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Two Small Verb Families That Decide Big Marks
A modal is a helping verb that adds attitude to the main verb — permission, ability, obligation, possibility. There are exactly nine core modals: *can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must*.
A non-finite verb is a verb form that does not change with the subject and cannot by itself be the main verb of a sentence: the infinitive (*to go*), the gerund (*going*, doing the work of a noun) and the participle (*going / gone*, doing the work of an adjective).
Why this pair earns a place in your revision: in SSC CGL, CHSL, Railway NTPC, CTET language papers and BPSC TRE-4 Part I, error-spotting and fill-in-the-blank items lean on these two families even more than on tense. And unlike vocabulary, they are rule-based — learn a dozen rules and you can answer questions you have never seen before.
1. Which of the following sentences is grammatically correct?
2. A modal verb is always followed by which form of the main verb?
3. '______ I come in, sir?' Which modal fits this request for formal permission?
4. 'You need not attend the meeting' means:
5. Which sentence uses the correct verb form after the preposition?
6. Which sentence contains a dangling participle?
7. Which of these verbs is followed by the infinitive, not the gerund?
8. 'There ______ be a well in this village.' Which option correctly expresses a state that existed in the past?