Question

Fill suitable modal auxiliary
Jill doesn’t look very well – not well enough to go to work. You say to her;
You ____ not go to work.
A) May
B) Must
C) Should
D) Can

Answer 1

Hint: Modal verbs are extensions of auxiliary verbs, i.e. they are always used before a principal verb. They are used to indicate possibilities and probabilities. Other than that they also used to explainability, to ask for permission, make requests and offer to help.

Complete answer:
In the given sentence, we have a subject ‘you’, a verb ‘not go’, a preposition ‘to', and an object ‘work’. We have a blank before the verb. Therefore, it can be filled with a helping verb or a modal verb. Since the options are all modal verbs let us choose the most appropriate one from them.

Now let us look at the given options:
Option A) May – The word ‘may’ is a modal verb that is used when we are talking about giving or asking for permissions. For e.g. May I borrow your book? No, you may not. In the sentence given in the question, we are not talking about permissions. Therefore, this option is incorrect.
Option B) Must – This word is used to express obligation or give orders etc. For e.g. You must not talk to her like that. In the sentence given in the question, we are not giving an order to someone. We are rather giving a suggestion. Therefore, this option is also incorrect.
Option C) Should – This word is used for giving advice and suggestions. For e.g. You should start working out. This is appropriate for filling the blank in the sentence given in the question, as we are giving a suggestion to the listener. Therefore, this option is correct.
Option D) Can – This word is used to express capabilities. For e.g. Can you lift this box? In the question, we are not talking about the capabilities of the speaker or the listener. Therefore, this option is also wrong.

Thus, the correct answer is option (C) i.e, You should not go to work.

Note: In the above options we say some uses of the modal verbs which were to ask permission (may), to order (must), to suggest (should) and to express ability (can). Let us see how we can use modal verbs to express possibility. For e.g.
- The sun will rise tomorrow. (this shows certainty).
- The baby is crying. She must be hungry. (shows probability with more certainty and a reason to support)
- After such a long flight, you must have felt exhausted. (using ‘must’ in the past tense)