Modal Verbs are a group of auxiliary verbs, i.e., can, should, must, which express conditions such as possibility, ability, necessity, obligation, and permission. They are usually followed by the main verb:
I can do this. Puedo hacer esto.
I must study for the exam. Debo estudiar para el examen.
Here they are:
In general, they are immediately followed by the main verb, but here you see an exception in “I try to learn French”, which could be “intento aprender francés” o “trato de aprender francés”. Why do we put “de” here? This is because the verb “tratar” has two different meanings:
Trato de aprender francés. I try to learn French.
Trato bien a mis amigos. I treat my friends well.
So, in order to distinguish, we put “de” in the first case. You will see more about verbs with more than one meaning in another blog.
Also remember that “querer”, meaning “to want” as a modal verb, could be used in the present tense or in the conditional when we want to sound more polite:
Quiero comprar ese vestido. I want to buy that dress.
Quisiera beber un café. I would like to drink a coffee.
We use “quisiera” when we are asking something, for example, in a bar or restaurant. It sounds rude to say “quiero”.
In a similar way, we have two forms of “poder” (be able to), the present tense or the conditional:
Puedo correr muy rápido. I can run very fast.
¿Podría abrir la ventana? May I open the window?
Since in Spanish we do not have a specific verb to request permission, we use the conditional form of “poder”, which is “podría”, to sound more polite.
Here you have some useful questions with “poder”:
¿Puedes decirme? Can you tell me?
¿Puedes darme? Can you give me?
¿Puedo pedirte? May I ask you? (when you request something)
¿Puedo preguntarte? May I ask you a question? (when you make a question)
And last but not least, we have two forms of the verb “deber” (must), the present tense or the conditional, with different meanings:
Debo comer ahora porque luego tengo una clase. I must eat now because I have a class later.
Debería comer más verduras. I should eat more vegetables.
