Can you teach modal verbs? Will you be able to? Should you look for even better ways to teach them? The answers to all these modal questions are “Yes!” - and that’s why BusyTeacher.org offers 601 modal verb worksheets to bring some fresh, fun ideas to your ESL classroom.
Teaching modal verbs takes some strategy. A lot of other languages don’t have exact one-word equivalents for verbs like “should” and “would,” which means direct word-for-word translation probably isn’t an option. The next-best approach is to give examples - but it’s not always easy for students to guess the difference between, say, “can” and “could” from context alone. Some teachers start with the simplest modal verbs - “can” and “should” - and build up the list from there, using a variety of reading and speaking exercises.
However you plan to combine these approaches, BusyTeacher.org offers a wide variety of worksheets to help make sure your students can read, write, hear, and speak correctly when it comes to modal verbs. The sheer diversity of our worksheets means you’ll never find yourself repeating the same modal verb lesson twice - and the range of activities and exercises they provide will keep your students thinking about modal verbs in every kind of usage and context.
Whether you’re introducing some level-one students to modal verbs for the very first time, helping some level-two students review the modal verbs they’ve already learned, or introducing higher-level students to modal verbs in some new tenses, we’ve got worksheets tailored for your students’ ESL proficiency. With 601 modal verb worksheets to choose from, you’re sure to find some that are just right for your class.
Looking for simple fill-in-the-blank and multiple-choice worksheets to use for quizzes? We’ve got ‘em right here! Interested in active games that help students learn to use modal verbs in realistic conversations? Just take a look below! BusyTeacher.org even has modal verb worksheets designed around popular song lyrics, so your students can show off their newfound understanding of those songs to their friends.
All these worksheets have been created and shared by ESL teachers around the world - teachers just like you, who want to help each other improve the learning potential of their classrooms. They’ve been generous enough to make every worksheet on this site completely free to download, share, modify, and use as you like - you don’t even have to register on our site. All we ask is that, if you have a worksheet of your own that you’d like to share, you click the “Submit a worksheet” button at the bottom of this page to contribute it to our ever-growing community.
BusyTeacher.org’s convenient thumbnail view makes it easy to browse our 601 modal verb worksheets at a glance, without having to click and download each one just to see what it looks like. You can even save time by checking out the top ten most popular modal verb worksheets on BusyTeacher.org, or use the search function at the top of the page to pinpoint exactly the worksheets you’re looking for. We’re sure that, one way or another, you’ll find the worksheet you need. And we’re sure your class will love it!
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In this worksheet, kids look at the pictures of sports and hobbies and then put the words in order to make a CAN / CAN`T sentence. As a follow up they use the same pictures to do a read and ma ...
Do you say 'I can to read' or 'I can read' ? Do we say 'She can drive' or 'She cans drive' ? Explain to students the rules that apply to this modal verb and then check their understanding with ...
Students read the text and have to use "should have" and "could have" to discuss the obvious mistakes Marsha made on her job interview. People preparing for a job interview will also learn about h ...
This worksheet contains some strange (some weird) laws from the history of different countries and cities (New York, England, Switzerland, France, Scotland). Your students can use them to practice ...
This test on CAN, ANIMALS and IMPERATIVES has two sets that look the same at first glance but they have some little differences to prevent students from PEEPING. If one of them tries to cheat by ...
This is a nice matching activity where Ss have to find the corresponding cards to describe what people of different professions have to do in their line of job. Then they have to create sentences ...
This is a form Ss have to fill out and then ask the people in class to check if their guesses are true. Contains questions that will require the use of various modal verbs. Works great with upper ...
This is a short exercise that is very useful to revise descriptions and to introduce the interrogative form of the modal verb CAN. It has been specially designed for elementary students aged betwe ...
Rules:
Mix up all the cards. Place them upside down on the table in front of you. They should not be on top of each other. One person should turn over two cards so both players can see them. If ...
This worksheet consists of two parts: reading and writing. Student's practice body parts vocabulary, verbs, have got/has got, can/cannot, Present Continuous. There are questions after the text. In ...
This worksheet is for practicing "can". I use it for elementary level students. The first part is a questionnaire for children to move around the class and ask questions, the second part is for wr ...
I've used this after reading the story of King Arthur. This worksheet includes various activities to do before and after watching "The Sword in the Stone"( matching, gap-filling and answering q ...
This is another option if you want to have a 'fix you' lesson (there's already a very good lesson on this website for this song). This lesson is aimed at the lower spectrum of students compared to ...
I'd strongly advise against showing the video clip to a group of teens because it shows drugs and other non PC stuff. However, the song is fine, and this worksheet is intended for that age group. ...
This worksheet is a list of household activities that your students need to rank according to how much experience they've got with each of them. They will be marking them as follows:
1. I can do ...
It is a quick 2-exercise test on modal structures (can, could, must, have to, should, may, be allowed to). The first exercise is a gap-filling with a correct form (positive, negative, present, pas ...
These are 2 flashcards to practice should/shouldn't grammar structures as well as countable/uncountable nouns. Students look at the pictures and make statements about what they should or shouldn't ...
This worksheet is to work with primary students on the topic of wild animals, prepositions, can for ability and you can also revise colours. Ss watch a part of the film and then do the activities ...
This worksheet will be good for studying survaval and disaster vocabulary and for should/shouldn't. Example questions: What kind of disasters do you know? Do you know someone who survived a disast ...
This is a test designed for the Elementary level. It includes two parts: grammar (2 exercises) and lexics. Mainly for Russian users, nevertheless you may change the translation exercise into your ...
Well, it's nice to have this website as a resource for our English classes. My worksheet is about "can" to describe abilities. First, it contains some musical intruments so that students can speak ...
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