A selection of English ESL modal verbs printables

This worksheet is to work on grammar learnt for Modal verbs - can, could, must, must not, should, have to

Designed for two students but can be done as a group excercise.

Student A to create questions, Student B to find answers

Hostel Rules - excercise to work on Modal verbs

The above downloadable worksheet is meant for high school students and adults at intermediate level. It's great for consolidating grammar. 



Activity: Rewrite each sentence so it has a similar meaning to the first, using the words in brackets

PRACTICE (Conditionals, Modal Verbs, Relative Clauses, Reported Speech)

Worksheet contains 4 exercises in one: Modal Verbs, Past Simple, Video, Quiz. Each exercise is centered around the theme of Travel. Students will formulate past simple questions, do a listening comprehension, and a country quiz at the end.

TRAVEL WORKSHEET - Modal Verbs, Past Simple, Video, Quiz

5 page Activity about modal verbs. This is a review of the many different forms of modals and is useful as a review for intermediate students. This would be useful as a vocabulary review.

Modal Verbs Review and Rules of Usage - 5 Pages

This exercise sheet includes a bunch of exercises with which people are going to have the opportunity of practising modal verbs, the differences between gerunds and infinitives and of past tenses and relative clauses. Besides, there are, as well, a reading and a listening task. 

Modal verbs, relative clauses, past tenses, gerunds and infinitives

Really brief worksheet on modal verbs and how we use them grammatically correctly. Answers for (5): 13. Do you know where they will live? 14. Do you know how many times I should bow? 15. Do you know if I can come? Answers for (6): 16. OQ: What (song) should Mr Wonder sing at their wedding? (object = As) SQ: Who should sing ("As") at their wedding? (subject = Mr Wonder)

Modal Verbs - affirmatives, negatives, interrogatives, indirect questions, subject questions

Some exercises to practise Present, Past, Future Tenses, Questions, Modal Verbs and Pronouns. Greyscale + KEY included. Hope you can use it with your sts. Enjoy your week. Hugs mada :) 

Grammar revision *Present, Past, Future Tenses, Questions, Modal Verbs, Pronouns*

12 dilemma cards for asking for and giving advice. Perfect for practicing modal verbs should and shouldn’t. This activity can be done in groups or as a class mingle activity.


If you have time, it’s worth laminating these cards so that you can use them over and over again.



Happy teaching! 



What Should I Do? Modal Verbs of Advice Card Activity

a B1+ B2 C1 level Worksheet with a reading and questions and 2 exercises on Phrasal verbs found in the article. I have interlaced the reading with discussion questions. I also took away the phrasal verbs (made it a gap fill) and made it into a listening for a higher level. Hope your groups enjoy it too. 

READING: Biggest Bridge in World , China- Modals Verbs -B2 C1

A grammar worksheet themed around gym culture and etiquette, focusing on modal verbs (must, have to, should, might, could, can’t). Students learn how to give advice, express obligation, and discuss possibility through real-world fitness examples. Includes a grammar explanation, gap-fill tasks, a Joey Swoll reading for comprehension, gym etiquette scenarios, a rule-writing task, and a sentence builder activity. Suitable for teens and young adults at B1 level. Great for conversation practice and engagement!

Bro Code of Conduct – Modal Verbs Worksheet (B1, Gym Theme)

This worksheet explores the topic of climate change and energy through reading, lexical chunks, guided speaking, and light grammar integration. It can be used over multiple lessons or divided between classroom and homework work. Students begin by building topic-specific vocabulary (lexical chunks), then apply this language in context by reading realistic panel-style debates on climate and energy. Follow-up tasks include comprehension questions, speaking prompts, a gap fill activity focused on environmental vocabulary, and a mini grammar section on modal verbs for advice and obligation. The worksheet is designed to support Maturita preparation and encourage critical thinking, while also reinforcing fluency and opinion-building skills. Suitable for B1-level learners and up.

Voices on Climate and Energy : Lexical chunks and modal verbs

The above downloadable worksheet is meant for high school students and adults at intermediate level. It's grea for consolidating grammar. It's  a multiple choice activity

GRAMMAR WORKSHEET: (PREPOSITIONS, MODAL VERBS, RELATIVE PRONOUNS, DETERMINERS, LINKERS, VERB TENSES)

Culture, intercultural communication, cross-cultural communication

Adjectives to describe feelings, emotions

Adjectives to describe personality and character

Adjectives: Gradable / Non-gradable adjectives

Articles: Definite or indefinite article (a, an or the)

BE + infinitive structures (e.g. he was to become famous)

Clauses of contrast (e.g.  although, while)

Clauses of purpose (e.g. in order to, so that, so as to)

Clauses of reason (e.g. because, because of, due to, as, since)

Cleft sentences (e.g. It's Joey we're looking for)

Comparison: Comparative adjectives and structures

Comparison: Superlative adjectives and structures

Conditional 2 (second conditional) - would

Conditionals: Conditional phrases (e.g. unless, provided that, as long as)

Conjunctions (aka connectives, e.g. and, but, or, so, then)

Contractions (shortened forms, e.g. don't, aren't, etc.)

