Modal Verbs: Select the correct modal verb

May I sit next to you?

• ability

• possibility

• a request for permission

Though she wears glasses now, Mrs. Brady could see perfectly when she was younger.

• future action

• past ability

Tiny robots made out of DNA might one day be used to fight diseases.

• possibility

• past ability

Ms. Vincent keeps coughing and sneezing, so she must have a cold.

• a request for permission

• near certainty

Language experts can trace the word adobe to a Middle Egyptian word meaning "mud brick."

• ability

• giving permission

Before those buildings were constructed, we could see for miles!

• past ability

• giving permission

If you take this medicine, your fever should go down.

• ability

• expectation

An opossum can use its long tail as an extra limb.

• advice

• ability

Jada might study math or chemistry when she goes to college.

• possibility

• ability

Everyone is leaving the auditorium, so the award ceremony must be over.

• near certainty

• necessity