Which of the following sentences does not use the correct modals.
A. I swim across the river when I was young.
B. It may rain next Friday
C. I expected that I would get a first class
D. One ought to respect the environmental laws
E. This used to be a dense jungle.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → A only
Modals and past ability:
- A modal adds an idea such as ability, possibility, duty or habit to the main verb: can, could, may, would, ought to, used to.
- Ability in the past is shown by could + base form.
Example: My grandfather could read without glasses at eighty.
A. I swim across the river when I was young. — Incorrect.
- "When I was young" refers to the past, so the sentence needs could swim (past ability) or "swam".
- The present "swim" is wrong.
- Correct form: I could swim across the river when I was young.
B. It may rain next Friday — Correct.
- May expresses possibility in the future.
C. I expected that I would get a first class — Correct.
- Would is the past form of "will" after the past verb "expected".
D. One ought to respect the environmental laws — Correct.
- Ought to expresses moral duty.
E. This used to be a dense jungle. — Correct.
- Used to describes a past state that no longer exists.