Will - The Modal Verb of prediction and volunteering

 

Will

Volunteering

When you volunteer to do something, to help someone, you use the modal verb will.

Will is used to express the future. Here, The job you volunteer to do will be in the immediate or far future.

Will can be contracted with the subject pronoun.

I will - I’ll              You will - you’ll                  he will - he’ll

she will - she’ll                  they will - they’ll               it will - it’ll

E.g.,

I'll help you carry that bag.

(You are not presently carrying it, you are volunteering to carry the bag)

 

Shall can be used in the place of will but it's not used often nowadays.

E.g.,

I shall help you do the homework.

 

Prediction

Prediction is a statement about the future. As the future is uncertain, the credibility of a prediction statement is uncertain.

The modal verb will is used to make predictions.

E.g.,

You will be a star in the future.

You will meet the woman of your dreams in 5 days.

 

Lesson plan activity

The students will sit in pairs facing each other. One has to roleplay as a fortune teller. The other has to role play as a customer. Each team is given ten cards. The cards should be placed face down on the desk, and the customer has to pick one or more. The fortune teller will have to make 5 predictions about the customer by looking at the cards (it can be a standard 52 – card deck or any game cards, and let them use their imagination. Game cards are more fun).  The fortune teller can also ask personal questions.

Then they must interchange roles and do the same.

Time: 20 minutes.

Read More

Modal verbs of Probability - Must, Could, May, and Might

Probability means the chances of something happening; Something likely to happen. We use probability modal verbs must, may, might, and could when we are uncertain about something and are making a guess.

 

Must

We use must when we are sure about something. We mostly use must when there is evidence to support the statement but still not 100% sure.

E.g.,

She must be on her way. She told me she left the house.

It must be raining outside. I can hear the sound.

 

Also, in case of must, When we are sure of something that's not happening, we use can't, not mustn't. Mustn’t is not used for probability statements.

Can't, in case of probability, is used to express disbelief.

E.g.,

It can't be Keanu Reeves; he's a celebrity. He won't use public transport.

 

Could

We use could when the possibility is high but not as high as must.

E.g.,

He could be busy. I don't want to disturb him.

 

May/might

We use may when the possibility of something happening is higher than 50%.

We use might when the possibility of something happening is less than 50%.

E.g.,

It might rain tomorrow.

They might not win the match if they keep fighting with each other.

I may not be able to make it to the concert tomorrow. I have a lot of work to do.

 

Past tense

When we are unsure or not 100% sure of something that happened in the past, we use modal verb+have+past participle.

E.g.,

I must have forgotten to bring his notebook.

I can’t have missed the train; I arrived on time.

That was a risky shot. He could have missed the goal.

I may/might have gotten the flu. I can't taste anything.

Lesson Plan

Read More

Modal verbs of Obligation and Advice - Must & Should

Obligation

Must

When there is a strong necessity(obligation) to do something like a set of rules to follow or duties to perform, we use the modal verb must.

E.g.,

You must only use blue ink pen for the exam.

 

Must not - Negative

Must not implies that there is a strong obligation not to do something.

E.g.,

You must not eat during class.

 

There are two things you must note,

1. Negative form of the must is not no obligation. It's an obligation of what not to do.

E.g.,

You must not eat during class.

Must not expresses the obligation that you must not eat during class.

2. Must neither has a past form nor any attachments to indicate the past. In some cases of modals, to refer to the past, you use modal+have+past participle. But if you use that with must, it becomes a prediction sentence.

E.g.,

He must have stolen the jewelry.

It's not an obligation. It's a prediction/deduction sentence.

 

So, to indicate the opposite of obligation, and to express an obligation that was implied in the past, we use have to and don't have to.

Have to

Have to is the same as must. It imposes a strong obligation.

E.g.,

I have to attend the meeting. I am an important board member.

 

Don’t have to - Negative

Don't have to means there is no obligation to do things. It’s up to the person's decision.

