Making polite requests are a part of daily life in a range of situations – we might be in a formal setting like an office, at a work party or we might be making a request because we need something.

Picture a small child saying: "Can’t, shan’t, won’t!" They are using modal verbs to show their feelings and attitude to something. Maybe they are refusing to go to bed or eat their peas. Modal verbs ...

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. WEBSTER GROVES, Mo. – Teachers and students ...