English Grammar Exercises for B1 B2 – Modals of ability and obligation 2

A. Match the famous people to the correct sentence endings. (Look on the Internet if you’re not sure about the answers.)

a   shouldn’t have opened the box.

b   wasn’t allowed to marry Romeo.

c   didn’t need to die so young. It was tragic.

d   could sing very well.

e   should have written more books.

f   was able to get out of strange places.

g   had to go to prison for many years.

h   didn’t need to fight at Waterloo.

B. Rewrite these sentences in the past.

1    I need to see her.

      I needed to see her.

2    We must go.

      ……………………………..

3    We mustn’t go.

      ……………………………..

4    You should buy it.

      ……………………………..

5    She doesn’t need to come.

      ……………………………..

6    They can speak French.

      ……………………………..

7    He has to sleep.

      ……………………………..

8    He’s not able to be here.

      ……………………………..

C. Underline the correct option.

1   I could / had to read when I was three years old.

2   It was very cold and we could / had to put on warm coats.

3   Mike should have spoken / needed to speak to Mel, so he phoned her.

4   We couldn’t / didn’t have to do it if we didn’t want to.

5   I was able to / could speak to her before the lesson began.

6   That’s a secret. You shouldn’t have / couldn’t have told her.

7   Sharon loved food and she could / needed to cook very well.

8   We needn’t have / didn’t need to spend so much money.

9   Were you able / could you to open the box?

10   The children didn’t have to / weren’t allowed to watch TV late.

D. Yesterday, Alice’s boss left her a list of things to do. Change the notes into sentences using past modals.

Hi, Alice.

1. Phone James!!!

2. Don’t eat all the chocolates.

3. Use my computer (if you want).

4. Buy some more paper – very important!

5. Not necessary to finish the report.

6. Check my emails (please).

7. Don’t worry about going to the meeting.

8. Don’t forget Maggie’s birthday.

See you tomorrow,

Brian

1   She had to phone James.

2    ……………………………………………….

3    ……………………………………………….

4    ……………………………………………….

5    ……………………………………………….

6    ……………………………………………….

7    ……………………………………………….

8    ……………………………………………….

E. What were the consequences of these facts? Answer using past modals.

1    25 years ago, there were no mobile phones.

      People had to phone from home.

      They couldn’t phone their friends on the train.

2    50 years ago, there were no home computers.

      ………………………………………………….

      ………………………………………………….

3    75 years ago, not many people had cars.

      ………………………………………………….

      ………………………………………………….

4    100 years ago, not many children went to school.

      ………………………………………………….

      ………………………………………………….

5    150 years ago, there were no fridges.

      ………………………………………………….

      ………………………………………………….

6    500 years ago, there were very few hospitals.

      ………………………………………………….

      ………………………………………………….

F. Circle the correct option.

Student Helen Jones spent the night in Lincoln History Museum. She 1…… get out after the museum closed and 2…… stay there until the morning. Helen 3…… get some information for a history project, so she went to the museum on Saturday afternoon. Her friends 4…… go, they 5…… do a project, so she was alone.

Helen 6…… take photos (you are not allowed to use a camera in the museum) but she 7…… get a lot of information. She was so interested in the museum that she didn’t notice the time. There 8…… two museum workers on Saturday, Ted and Bill, but Ted was ill and Bill 9…… close the museum himself. Bill closed the museum while Helen was still inside. Helen 10…… call anyone because she didn’t have her mobile phone with her.

The next morning, Bill opened the museum and found Helen. Helen was very tired after such a long night but she 11…… get up and answer our phone call this morning. ‘I don’t feel well,’ she said, ‘I was hungry, so I ate some sweets I found in the museum. I 12…… eaten those sweets. They were 500 years old!’

1   a could     b should     c couldn’t     d shouldn’t

2   a must     b must have     c had to     d has to

3   a needed to     b needed     c needed have     d need

4   a had to     b have to     c must not     d didn’t have to

5   a didn’t need      b hadn’t to     c didn’t need to     d need not

6   a was able to     b couldn’t     c mustn’t     d needed to

7   a should have     b ought to     c need      d was able to

8   a should have been     b could be     c was able to be     d were able to be

9   a have to     b must     c needed     d had to

10   a didn’t have to     b couldn’t     c didn’t need to     d needn’t have

11   a could     b was able to     c had to     d should have

12   a was able to have     b wasn’t able to have

        c shouldn’t have     d should have

G. Give reasons for these situations using modal verbs. They can be funny!

1    You didn’t do your homework.

      I had to give my pet elephant a bath last night.

      My baby brother drew on my book and I couldn’t read it.

2    You are meeting your friend but you are late.

      ………………………………………………………..

      ………………………………………………………..

3    You forgot your friend’s birthday.

      ………………………………………………………..

      ………………………………………………………..

4    You didn’t do the shopping.

      ………………………………………………………..

      ………………………………………………………..

5    You had an argument with your mum.

      ………………………………………………………..

      ………………………………………………………..

6    You didn’t wash your hair last night.

      ………………………………………………………..

      ………………………………………………………..

H. Circle the correct option.

1   Emily was 80 years old but she ………… see very well.

      a could     b had to     c didn’t have to

2   Rover ………… outside because the road was very dangerous.

      a mustn’t go

      b wasn’t allowed to go

      c needed to go

3   ………… Tom ………… become a professor?

      a Had … to

      b Needed … to

      c Should … have

4   Emily ………… get out of bed and phone the police.

      a could     b was able to     c needed

5   Tom was very clever, so he ………… hard.

      a had to study

      b must study

      c didn’t have to study