well as with past tense verbs). Typically, when the accompanying clause is an 'if' clause, the historical present tense forms go with present tense verbs, and historical past tense forms go with past tense verbs.

In modern English, any of these can be used in a single clause sentence, but when it occurs in just one of two or more clauses in the same sentence, it needs to be matched correctly with the tense in the other clause. Each group below shows a 'historical present / past' pair. However, they developed historically from tensed verbs. Strictly speaking, the modals are not tensed.

Second conditional modal verbs exercises