Students tackle the identification of modal verbs within a given extract. This clip is suitable for teaching English at Key Stage 3 or Third Level.

Picture a small child saying: "Can’t, shan’t, won’t!" They are using modal verbs to show their feelings and attitude to something. Maybe they are refusing to go to bed or eat their peas.

When making polite requests, the modals ‘could’ and ‘would’ are very useful. Starting your request with these two modals immediately makes your request a lot more polite. Another word that ...