Modal regret and obligation — When a Man Lost Himself
Grammar: Modal Verbs
Free ESL grammar exercise on modal regret and obligation themed around when a man lost himself. Printable worksheet from EnglishPlans.com.
What's on this worksheet
A Level 5 (advanced) ESL grammar exercise on psychology, practising modal verbs. The worksheet has a short reading excerpt, a grammar reference and graded practice items.
From the reading
He ought to have lived out a quiet working life. Damasio argued that we shouldn't have dismissed those fragments so quickly. His team needn't have relied on speculation alone. Gage should have received proper neurological follow-up.
Grammar: Modal Verbs
- should have /
- We should have followed Harlow's case more carefully. — past advisability or mild regret
- ought to have
- He ought to have received better neurological care. — stronger moral expectation about the past
Sample items
- The doctors ______ the personality changes as a purely moral problem.
- Harlow ______ his observations with more detail — later researchers had very little to work from.
- The team ______ built a new hypothesis from scratch; the original reports contained sufficient data.
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