E.g.,

You don't have to clean the car. It will rain today. You can just leave it in the rain.

 

Had to – Past

Had to expresses obligation that was implied in the past.

E.g.,

I had to wear hand me down clothes when j was a kid since my family couldn't afford new ones.

 

Advice and Suggestion

Should

Should is used when you suggest or advise someone to do something. Suggestions and advice are weaker obligations.

E.g.,

You should go see a doctor. You are burning.

 

Should not – Negative.

E.g.,

You shouldn't wander in the streets at night. It's dangerous. Go home.

 

Should have/shouldn’t have - Past

The past form expresses regret for not following a suggestion or advice.

E.g.,

You did not pass the entrance exam. You should've studied harder.

I shouldn't have left school so late. I missed the train.

Lesson plan

Worksheet

Read More

Modal verbs of Permission and Request - May, Could, and Can

May, could, and can

 

Modal verbs: could, may, and can are used with the infinitive to express permission and request statements.

Asking for permission and making requests are very similar and can be confusing.

 

Permission

Asking someone to allow you to do something is asking for permission.

E.g.,

May I open the presents now?

Could I go outside to play? It stopped raining.

No Jim, it's still drizzling.

 

(May can only be used with the first person)

 

Request

Asking something from the second person or asking the second person to do something is making a request.

E.g.,

Could you open the window? It's hot inside.

Can you raise the volume? I can't hear from the back.

 

Points to remember:

1.    Permissions and requests are made. They are interrogative - yes/no questions. Granting permission and agreeing or disagreeing to take a request is mostly said without the modal verb. The answers received are usually monosyllabic.

E.g.,

Can you open this jar? I can't open it. It's tight.

     Sure.

2.    Could and may are formal and polite.               

3.    Can is only slightly informal, and it is preferred and used more often than could and may.

4.    All permissions are requests, but not all requests are permissions.

5.    May can only be used with the first person.

Lesson Plan

Materials and worksheets

Read More

Modal verbs of Ability - Can & Could

Modals of ability

Model verbs can & could are used to express ability.

It is used as an expression to show that you have: a special skill, a talent, the strength to do something.

E.g.,

I can swim like a pro.

It is also used to express the ability to do a specific task.

E.g.,

I can’t help you. I am busy.

Can

Can is used to express the ability you currently possess (in the present).

E.g.,

I can play guitar. My dad taught me to play.

I have been working out. I can now lift 100 kg.

I can run faster than you. Do you wanna see? Let's race.

 

Cannot (negative form)

Cannot is the negative form of can. Cannot must be written and pronounced as a single word. Contracted form – can’t.

Can not  ❌

Cannot  ✔️

 

Cannot is used to express the inability to do something.

E.g.,

I cannot lift heavy weights anymore. I’ve become old.

I can play violin, but I cannot play guitar.

I can’t cook today. I’m exhausted from all the work in the office.

Teachers notes: can is a tricky modal verb. It can be used in almost any type of situation like permission, volunteering, etc., But it pertains to its ability expressing quality.

E.g.,

Can I go outside?

You can but you may not.

Here, the request is rejected but the person asking is recognized as being capable of going out.

 

Could

Could is used to express the ability one possessed in the past but no longer in the present.

E.g.,

I could touch my toes without bending my knees when I was six.

 

Could not (negative form)

Could not is used to express the ability that one did not possess to do a task in the past. Contracted form – couldn’t.

E.g.,

I couldn't speak until I was 4. My parents were very worried.

Lesson Plan

Materials and Worksheets

Sample images

Worksheet

Read More

Modal verbs - Introduction and Rules to follow

Modal verbs

Introduction

Model verbs are a handy set of verbs that adds additional information to the main verb.

A statement can express possibility, ability, obligation, permission, or advice to the verb depending on the modal verb added with the verb.

The Modal verbs are: can, could, shall, should, will, would, may, might, and must.

One modal verb can be used to express various things.

For example, the modal verb “can” can be used to express ability, permission, and request.

