Modal verbs - verbos modales

Modal Verbs

can – could

may – might

shall – should

will – would

must

These verbs have no infinitive, no past participle, and no -ing form. They are called defective verbs. Estos verbos no tienen ningún infinitivo, ni participio pasado, ni la forma -ing. Se llaman verbos defectivos. They come from the present and preterite tenses of Old English verbs and originally from German. Vienen de los tiempos presente y pretérito de inglés antiguo y originalmente de alemán.

The present tense of these verbs (can, may, shall, will) still expresses the present and future tenses, but the preterite forms (could, might, should, would) are now more like the Spanish subjunctive. El tiempo presente de estos verbos (can, may, shall, will) todavía expresa el presente y el futuro, pero la forma pretérita (could, might, should, would) hoy en día se parecen más el subjuntivo español.

The modal verbs express possibility, ability, opportunity, obligation, necessity, intention, probability, etc. Los verbos modales expresan posibilidad, habilidad, oportunidad, obligación, necesidad, intención, probabilidad, etc.

can – could (ability, permission, possibility)

(poder, saber)
I can speak English. (ability)

You can smoke here. (permission)

There can be competition between brothers. (possibility)

may – might (possibility, permission)

(puede que, podía)
It may not be true. Puede que no sea verdad. (possibility)

podría, pudiera ser May I go out? ¿Puedo salir? (permission)

es posible (que) It might be a good idea. Podría ser una buena idea. (possibility)

will – would (will = future) (courtesy, intention, probability, orders, habit, conditional)

(podría, quieres que, etc.)
Will you come this way? ¿Quiere venir por aquí?

Would you do me a favour? ¿Me haría un favor?

If I were you, I would send an email. En tu lugar, enviaría un email.

I would rather die!! ¡¡Yo preferiría morir!!

They would not listen. No escuchaban.

shall – should (shall = will = future) (suggestion, duty, obligation, advice, deduction)

(debería, quieres que, etc)
Shall I call a taxi? ¿Quieres que llame un taxi?

You should always tell the truth. Deberías decir la verdad siempre.

You should eat more vegetables. Deberías comer más verduras.

We also use ought to to express duty, obligation.  It is not as strong as must.

También utilizamos ought to para expresar el deber, la obligación.  No es tan fuerte como must.

must (only in the present tense) (strong duty, obligation, prohibition)

(= have to) 

(tener que) 

I must study more. Tengo que estudiar más. 
You must not go out. Está prohibido salir.

Here is a summary:

To express:	Use:
ability	can – could
permission	may – might can – could
obligation	shall – must – have to
probability, uncertainty, possibility	may – might will – would
advice obligation, duty	shall – should ought to
intention, courtesy, condition	will – would

Why is it so hard to translate "would"?
¿Por qué es tan difícil traducir "would"?

Mira unos ejemplos...

He would go to school every day.   (past tense, repeated action)
Él se iba a la escuela todos los días.

Would you open the window please?   (request, courtesy)
¿Te molestaría abrir la ventana, por favor?

I would do it straight away.   (conditional, supposition)
Yo lo habría ahora mismo.

If it was cheaper, I would buy it.  (conditional)
Si estuviera más barato, yo lo compraría.

You would say that, wouldn't you!  (emphasis, irony)
Tu tendrías que decir eso, ¡como no!

Would that it was so simple!  (subjunctive, supposition, hope)
¡Si fuera tan sencillo!

I wouldn't do that!   (advice, order)
Yo no haría eso.

She told me she would be there.  (reported speech)
Ella me dijo que estaría allí.

I wouldn't know.   (conjecture, uncertainty)
No sé.  Yo no lo sabría.

There would always be some left over. (past tense, repeated action)
Siempre sobraba algo.

I would have her do it.  (subjunctive)
Yo querria que ella lo hiciese.

...


When translating would into Spanish, we have many options to choose from and we need to look carefully at the context. That's why it's difficult. Because there are so many uses of would, translating from the Spanish to English is easier.  Cuando traducimos would al español, necesitamos elegir entre muchas opciones y por eso necesitamos mirar con cuidado el contexto. Por eso, es difícil. Porque hay tantos usos de would, la traducción del español al inglés es más facíl.

Hay una ambigüedad en inglés:

He would know. 
Does this mean that he knows, definitely?  Or that "I think" he knows?  Or he knew something in the past?  Is it ironic?  In Spanish, it is much clearer because we have tenses to express the different meanings.

¿Significa que es cierto que él sabe?  ¿O yo creo que él sabe? O él lo supo en el pasado?  ¿Es irónico?  En español es mucho más claro porque tenemos tiempos de los verbos para expresar los sentidos distintos.

But I would say that, wouldn't I?