Use of Shall:
1_In assertive sentences, ‘shall’
in first person is used to indicate simple future tense; as:-
a_I
shall go to Samrala tomorrow.
b_We
shall play football.
2_ In
assertive sentences, ‘shall’ in second and third person is used to indicate a
promise, a command, a threat, a determination or a compulsion; as:-
a_You
shall stay with me.
b_He
shall be fined for this mischief.
3_ In
interrogative sentences, ‘shall’ in first and second person is used to indicate
simple future tense; as:-
a_Shall
I help you?
b_Shall
you read this book?
4_ In
interrogative sentences, ‘shall’ in first and third person is used to indicate
desire or liking of the person spoken to; as:-
a_Shall
I join this college?
b_Shall
he not marry her?
5_In
interrogative sentences, ‘shall’ in second person is used in line with the
expected reply; as:
a_Shall
you attend the meeting? Yes, I shall.
b_Shall
you go there? No, I shall not.
Use of Will:
1_In assertive sentences, ‘will’ in
second and third person is used in simple future tense; as:-
a_You
will go there to deliver this message.
b_Mohan
will finish the remaining work.
2_ In
assertive sentences, ‘will’ in first person is used to indicate a promise, a
threat, a determination, a wish or willingness; as:-
a_I
will carry out your orders.
b_We
will either win or die.
3_ In
interrogative sentences, ‘will’ in first person is never used.
4_ In
interrogative sentences, ‘will’ in second person is used to indicate desire or
liking of the person spoken to; as:-
a_Will
you go to Delhi today?
b_Will
you leave this job?
5_In
interrogative sentences, ‘will’ in second person is used according to the
expected reply; as:
a_Will
you accompany me to the market? Yes, I will.
b_Will
you be back by 10 o’clock? No, I will not.
Use of Should:
1_ ‘Should’ is the past form of
‘shall’. It denotes duty, obligation and advice; as:-
a_We
should obey our parents.
b_You
should keep your promise.
2_ ‘Should’ indicate an expected
event which did not take place in the past, when ‘have’ is used with it; as:-
a_You
should have paid the money long ago.
b_I
should have attended the meeting yesterday, but I forgot about it.
3_ In
a sentence in the past, ‘should’ and not ‘shall’ is used to signify future from
a point of time in the past; as:-
a_I
told you that you should not disturb me.
b_He
wrote to me that I should not wait for him.
4_ ‘Should’ is used to indicate
supposition or possibility; as:-
a_If
he should fail, he will discontinue his studies.
b_Should
she see me here, she would be annoyed.
5_ In a sentence in the past,
‘should’ and not ‘shall’ is used in the indirect speech; as:-
Direct : The teacher said to the students, “We shall take up the
exercise.”
Indirect : The teacher told the students that they should take up the
exercise.
6_In the past, ‘should’ indicates
disapproval when ‘have’ is used with it; as:-
a_You
shouldn’t have laughed at her mistakes.
b_She
shouldn’t have given the child a knife to play with.
7_ ‘Should’ is used to refer to
purpose and result in phrases governed by ‘in order that’ and ‘so that’; as:-
a_We
did it carefully so that none should escape.
b_I
did it in order that all should be satisfied.
8_ ‘Should’ is used to denote
negative purpose in phrases conducted by ‘lest’; as:-
a_Take
heed lest you should fall.
b_He
ran fast lest he should miss the train.
9_ ‘Should’ is used in subordinate
clauses following verbs and phrases indicating determination, willingness,
threat, orders or promise; as:-
a_I
promised my brother that he should have a new pen.
b_Is
your father willing that you should go abroad?
Use of Would:
1_ ‘Would’ is the past form of
‘will’. It denotes a wish, a refusal, a determination, a habit, willingness and
a possibility; as:-
a_Would
you like to come to the library with me?
b_We
would go for a walk in the moonlit nights.
2_ ‘Would’ is used to indicate an
imagination; as:-
a_Would
that I were rich!
b_Would
that I were a king!
3_ In
interrogative sentences, ‘would’ is used to signify a polite speech; as:-
a_Would
you please lend me your book?
b_Would
you mind if I shut the window?
4_ ‘Would’ is used to refer to a
condition or an uncertainty; as:-
a_Had
she met me, I would have told her everything.
b_If
I were allowed, I would go there.
5_ In
a sentence in the past, ‘would’ and not ‘will’ is used to represent future from
a point of time in the past; as:-
a_I
was certain that you would reach there tomorrow.
b_Whatever
the conditions, he would not let me down.