I can play the piano

Can I go to the restroom?

Can you open the window? It's too hot.

 

It's better to understand which modal can be used in a particular situation than to memorize which situation can a modal be particularly used in since It can be quite confusing cramming the different situations one modal can express.

 

Rules for modal verb usage

Rule1: A modal verb is always followed by the base verb.

A modal verb is always followed immediately by an infinitive without the “to” in a normal sentence.

Subject+modal verb+infinitive

E.g.:

     I        |       will         |    teach   |  you how to write the Japanese kanji script.

Subject  |  modal verb  | infinitive |

 

Rule2: Modal verb comes first in a question sentence.

 In interrogative sentences, Modal verbs are followed by the subject and the verb.

Modal+subject+infinitive

E.g.:

Would    |     you    |     like     |     a sample of this meatball? The sample is free.

Modal    |  subject  | infinitive|

 

Rule3: Modal verb does not have different tense forms.

Modal verbs, unlike other verbs, do not have different forms for different tenses.

E.g.:

Can        ✔️                   caned, cans     ❌

 

Rule4: “Not” is added after the modal for negative form.

For negative form, “not” must be added immediately after the modal and nowhere else in the sentence.

(The negative form of can – cannot is a single word and should not be written separately as can not)

Negative forms	Contractions
Cannot	Can’t
Could not	Couldn’t
Shall not	Shan’t
Should not	Shouldn’t
Will not	Won’t
Would not	Wouldn’t
Must not	Mustn’t
May not	-
Might not	-

 Worksheet

 

Read More

Unless and Until

Usage of unless and until can be confusing at times, even though they are completely different from each other except the fact that they are both conjunctions. So, let's break down the concept and see how we can deliver a class that better explains them.

Unless

Unless simply means if not -i.e., it is the opposite of if.

Unless is a conjunction that refers to a condition not being fulfilled or met.

Some rules for using unless

¾       It is followed by a condition.
¾       The condition cannot have any negative words (since unless itself is negative).
¾       The condition cannot be in the future tense.
¾       The consequence of being incapable of fulfilling/not meeting the condition can come before or after the unless+condition sentence.

E.g.,

“I will not go to school unless Mom drives me,” said little Timmy after his dad scolded him.

Unless I see God with my own eyes, I won't believe in the concept.

Since unless is opposite to if, when the if condition is positive, the result of the condition should be converted to its opposite while converting if to unless.

E.g.,

If you pass this test, you will graduate high school.

You will not graduate high school unless you pass this test.

I would advise you not to approach the unless conjunction until you have taught the conditional clauses.

 

Until

Until simply means before and up to the time given.

It is a conjunction that is used where time is the condition.

The period is constrained by the time given.

E.g.,

You cannot leave the class until you complete the assignment.

The time taken to complete the assignment is the time constraint. You cannot leave the class before completing the assignment, no matter how long it takes to complete it.

My voice did not break until I was 13.

Before and up to 13, my voice did not break. The time constraint is the period till 13.

 

This lesson only takes about 15 minutes. So, I did not attach a lesson plan to it. But I've attached a material you can use as handout.

Material

Read More

At On In - Part II Prepositions addressing time

 

To visit At On In - Part I - Prepositions addressing places click here

At, on, and in – Prepositions addressing time

At is used to address a specific time. Hence, the target center.

I came home at 5:30 pm.

The train leaves at 12:30.

On is used to address the day or date of an event. It also includes special days like Independence Day, festival days, etc., It is not specific about the time. it only addresses the day of the event. Hence, the red circle.

I have to work on Saturdays.

They are getting married on 25^th January.

The streets will be lit up with colorful lights on Christmas eve.

In is used to address the month, the year, the seasons, the decade, the century, and any other description of a long time. It addresses a long period of time. hence, the larger, blue circle.

I’m leaving India in November.

We live in the 21^st century.

World War II came to an end in the year 1945.

