Mastering Essential English Vocabulary and Modal Verbs

Posted on Oct 26, 2025 in English

Mastering Essential English Vocabulary and Grammar Points

Vocabulary for Describing People and Activities

Relationships and Family

  • Acquaintance
  • Best/Close friend
  • Boss
  • Colleague
  • Classmate
  • (Ex-) girlfriend/boyfriend
  • Flatmate
  • Neighbour
  • Parent
  • Step-sister/brother
  • Relative
  • Cousins
  • Nephew/Niece
  • Uncle/Aunt
  • Grandparents
  • Granddaughter/Grandson

Appearance and Physical Description

  • Auburn (castaño)
  • Casual
  • Clean-shaven
  • Good-looking (atractivo)
  • Medium-built
  • Medium height
  • Scruffy (desarreglado)
  • Shoulder-length (hair) (media melena)
  • Skinny (muy delgado)
  • Slim
  • Smart (elegante)
  • Spiky (hair) (pelo pincho)
  • Stylish
  • Tanned (bronceado)
  • Wavy (hair)
  • Well-built

Personality Traits

  • Shy
  • Outgoing
  • Fun-loving
  • Serious
  • Friendly
  • Lazy
  • Hard-working
  • Sensible (sensato)
  • Honest
  • Cold
  • Unfriendly
  • Sympathetic (comprensivo)
  • Sensitive

Daily Activities and Socializing

  • Get together with (reunirse con)
  • Get in touch (mantenerse en contacto)
  • Go on social networking sites
  • Chat to friends online
  • Have friends around
  • Spend time with (someone)
  • Eat out at a restaurant
  • Go to an after-school class
  • Hang out with friends
  • Go for a walk
  • Work part-time (e.g., babysitting)
  • Get fit

Life Events and Achievements (Collocations)

  • Get behind (quedarse atrás)
  • Miss classes (perder clase)
  • Lose notes (perder apuntes)
  • Get worse (empeorar)
  • Learn to drive (aprender a conducir)
  • Win the lottery (ganar la lotería)
  • Earn money (ganar dinero)
  • Leave school (acabar la escuela)
  • Go to university
  • Get a degree (sacarse una carrera)
  • Get a job
Common Verb Collocations: Take, Make, and Do
  • Take: take a break, take a photo, take a bus, take a class
  • Make: make a noise, make friends, make a difference, make a mistake
  • Do: do nothing/something, do research, do well, do homework, do chores/housework (tareas del hogar)

Key English Grammar Structures

Stative Verbs (Non-Continuous Verbs)

Stative verbs describe states, senses, opinions, or possession, and are generally not used in continuous tenses.

  • Mental States/Opinions: believe, forget, know, mean, remember, seem, understand, want, need, prefer
  • Emotions: love, like, hate
  • Possession/Relationship: belong (pertenecer), own, have (when meaning possession)
  • Senses/Perception: taste, see, be

Note: Some verbs (like think, have, be, taste, see, forget) can be stative or dynamic depending on the meaning/context.

Verb Patterns: Gerunds and Infinitives

  • Verb + -ing form (Gerund): can’t stand, enjoy, can’t resist
  • Verb + -ing form OR To-Infinitive: like, hate, prefer, love
  • Verb + To-Infinitive: want, would like, can’t wait

Understanding English Modal Verbs

Ability, Possibility, and Permission

These modals express ability, possibility, or permission. They are often ordered by increasing formality: Can, Could, May, Might.

  • Can: Expresses ability or possibility.
  • Could: Expresses possibility or ability in the past. Also used for future possibilities.
  • May: Expresses future possibilities. Also used to give permission or instructions.
  • Might: Expresses possibilities in the present or future. Also used to ask for permission or make polite requests.
Obligation, Advice, and Preference

These modals often translate using the Spanish verb tener (to have) or express recommendations.

  • Must / Have to: Used to give orders or indicate obligation, prohibition, or necessity. Must also indicates probability or assumption. Have to (tener que) is common in affirmative sentences for external obligation.
  • Should / Ought to: Used to give advice or recommendations. Ought to is a synonym for Should.
  • Would: Used to state a preference and to ask for something politely.
Prohibition

Modals used for prohibition, ordered from strongest prohibition to weakest:

  1. Mustn’t
  2. May not
  3. Cannot
Modals in the Past Tense (Speculation and Criticism)

These structures combine the modal verb with have and the past participle:

  • Must have + participle: Certainty about the past (pasado seguro).
  • Might/May have + participle: Possibility about the past (pasado posible).
  • Could have + participle: An alternative past action that did not happen.
  • Can’t have + participle: Impossibility regarding the past (pasado imposible).
  • Should/Shouldn’t have + participle: Criticizing a past action or expressing regret.