MCQ
Modals & auxiliaries MCQ - Practice Questions with Answers
Solve 14 Modals & auxiliaries questions for RAS/RPSC preparation.
Practice questions
Q1Assertion (A): In formal English, must not and need not do not express the same idea. Reason (R): Must not expresses prohibition, whereas need not expresses absence of necessity. Choose the correct option.
Must not and need not are often confused because both contain not, but they function differently. Must not indicates prohibition: You must not disclose the file means disclosure is forbidden. Need not indicates lack of obligation: You need not disclose the file means disclosure is not required. Therefore the assertion is true, and the reason states the exact semantic difference that makes it true. The correct answer is that both are true and R explains A.
Q2Match List I with List II and choose the correct option. List I: 1. It can't have been the registrar; she was abroad that week. 2. You shall receive a written acknowledgement within seven working days. 3. The witness would not answer the question despite repeated requests. 4. May I examine the original deed before signing? List II: A. Polite permission B. Refusal or unwillingness in the past C. Assurance or formal promise D. Impossibility inferred about the past
Can't have plus past participle expresses an inferred impossibility about the past, so sentence 1 matches D. Shall, especially in formal notices, can express an assurance or promise, so sentence 2 matches C. Would not can show refusal or unwillingness in a past situation, which fits sentence 3 and B. May I is a standard polite request for permission, so sentence 4 matches A. The complete matching is therefore 1-D, 2-C, 3-B, 4-A.
Q3Choose the sentence that correctly expresses an unfulfilled obligation in the past.
The required structure for a past duty that was not performed is should have plus the past participle, or ought to have plus the past participle. The clue is unfulfilled obligation in the past: the agenda ought to have been circulated, but it was not. Option A uses should have circulated, so it captures both the duty and the failure. Option B is only present advice; option C is an inference; option D is grammatically incomplete because ought needs to.
Q4Assertion (A): In formal English, 'Need we detain the witnesses any longer?' is grammatically acceptable. Reason (R): Here 'need' functions as a modal auxiliary, so it takes no -s ending and forms the question without 'do'. Select the correct option.
The sentence tests the special auxiliary use of 'need'. In formal negative and interrogative contexts, 'need' can behave like a modal: it is followed by the bare infinitive, has no third-person -s, and forms questions without 'do'. Therefore 'Need we detain the witnesses?' is grammatical. If 'need' were used as an ordinary verb, the form would be 'Do we need to detain...?' The reason accurately states the rule behind the assertion.
Q5Consider the following statements. Statement 1: Used to can describe a past state that no longer exists. Statement 2: Would can normally replace used to when the past reference is a state, as in "She would own a house near the fort." Which option is correct?
Used to covers both repeated past actions and past states that are no longer true: She used to own a house. Would can describe repeated past actions, especially with a time frame: She would visit the fort every winter. It is not normally used for stative verbs in this sense. Own is stative, so She would own a house near the fort is not a normal replacement for used to.
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More questions
6Read the statements and choose the correct option. Statement 1: We needn't have commissioned a separate audit means that a separate audit was commissioned, but it was unnecessary. Statement 2: We didn't need to commission a separate audit always means that no audit was commissioned. Statement 3: Had better is used for strong advice, often with a possible adverse consequence if ignored.
7Which of the following sentences uses the modal auxiliary incorrectly?
8Which sentence uses the semi-modal need correctly?
9Assertion (A): "Never have I seen such a carefully documented audit" is grammatically correct. Reason (R): After a negative adverbial placed at the beginning of a clause, the auxiliary is placed before the subject.
10Choose the option that best completes the sentence. The committee had all the relevant documents before it, so it ______ the discrepancy before approving the grant.
11Choose the option that best completes the sentence: The committee _____ the proposal more carefully before recommending such an expensive programme.
12Consider the following statements. Statement 1: 'Used to' can describe a discontinued past habit, as in 'She used to annotate every draft by hand.' Statement 2: 'Be used to' is followed by a gerund or noun phrase, as in 'She is used to annotating dense legal drafts.' Statement 3: 'Had better' normally takes a to-infinitive, as in 'You had better to revise the affidavit.' Which of the statements are correct?
13Match List I with List II. List I: 1. must have overlooked 2. can scarcely be 3. would rather resign than apologise insincerely 4. was to have delivered List II: a. strong negative possibility b. unfulfilled official arrangement c. preference between two actions d. strong inference about a past event Choose the correct matching.
14Match List I with List II and choose the correct option. List I: 1. You must be exhausted after the overnight journey. 2. You must not disclose the bidder's quotation. 3. The witness would often pause before answering. 4. May the proceedings remain fair and transparent. List II: a. prohibition b. past habit c. strong logical inference d. wish or blessing