Lesson plan

Materials

Questions

Read More

At On In - Part I - Prepositions addressing places

 

English is not an easy language to learn and prepositions contribute a lot in making it difficult. As a teacher, I think it’s necessary we don’t cram a lot of prepositions into students’ heads. They should have enough time and practice to get familiar with the target language.

And, if you have a trick to make the concepts easier to grasp, the better.

This target practice method is such a trick to learn prepositions of places and time at, on, and in.

At, on, and in – Prepositions addressing Places

At addresses the exact location. Hence, the target center.

I am at the gas station.

I live at 3/125, Smallville apartment.

I bought the book at the book exhibition.

On addresses where the exact location is. E.g., the floor in the apartment, the street, the avenue, the road, the colony, the route, etc., the accuracy is less. Hence, the red circle.

I bought the pizza at the Pizza hut on the Bakers St.

My car broke down on the Washington road.

In addresses a wider area. The whole city, the state, the country, etc., hence, the larger blue circle.

I got a job in Japan.

My friend owns a house in Nebraska.

The news reported a volcanic eruption in the Philippines.

Lesson Plan

Materials

Questions

At On In - Part II - Addressing time click here

Read More

Cartoons for Children - Part 1

The influence of cartoons on kids will always be a concern to parents. Cartoons do have positive and negative impacts on children. While they influence the children’s language acquisition and cognitive ability to a great extent, parents are concerned about some unwelcomed behavior the children learn from certain cartoons.

So, when I suggest to parents a list of cartoons that the children can watch at home, or to a teacher who can use these cartoons during class, I have to make sure the cartoons that I suggest are gems.

Here is a list of 90s cartoons that teach no violence and encourages no bad intentions or behaviors. They are safe, very imaginative, filled with life lessons, and teach many more positive skills.

And teachers, these cartoons are colorful, filled with vocabulary, and the dialogue pace is perfect for students to learn the English language.

Through this blog, I do not encourage children to spend a lot of time on cartoons. This is just a guide to good cartoons that do not require parental guidance and supervision. It is important to remember that too much of anything is poison, so Parents should restrict the amount of time spent on these cartoons.

I’ve categorized the cartoons according to the appropriate age groups.

3 & 4-year-olds

Dora the Explorer

This is a superfamous show premiered in the year 2000. It even has a movie adaptation. Dora, a seven-year-old girl, embarks on various adventures with her monkey pal Boots. She carries a backpack and a map for her adventure. The best part of this cartoon is, it’s interactive. Well, it’s a one-sided interaction written script but the children don’t have to know that. Songs, vocabulary, interaction, this cartoon is a package.

Children would enjoy this show. They’ll answer Dora’s questions, will sing along with her, and will learn a lot from the adventure they had with her.

Franny’s feet

Franny's feet is a sweet cartoon that aired in the year 2004. Franny Fantootsie is a six-year-old girl who is transported to a different world whenever she wears the shoes that are in her grandpa’s shoe repair shop. The world she goes to depends on the type of shoes she wears. If she wears snow boots, she goes on a snowy adventure; if she wears ballet shoes, she dances ballet on stage. At the end of every adventure, when she comes back, she finds a souvenir in her shoe from the place she went to. She makes new friends in each world and helps them solve their problems.

4 to 6-year-olds

Bob the Builder

Bob the builder was aired in the year 1998. It was one of the most successful cartoons in the UK. Bob is a building contractor. With his colleague Wendy and his talking work vehicles, Bob can fix anything. From the show’s catchphrase “Can we fix it? Yes, we can!”, we can understand what the show is about. The show develops problem-solving skills, teaches teamwork, socializing skills (Bob is very friendly.), and many other skills.

Make way for Noddy

Make way for Noddy is a British cartoon aired in the year 2002. Noddy is a taxi driver in Toyland. He also owns a plane. He is portrayed as a curious, impulsive kid who drives a taxi. He often gets into trouble but his friends always help him. We have Big Ears, a wise old gnome who gives good advice to Noddy and guides him towards the right path; we have Dinah Doll, a sister figure to Noddy, who owns a shop; we have the goblin brothers, who are the reason why Noddy gets into trouble most of the time and many more characters.