Determiners (words that can come before nouns)

Formal and informal English (politeness or colloquial language)

Future perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Future perfect simple and continuous (progressive) tense

Future phrases (e.g. be about to, bound to, likely to, due to, set to + INF)

Homonyms (two words with the same pronunciation - homophones and homographs)

It as preparatory subject (e.g. it's raining, it's nice of you to)

Linking verbs (aka copulas, e.g. I am a student)

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how to accuse somebody of something in English

how to apologize, say sorry, forgive and express regret in English

how to ask for information and make inquiries in English

how to ask for something, make requests in English

how to blame somebody for something in English

how to defend yourself from criticism in English

how to deny or admit something in English

how to describe things or people in English

how to emphasize important things in English

how to encourage or discourage people in English

how to evaluate people or progress in English

how to express agreement /disagreement in English

how to express approval and disapproval  in English

how to express cause and effect in English

how to express interest in something in English

how to express likelihood, probability in English

how to express likes and dislikes in English

how to express sequence and chronology in English

how to express shock and disbelief in English

how to express sympathy and condolences in English

how to give permission, authorization in English

how to inform somebody about some news in English

how to interpret what was said in English

how to keep a conversation going in English

how to make guesses about something in English

how to make, accept and refuse offers in English

how to order or make a booking in English

how to persuade, convince people in English

how to praise people and express appreciation in English

how to reassure somebody of something in English

how to refuse and object to something in English

how to remind people of something in English

how to rephrase, paraphrase what was said in English

how to say thank you, express gratitude in English

Nouns: Collective nouns (team, class, family, committee)

Nouns: Proper nouns (names of people, cities, companies)

Oxymorons (phrases with words of contradictory meaning, e.g. living dead)

Participles: Past participle (e.g. HAVING DONE)

Participles: Present participle (e.g. DOING)

Parts of Speech (aka word classes, e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs)

Past perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Phonetics (pronunciation, IPA, phonetic symbols)

Plural nouns: regular plurals with S ending

Prefixes (e.g. A, UN, IM, DIS, MIS, EN, etc. )

Prepositions vs adverbs (e.g. before me, saw him before.)

Prepositions: Double prepositions (e.g. out of)

Prepositions: Participle prepositions (e.g. pending, concerning)

Prepositions: Phrase prepositions (e.g. by means of)

Present perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Present perfect simple or present continuous tense

Present simple tense: S for third person singular verbs

Present simple vs continuous (progressive) tense

Pronouns: EACH OTHER, ONE ANOTHER (reciprocal pronouns)

Pronouns: Possessive pronouns (e.g. my, mine)

Pronouns: Reflexive pronouns (e.g. myself, yourself))

Pronouns: SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, EVERYBODY, NO ONE, NOTHING, etc.

Pronouns: THIS, THAT, THESE, THOSE (demonstratives)

Pronouns: YOU and THEY to talk about people in general

Quantifiers (e.g. some, many, much, any, few, little)

Questions: WH questions (open-ended questions)

Reported speech: reported questions (indirect questions)

There is / there are / there was / there were / there will be, etc.

Verbs: Transitive or intransitive verbs (words that can or cannot stand with objects)

Working with Paragraphs: ordering, titling

Role play, miming, drama activity or improv game

Pictionary (picture dictionary) or picture matching

Writing an opinion essay (persuasive essay)

Learners who are Pre-A1 have just begun learning English and will first learn how to:<ul><li>Say the letters in the alphabet and numbers</li><li>Say hello, talk about names and age</li><li>Name the colors and dates, express likes and dislikes</li></ul>

Absolute beginners who have begun to learn the letters and numbers

Learners taking the A1 Elementary exam should be able to:<ul><li>Introduce themselves and ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, things he/she has, people he/she knows.</li><li>Communicate using very basic phrases as long as the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: common adjectives & adverbs of frequency, going to, how much/how many, imperatives, I'd like, 's – possessive, common prepositions of place and time, present simple & continuous, there is/are</li></ul>

A very basic tourist level, which is enough for buying food and a bus ticket

Learners taking the A2 Pre-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand sentences and frequently used expressions (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment).</li><li>Complete tasks that are routine and exchange information about familiar matters.</li><li>Describe matters of immediate need in simple terms.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: countable/uncountable nouns, adverbs of frequency, future will/going to, much/many, present perfect, past simple, past continuous, common phrasal verbs, common modals: can/should</li></ul>

A tourist who can do basic conversations about the past, present and future

Learners taking the B1 Intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand points regarding family, work, school or leisure-related topics.</li><li>Deal with most travel situations in areas where the language is spoken.</li><li>Create simple texts on topics of personal interest.</li><li>Describe experiences, events, dreams, and ambitions, as well as opinions or plans in brief.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: question tags, intensifiers: too/enough, future tenses, past tenses, modals, conditionals, wh-questions in the past</li></ul>

Learners who can deal with both familiar and routine situations, in friendly and work contexts

Learners taking the B2 Upper-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialization.</li><li>Interact with fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without difficulty for either party.</li><li>Produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain an opinion on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: perfect tenses, mixed conditionals, modals in the present, phrasal verbs, reported speech, wish, relative clauses</li></ul>

The level where you can be a tour guide for your foreign friends and talk about a lot of topics, even abstract ones, with ease and fluency

Learners taking the C1 Advanced exam should be able to: Express ideas fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts. Produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, using linking phrases (=words that connect ideas between sentences). Main grammar points to know: inversion, mixed conditionals, modals in the past, all passive forms, phrasal verbs (all patterns), wish/if only for regrets

Learners who can smoothly communicate in every walk of life, read long texts and write well

Learners taking the C2 Proficient exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand almost everything read or heard with ease.</li><li>Summarize information from a variety of sources into a coherent presentation.</li><li>Express themselves using precise meaning in complex scenarios.</li><li>Can express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations</li></ul>

Get here and you are ready to study in English at university

545 Modal verbs English ESL worksheets pdf & doc