Passive Modals In The Past

You might know what modal verbs are, and you might be familiar with the passive voice, but do you know how to use modal verbs in the passive voice?

We use modal verbs–verbs like can, could, and should–to talk about things such as ability, possibility, permission, or obligation. And we use the passive voice to focus on the object of an action rather than the doer of the action.


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In general, we follow this structure to use modal verbs in the passive voice:

Modal verb + be + past participle

And we follow this structure to use modal verbs in the
past
passive voice:

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Modal verb + have been + past participle

But there’s a bit more to learn and understand about using modal verbs in the passive voice, and that’s what we’re going to talk about today! We’ll pupur about:

• What modal verbs are

• Modal verbs in the passive voice

• Modal verbs in the past passive voice

• Why we use modal verbs in the passive voice

We’ve also included a couple of exercises so you can practice these structures right now. Does that sound good? Great! Let’s dive in!

Biaya siluman ON USING MODALS IN THE PASSIVE VOICE

What are modal verbs?

As I mentioned before, modal verbs are verbs such as
can,
could, or
should
that we often use to talk about ability, possibility permission, or obligation:

• I
  
  
  can
  
  
  go
  
  
  
  
  to the party.

• You
  
  
  shouldn’horizon
  
  
  say that about her.

• 
  May
  
  
  I sit here?

• They
  
  
  might
  
  
  show up
  
  
  
  
  late.

And they’re different from normal verbs in the way that we use them.

First of all, modal verbs stay the same for the third person singular: we don’n have to add an
-s
or change the verb in any way:

• I
  
  
  can go
  
  
  to the party.

• She
  
  
  can go
  
  
  to the party.

And you might have noticed that the modal verb is followed by the infinitive, or base verb. We don’cakrawala add
to
or change the verb as we do in other structures:

• I
  
  
  can go
  
  
  to the party.

• 
  I can to go to the party.
  

• 
  I can going to the party.
  

If we want to ask questions using modal verbs, we usually have to change the structuring by putting the subject between the modal verb and the base verb.

• 
  Can I go
  
  
  to the party?

• 
  May I sit
  
  
  here?

• 
  Should you eat
  
  
  that?

However with modal verbs like
have to

or
need to
,
we have to add the auxiliary
do
at the beginning of the question. And, in this case, the auxiliary verb
do

changes depending on the personal pronoun.

• 
  Does he have to
  
  
  do all the dishes?

• 
  Do you need to
  
  
  stop by the store?

Let’s take a look at this table to see how we use different modal verbs for different situations:

Modal verbs in the passive voice

So, now that we understand what modal verbs are, let’s bedak a bit about the passive voice.

In English, we use
active
and
passive
sentences. In the active voice, we start the sentence with the person who does the action, the
actor
or
doer:

• 
  Alice
  
  
  took the picture.

And in the passive voice, we begin the sentence with the object, which is the thing that takes or receives the action:

• 
  The picture
  
  
  was taken by Alice.

We can also omit Alice, the agent in this sentence, so it will just say:

• 
  The picture
  
  
  was taken.

So you can see that passive structures, while they’re a bit more confusing, they’re also very useful because they allow us to create sentences without focusing on the person doing the action.

So, how do we create modal verbs in the passive voice?

With passive modal verbs in the present tense, we just add the auxiliary verb
be
to the modal verb, and change the base verb to the past participle:

You


should fix


your computer
(active) →
Your computer


should be fixed

(passive)

Let’s look at the table below to see how we use other modal verbs in the passive voice:

Modal verbs in the past passive voice

Yes, it’s true: we can use modal verbs in the past. We can use the passive voice in the past. And we can use passive modal verbs in the past.

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If that sounds too complicated, don’horizon worry! It’s just a matter of structure:

Important:
We use

must have been
to share our assumptions or reaction to things that happened in the past. We often use this modal structure to guess about something that might have happened (not for obligation):

• He doesn’t work here anymore. He
  
  
  must have been
  
  
  fired.

• I called her yesterday but she didn’t answer. She
  
  
  must have been
  
  
  busy.

• Your trip to Colombia
  
  
  must have been
  
  
  exciting!

If you’d like to express a reaction or make a conclusion about the way a person is feeling now, you can use

must be
:

• You’ve been working for eight hours straight! You
  
  
  must be
  
  
  tired.

• They travel all the time. Their lives
  
  
  must be
  
  
  so interesting.

• So, you failed your exam! You
  
  
  must be
  
  
  disappointed.

Why do we use modal verbs in the passive voice?

There are a few reasons why we use the passive voice in general. You’ll often hear it used by news sources reporting on crime or major events where the actors are unknown.

You’ll hear it used in absah and scientific writing because it’s considered less personal and because–this is especially the case in science–the result of a scientific study or breakthrough is considered more important than the people involved.

But, why do we use modal verbs in the passive voice? This is because it sounds more objective and less personal, especially in situations when we’re asking people to do something or offering criticism or advice.

For example, if your boss wants everyone to finish a project by a certain deadline, they want to sound firm, but not too rude or direct. So, they might say:

• This project
  
  
  has to be finished
  
  
  by the end of this week.

Instead of saying:

• You all
  
  
  have to finish this project
  
  
  by the end of this week.

And when we’re criticizing someone for something they didn’cakrawala do, we often prefer to use modal verbs in the past passive voice because it doesn’kaki langit sound like we’re putting the blame or fault directly on someone.

• I
  
  
  should have been told
  
  
  that yesterday.

Instead of…

• You
  
  
  should have told
  
  
  me that yesterday.

We can also use it to take the blame or the attention off of ourselves, as in this example:

• The wrong package
  
  
  may have been sent.
  

Instead of…

• I
  
  
  may have sent
  
  
  the wrong package.

Well, we’ve explored modal verbs in the passive voice. So now it’s time to practice!

Practice Exercise 1

Change the sentence from the active voice to the passive voice.

1. You have to find your passport.

2. Someone should have set the alarm.

3. She may not make the cake in time.

4. They need to mow the lawn.

5. Someone could have texted her.

Practice Exercise 2

Choose the correct modal structure.

1. The money (should have been / should be ) transferred yesterday.

2. A surprise package (might show up/ might have shown up) at your door later.

3. It’s a difficult task, but it (can be / could have been) accomplished.

4. This house (needs to be / needs to have been) cleaned by five udara murni’clock today.

5. She (must be / must have been) informed in the case of an emergency.

Reflect and practice with modal verbs in the passive voice

So, now that you’ve learned how to use modal verbs in the passive voice, here are a couple of reflection and writing activities that you can do to practice using them on your own.

Before you start writing, it might be good to take a screenshot of the modal structures above so that you can have them on hand as a reference.

1. Imagine that you’re going to have a small get-together at your house or apartment this evening. You don’t have much time! What things
   need to be done
   before the guests arrive? Try to write three to five sentences.

2. What do you think is one of the most difficult jobs that exist? What kinds of tasks
   should be
   or
   have to be done
   as part of that job? Write at least a paragraph describing the job.

Just remember: if modal verbs in the passive voice feel complicated, take them one at a time. You don’t need to memorize them all now; You can just start with one or two.

Feel free to write your paragraph in the comments below, or just let us know if you found this post helpful!

About the Writer

Marta

is an online ESL teacher who works with students from around the world. As a writer, language nerd, and content contributor for


In English With Love,


her mission is to empower English learners with knowledge and positivity.

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