Oswald

Oswald was aired in 2001. In a colorful, big city (literally named “The Big City”) with anthropomorphic characters, lives Oswald – the blue octopus. Oswald is a very optimistic, polite, caring, friendly octopus. He is blue, wears a hat, and lives in an apartment with his dog Weenie. He is the best character ever written in a cartoon. His best friends are his neighbor Henry the penguin, and Daisy the flower. Oswald lives a peaceful life. He is always there for his friends, and he never hesitates to help anyone. He plays the piano, he sings, he dances, and he enjoys every moment of his life. He is still one of my role models. The show is very engaging. It gives a peaceful and pleasant aura. When you watch this show, you’ll feel extremely relaxed. This show gives me hope that there is hope for humanity, and people are good. Yes, I am a big fan of this series.

The only thing wrong about this show is, its short. It only has 26 episodes.

The show is like a jackpot for vocabulary. Highly recommended.

6 to 9-year-olds

Dragon tales

"I wish, I wish, with all my heart, to fly with dragons in a land apart." is the chant you say to go on adventures in the land of dragons. Siblings Max and Emmy find a magical dragon scale which, when held and the chant recited, will take them to the Dragon Land. There, they befriend the dragons - Ord, Cassie, Zak, Wheezie, and the wise Quetzal, and go on many adventures with them.

This show won the Parent’s Choice Award several times and was nominated thrice for Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Children's Animated Program in 2001, 2002, and 2003.

Harry and his bucket full of dinosaurs

Adapted from the book - Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs written and drawn by Ian Whybrow and Adrian Reynolds, this show was aired in the year 2005. Harry has a bucket full of dinosaurs. To him, the dinosaurs talk but in others' eyes, they are toys. Harry jumps into the bucket that transports him to the Dinoworld where his dinosaur friends become dinosaur size! Like dragon tales, he goes on adventures, solving problems, and having fun.

9 to 13-year-olds 

(entertaining for teenagers and adults too)

Scooby-doo, where are you!

If anyone says they don’t know Scooby-doo, they are either lying or very unfortunate. Scooby-doo was one of the best things that came out of Hannah-Barbera and Warner Brothers Productions. This classic show written by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears involves a group of friends Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, and Norville "Shaggy" Rogers, and their talking brown Great Dane Scooby-Doo solving supernatural mysteries and mishaps.

Pokémon

"Pokémon? That’s not violent free! The Pokémon fight each other!"

Well, Pokémon is an exception. The good outweighs the bad, so it cannot be ignored as a potential cartoon for children. I grew up watching Pokémon. If there’s an anime that teaches you to chase your dreams and never give up on it, that’s Pokémon. Although its origin is Japanese, the English dubbing team for this anime has done an excellent job.

Evolved from card games to video games, and video games to tv series, the Pokémon series has been on and running since 1997. With over 1119 episodes (still airing), 23 movies, 8 TV specials, 25 side stories, and 896 Pokémons, it becomes one of the biggest anime franchises in the animation industry.

Pokémon does not teach or encourage violence. It teaches kids to treat animals with kindness. I recommend you to watch the very first episode, and you’ll understand its concept. It teaches the importance of friendship, trust, compassion, willpower, and many more.

Honorable mentions

These cartoons definitely would've made the list if it weren't for a few issues. Teenagers would love these cartoons.

1.       Phineas and Ferb (the characters use construction tools without supervision.)

2.       Kid vs Kat (the cat is an alien that wishes to destroy the earth.)

3.       The Powerpuff Girls (violence)

4.       Code name: kids next door (some unwanted behaviors)

 

These series are available for sales on DVDs in their respective official websites or in Amazon.

 I grew up watching these cartoons. I wrote this blog with such nostalgia. What was your favorite cartoon? Let me know in the comments.

Read More