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Unit 18 is about modals, phrasal verbs and passive voice. A, Modals (also called modal verbs, modal auxiliary verbs, modal auxiliaries) are special verbs which behave irregularly in English. They are different from normal verbs like "work, play, visit..." They give additional information about the functions of the main verb that follows it. They have a great variety of communicative functions. Here are some characteristics of modal verbs: • They never change their form. You can't add "s", "ed", "ing"... • They are always followed by an infinitive without "to" (e.i. the bare infinitive.) • They are used to indicate modality allow speakers to express certainty, possibility, willingness, obligation, necessity, ability List of modal verbs: can, could, may, might, will, would, shall, should, must. Use of modal verbs: 1. Permission 2. Ability 3. Obligation 4. Prohibition 5. Lack of necessity 6. Advice 7. possibility 8. probability Examples: • You must stop when the traffic lights turn red. • You should see to the doctor. • There are a lot of tomatoes in the fridge. You need not buy any. B, Phrasal verbs are phrases that indicate actions. They are generally used in spoken English and informal texts. Examples of such verbs include: turn down, come across and run into. Phrasal verbs consist of a verb and a preposition or an adverb. Sometimes phrasal verbs consist of three elements. Sometimes, it is difficult to understand the meaning of phrasal verbs. Before looking them up in a dictionary, it would be helpful to use the context to understand them. Literal meaning Some phrasal verbs have a literal meaning. They can be easily understood. • She opened the door and looked outside. • She was walking across the street when she heard the sound of an explosion. Idiomatic meaning Phrasal verbs can also have a figurative or idiomatic meaning which makes them difficult to understand. • Can you put me up for tonight? The phrasal verb 'put up' here does not mean to build (as in putting a fence up). It has, however, an idiomatic/figurative meaning. It means to let someone stay in your house. Separable or inseparable? 1. Sometimes, the preposition/adverb is placed either after the verb or after the object. Examples: • Mary made up a really entertaining story. • Mary made the story up. 2. If the object is a pronoun, however, the preposition/adverb has to be placed after the pronoun (object). Examples: • She made it up. • Put it down. • Take it off. 3. Some phrasal verbs are always inseparable. Example: • I came across some old photos in a drawer. C, Passive voice: 1. Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action. Example: "A letter was written." The focus, here, is on the fact that a letter was written. We don't know, however, who wrote it. 2. Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following example shows: Example: A vase was broken. Focus, here, is on the fact that a vase was broken, but we don't blame anyone. Compare this to: "You broke the vase." Form of the passive voice: Subject + the appropriate form of to be + Past Participle When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following: • The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. • The form of the verb is the appropriate form of to be (the tense of the active voice main verb) + the past participle. • The subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is dropped.)