6_In a sentence in the past,
‘would’ and not ‘will’ is used in the indirect speech; as:-
Direct : The Commander said to the soldiers, “We will attack the
enemy.”
Indirect : The Commander told the soldiers that they would attack the
enemy.
Use of Can:
1_ ‘Can’ is used to indicate
ability, power or authority; as:-
a_I
can speak English.
b_I
can read and write.
2_ ‘Can’ is used to seek or grant
permission; as:-
a_You
can go now.
b_Can
I go to the cinema tonight? No, you can’t.
Use of Could:
1_ ‘Could’ is the past form of
‘can’. ‘could’ is used to denote ability, power or authority in the past; as:-
a_The
box was so heavy that I could not lift it.
b_He
could write English before he came to school.
2_In interrogative sentences,
‘could’ is used to seek or grant permission; as:-
a_Could
I have that dictionary, please?
b_Could
you lend me five hundred rupees for a week?
Use of May:
1_ ‘May’ is used to indicate a possibility;
as:-
a_It
may rain today.
b_She
may pass if she works hard.
2_ In
interrogative sentences, ‘may’ is used to seek or grant permission politely;
as:-
a_May
I go out? Yes, you may.
b_May
I come in, sir?
3_ ‘May’ is used to denote a purpose;
as:-
a_We
eat that we may live.
b_He
flatters that he may win a favour.
4_ ‘May’ is used to denote a wish;
as:-
a_May
you live long!
b_May
God bless you!
Use of Might:
1_ ‘Might’ is the past form of
‘may’. ‘might’ is used to denote possibility; as:-
a_I
was afraid that if I asked her again, she might refuse.
b_He
hopes that he might get this job.
2_ ‘Might’ is used to denote a
request; as:-
a_Might
I borrow your pen for a minute?
b_You
might make a little less noise.
3_ ‘Might’ is used to denote a
purpose; as:-
a_They
died that we might live.
b_I
stepped aside so that she might go in.
4_ ‘Might’ is used to denote a
wish; as:-
a_If
he had wished he might have gone yesterday.
b_He
might not go tomorrow unless you wished.
Use of Must:
1_ ‘Must’ is used to denote an
obligation; as:-
a_You
must do as you are told.
b_We
must keep our promise.
2_ ‘Must’ is used to denote a
determination; as:-
a_I
must have my say in this matter.
b_I
must surrender myself to her whim.
3_ ‘Must’ is used to denote a duty;
as:-
a_A
soldier must fight for his country.
b_Everyone
must do one’s duty.
4_ ‘Must’ is used to denote a
certainty; as:-
a_He
must have reached home by this time.
b_You
must be hungry after your long walk.
5_ ‘Must’ is used to denote
inevitability; as:-
a_We
must all die.
b_We
must sink or sail together.
Use of Ought to:
1_ ‘Ought’ is used to denote moral
obligation or duty. ‘Ought’ is an imperfect verb which indicates a time in
present or future. ‘To’ follows it; as:-
a_You
ought to know how to behave.
b_They
ought to take my advice.
2_
‘To have’ following ‘ought’ shows past which indicates moral obligation or duty
in the past; as:-
a_She ought to have obeyed her
husband.
b_She ought not to have treated her
husband like that.
Use of Have to/Has to:
1_ ‘Have to/has to’ is used to
denote an obligation or compulsion; as:-
a_He
has to be there at ten.
b_We
don’t have to go to school on Saturdays.
2_ ‘Had to’ is the past form of
‘have to/has to’; as:-
a_They
had to work hard for a living.
b_I
had to send her a message.
Use of Used to:
1_ ‘Used to’ is used to refer to be
accustomed to something occurring again and again or a habit in the past; as:-
a_She
used to go to the temple every morning.
b_I
am not used to a hot climate.
Use of Dare:
1_ ‘Dare’ is used to signify
courage. In present tense, ‘dare’ and not ‘dares’ is used in third person
singular; as:-
a_How
dare you say it to my face?
b_He
dare not take such a foolish step.
2_ When
‘dare’ is used to mean courage as simple verb, it is found in all forms of the
verb and ‘to’ follows it; as:-
a_I
never dare to say things like that, do I?
b_He
does not dare to refuse what you ask.
Use of Need:
1_ ‘Need’ is used to signify
compulsion or necessity. ‘To’ does not follow it. In present tense, ‘need’ and
not ‘needs’ is used in third person singular; as:-
a_He
need not work so hard, need he?
b_Need
I help you solve the problem?
2_When ‘need’ is used as simple
verb to mean requirement, it is found in all forms of verb, as:-
a_Did
he need my help?
b_She
needs a little rest.