Could Would and Should MODAL Verbs The Fearless Fluency Club
Hi.
I’m Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.
Welcome to this sample grammar lesson from
the course The Fearless Fluency Club.
Make sure that you watch the conversation,
vocabulary, and pronunciation video in this
lesson set.
If you’d like to get lessons like this every
month that you can download and listen to
wherever you’d like and also with your Fearless
Fluency Club speaking partner, click on the
link up here or in the description below.
Let’s get started.
In this month’s lesson set about travel, I’m
going to help you learn how to use three commonly
used English words that English learners have
a lot of difficulty with.
They are could, would and should.
In this video, I’m going to explain how to
use each one, and then after my quick explanation,
I’m going to show you some video clips from
the conversation with my sister.
We used this a lot in our conversation together,
so I’m going to show you examples of that
so that you can see it real life.
Let’s get started.
The first word we’re going to talk about is
could.
There are three different ways to use could.
The first one is like a polite request or
some polite advice.
Let’s imagine that your friend is new to your
city and your friend wants to see some beautiful
nature.
You know a lot of places because you have
lived here for a long time.
You tell your friend, “Oh, you could go to
the mountains.
You could go to the botanical garden.
You could go to the park.”
This is a polite suggestion.
Some polite advice to give to your friend.
Let’s watch some examples of this from the
conversation.
You mean like dances or concerts or what kind
of events did you go to?
Speaker 2: Yeah, concerts.
A lot of concerts in Argentina mainly and
then in South Korea.
South Korea als has fantastic public transportation.
It just like stops at a certain times, so
you have to know …
Vanessa: Argentinian transportation went longer?
Speaker 2: It’s all night.
Vanessa: It’s not a big deal if you don’t
go back and live in your hometown.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
You can go travel.
Vanessa: We can live anywhere.
Speaker 2: Exactly.
Vanessa: Because I know some people … Some
people I’ve talked to …
The second way to use could is simply like
can in the past.
Can talks about an ability to do something.
For example, you might say, “Before I watched
Vanessa’s video about grammar, I couldn’t
understand how to use could.
But now I now can understand it.”
Before I couldn’t understand it, but now I
can.
Let’s watch some examples of this from the
video.
And you probably learned some of the language,
like enough to read, or enough to minimally
communicate.
Speaker 2: Right.
Yeah.
I could read and also communicate with the
students, communicate with my coworkers.
Being able to kind of connect with him stronger,
just because we’ve been everywhere together.
Vanessa: Yeah, you guys have a closer bond
because you’ve been through a lot.
Speaker 2: Right.
Vanessa: The third way to use could is for
some possibility in the future.
Let’s say that you look outside and the sky
is really dark.
The clouds are dark, the sky is almost black.
You could say, “I think it could rain today.”
This is a possibility.
Probably it’s a high possibility in the future.
It could rain today.
Now, just to let you know, you could also
use the word might in this situation.
It might rain today.
You’re just showing that it’s a possibility.
It could rain today.
I could go to Barcelona for vacation, or I
could go to Italy.
Here are some possibilities for the future.
Let’s watch some examples from the conversation.
Speaker 2: Because you’re preparing for it.
You know you’re going to another country.
You’re going to feel discomfort of some sort.
Vanessa: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And you’re expecting to feel it,
so I think you prepare more for this culture
shock.
Vanessa: But coming back to the U.S., if you
didn’t want to speak English, you could speak
Spanish together.
Speaker 2: Right.
Oh yeah, I didn’t mention that.
So when we came back to the U.S. …
Vanessa: … oh, fun and really enjoyable.
Every day there’s something different and
new, and then coming back to the U.S., a big
thing was, is everyday just going to be like
a daily routine?
Am I just going to feel like there’s not new
surprises around every corner?
You know, when you’re …
… and maybe that’s something that could
happen in the future.
I don’t know.
I would like to have a garden or like to live
… it’s maybe more idealistic, but at the
moment it’s not …
The second word we’re going to talk about
today is would.
Would.
This is the same pronunciation as a tree is
made of wood.
A tree is made of wood.
W-O-O-D.
So let’s talk about three different ways that
you can use would.
The first way to use is would is similar to
the first way to use could that we talked
about.
It is a polite request, or some polite advice.
Maybe at your job, you might ask someone,
“Would you help me?
Would you explain this to my friend because
I don’t know how to explain it?
Would you?”
You could also say, “Could you.”
Both of those are polite and professional.
So I want to let you know that we often use
would in these professional situations.
Let’s take a look at a couple clips from the
conversation so that you can see this in real
life.
How would you describe reverse culture shock?
Speaker 2: Reverse culture shock is when you
…
Vanessa: Do you think that reverse culture
shock is avoidable?
Is it possible to make it any better than
it is?
Speaker 2: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Vanessa: The second way to use is would is
will, in the past.
