Developer English guide
Modal Verbs for Developers
October 9, 2026
Modal verbs let you express ability, permission, possibility, obligation, advice, and polite requests — 'can', 'should', 'must', and the rest of this short, high-impact list. They behave differently from regular verbs, and that difference is the same for every one of them. Each modal below has its own page with detailed explanations and exercises.
Grammar generalities (true for every modal verb)
- Modal verbs are always followed by the base form of the verb — the infinitive without 'to': can write, must deploy, should fix. Never can writes, must to deploy, or should fixing.
- Modal verbs never add -s for he/she/it: she can code, not she cans code.
- Negatives are formed with modal + not — no extra auxiliary needed: cannot/can't, could not/couldn't, must not/mustn't.
- Questions are formed by moving the modal before the subject — no 'do/does' needed: Can you...? Should we...?
- The one exception: 'ought to' is the only common modal that IS followed by 'to' + base verb: You ought to document this.
The modal verbs
- Learn it + practice →
can
Ability, permission, and general possibility — 'I can fix that.'
- Learn it + practice →
could
Polite requests, past ability, and softer possibility — 'Could you review this?'
- Learn it + practice →
may
Formal permission and possibility — 'You may deploy once QA signs off.'
- Learn it + practice →
might
Weaker possibility and tentative suggestions — 'This might fail under load.'
- Learn it + practice →
must
Strong obligation and logical deduction — 'All PRs must pass CI.'
- Learn it + practice →
should
Advice and expectation — 'You should add a test for that.'
- Learn it + practice →
would
Polite requests and hypothetical results — 'Would you mind reviewing this?'
- Learn it + practice →
ought to
Advice and moral obligation, more formal than 'should' — 'We ought to document this.'
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Written by
Roxana LafuenteLingua-e's founder
Roxana Lafuente is a software engineer with 8+ years of experience. At the beginning of her career, even though she had already passed the First Certificate in English, she still froze every time she had to speak up in the daily standup. That was a gap nobody was fixing. After 2,000+ standups, she figured out what actually builds fluency: practice that looks like your real work. She built Lingua-e so other developers wouldn't have to take the long road to feel confident working in an international development environment.