So maybe … let’s imagine that you lived
in New York for one year, and when you go
back to your home country, your friend asks
you, “What did you do every morning in New
York?”
You might say, “Well, I would wake up at 6:00
AM and then I would take the bus to my English
class and then I would have English class
for two hours and then …” so you’re using
would as will in the past.
Let’s see some examples from the conversation.
Speaker 2: I thought, “Everyone’s listening
to me.”
Vanessa: Yeah, that’s a really weird feeling.
Speaker 2: And so we were speaking Spanish
everywhere.
But then again, also, there’s a lot of people
who speak Spanish.
And I kept feeling like people were listening
to me, or watching me strangely because in
Korea, people would look at me at least.
At least notice there’s a foreigner-
Vanessa: Because you’re not Korean.
Speaker 2: Right.
Vanessa: The third way to use would is for
hypothetical situations.
Hypothetical means something that imaginary.
It’s not impossible … it might be impossible,
but it’s something imaginary.
For example, you’re not the president of your
country … at least I don’t think so, so
you might say, “If I were president of my
country, I would change the education system.
I would do this.
I would do that.”
Because at the moment, you’re not the president,
this is an imaginary situation.
Typically, these situations use the word if.
If I were a boy, I would be very different.
If my dog were bigger, it wouldn’t be very
good for my apartment.
We often use this with if, but not all the
time.
So let’s see some example from the real conversation
with my sister.
When you are the only person who’s American,
or from your country, in an area maybe you’d
be more likely to seclude yourself.
… about this, and if I said, “Oh I went
here and I went there and this was really
cool, and oh, in Germany it’s like this,”
they’d just be like, “Oh, that’s really cool,”
and maybe they thought it was cool but they
just can’t get it.
Speaker 2: Change the topic.
Right.
There are so many options.
I realized this is why we have a problem with
obesity, maybe.
I mean, it could be the fact that you have
a hundred different types of cereal to choose
from or …
Vanessa: I think that’s like a sign of reverse
culture shock, is being overwhelmed by something
you thought would be normal.
Like, going to the grocery store.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Vanessa: Something really normal.
Speaker 2: Something you do all the time.
Vanessa: … a new lifestyle.
Like, you got some city life.
Speaker 2: Really.
Right.
I think that would be very difficult, to go
from living in Korea to going and living in
suburbia.
We have to drive twenty minutes-
Vanessa: The third word that we’re going to
talk about today is should.
Should.
Should is the clearest word because there’s
really only one way that we use this, and
that is to give some polite advice.
You should do something.
I shouldn’t do something.
For example, maybe if your friend is going
to come to visit your country, maybe your
friend is American and they’re going to come
visit your country and they’re worried.
“Oh, I’m worried.
I don’t speak the local language.
I only speak English,” because your friend
is American.
“I only speak English,” and you might say,
“Oh, you shouldn’t worry about that.
People here can understand English.
Don’t worry.”
This is a great way to help someone feel better.
You shouldn’t worry.
Or we could add the word probably.
Probably.
If you want to tell someone what to do, this
is a way to make it more polite.
You should probably clean your office before
the weekend.
You should probably go to the store because
our family’s coming over tonight for dinner
and we don’t have any food.
So let’s see some example from the conversation
about how to use this.
When we came back to the U.S., I didn’t think
about that at all.
It’s just like, oh, it’s just the U.S. it’s
my home country.
Speaker 2: Exactly.
Right.
So it’s definitely real.
It’s definitely there, and it’s something
that you don’t think about.
What helped was going to events that weren’t
for foreigners.
I went to those types of things where you
know you’re going to meet locals who live
there and then just connecting with them …
… I don’t understand either.
Vanessa: Yeah, it’s just like a small thing
that shouldn’t bother me, and I feel like
I’m a pretty, generally easy-going or, like,
little things don’t bother me like that.
Speaker 2: I think I realized I like living
in bigger cities and it’s going to be really
difficult to go and live in the countryside,
or live in a little neighborhood way far away
from everything.
Vanessa: Now that we’ve talked about these
three words, could, would, and should, I want
you to feel comfortable using them yourself.
So in this month’s lesson pack, please look
at the PDF file that has some conversation
questions using these words.
And with your speaking partner from the Fearless
Fluency Club, I want you to ask and answer
these questions together.
This is going to exercise those muscles and
help you to repeat correct grammar, and help
you to feel confident using it.
Thanks so much, and let me know how it goes.
Thanks so much for watching this sample grammar
lesson from the course The Fearless Fluency
Club.
If you’d like to get lesson sets like this
every month, including the PDF lesson questions
that you can use with your speaking partner
from the Fearless Fluency Club, I will help
you connect with a speaking partner.
If you’d like to join, you can click up here
or in the description below.
We’d love to have you.
And don’t forget to watch the other lessons
in this lesson set.
The conversation, the vocabulary lesson, and
the pronunciation lesson.
Thanks so much and see you later.
Bye.