Uploaded March 2018 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
In this lesson, you will learn 10+ fixed sentences that use modals. "Fixed" means that they do not change. You just use the whole sentence without changing it. That makes these kinds of sentences very useful for improving your English quickly. By the time you finish this lesson, you will sound more natural and confident when speaking English in many different situations. The fixed modal expressions covered in this video include: "You can say that again", "I couldn't help it", "I would if I could", "You would've loved it", "You shouldn't have", and more! Watch the video, do the quiz at engvid.com/fixed-modal-expressions and improve your English!
TRANSCRIPT
Yeah. Oh, you can say that again. [Laughs] No, no. I'm sorry, I can't help it. Next week? No, I would if I could, but I can't. Okay. I have to do a thing here. Okay. Yeah. Bye. Okay.
Oh, hey, everyone. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on "Fixed Modal Expressions". So, in this lesson I am going to improve your speaking skills and specifically your ability to use some very common conversational expressions that use modal verbs. In case you don't know, modal verbs are verbs like: "can" or "could", "would", "should", "will", "might", "may", etc. And a modal verb is always followed by a base verb, so for example: "can" plus a base verb, so: "can do", "can make", "can play", "can see", "will play", "will do", "will make", "will see". It doesn't matter what the subject is. All right? So, for example: "I can play", "You can play", "He can play", "She can play", etc. For, you know, a deeper understanding of modal verbs and their rules, we have tons of videos on engVid for you to check out. For this video, though, I'm just going to give you a whole bunch of different fixed expressions, expressions that are fixed, meaning that you cannot change the order of the words and that they are very commonly used in conversations. So I've divided them into, you know, expressions with "can", with "would", with "should", and with "will". Obviously there are tons more than this, but these will get you started.
So: "can". "You can say that again!" When you use this expression it means that, you know, you want a person to repeat what they said because you strongly agree with them. So if your friend says: "This is impossible. It's impossible." Like: "Yeah, you can say that again." If you really think and agree the person that whatever they're talking about really is impossible, if I say: -"Oh, he really, really, really needs to get a new job." -"Yeah, you can say that again", because I know he's very stressed or something like that. Okay, next: "I can't help it." or "I couldn't help it." For this one you can use different subjects: "He can't help it.", "She can't help it.", "They can't help it." This means they have no control; they have an impulse, an instinct, a habit of doing something. So, if you are laughing at your friend and your friend thinks you shouldn't be laughing, it's a bad situation to laugh, but you can't stop laughing, say: "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. No, I can't help it. It's really funny." Okay? And your friend's like: "Hey. Why are you laughing at me?" Okay? So, if you can't help it, it means you can't control yourself. So if you're laughing, if you... I don't know. If you like to eat ice cream and you can't help it because you want to eat a whole tub, it's like: -"Slow down, slow down." -"I can't help it. It's so good. It's so good." Okay? Next: "I can't" or "I couldn't"-in the past-"believe it". Obviously... I think you guys know what this means. Right?
And you probably use this in your life already as an English speaker: "I can't believe it", similar to: "I don't believe it." or "I couldn't believe it." It means that you don't believe what the person is saying or you don't believe what you are seeing in front of you. So if you can't believe it, you think that there is no way that this is true or this is real. "I could use a break." This can be used with other subjects, too. So, if you have a friend, for example, who is very busy all the time or who has a stressful life, maybe they're constantly working or they're constantly with their family, or you know, something else takes up a lot of their time, and you look at that... At that person, at your friend and say: "He could use a break." or "She could use a break." This means that they should go on vacation or they should... They deserve to have a break, they deserve to, you know, have some free time to relax and to recharge their batteries, basically. Not, like, real batteries; that's an idiomatic expression, but you know, get their energy back to rest and relax. Okay, so just for pronunciation, now that I've explained them, repeat these expressions after me: "You can say that again!", "I can't help it.", "I can't believe it.", "I could use a break." Good. […]
In this lesson, you will learn 10+ fixed sentences that use modals. "Fixed" means that they do not change. You just use the whole sentence without changing it. That makes these kinds of sentences very useful for improving your English quickly. By the time you finish this lesson, you will sound more natural and confident when speaking English in many different situations. The fixed modal expressions covered in this video include: "You can say that again", "I couldn't help it", "I would if I could", "You would've loved it", "You shouldn't have", and more! Watch the video, do the quiz at engvid.com/fixed-modal-expressions and improve your English!
TRANSCRIPT
Yeah. Oh, you can say that again. [Laughs] No, no. I'm sorry, I can't help it. Next week? No, I would if I could, but I can't. Okay. I have to do a thing here. Okay. Yeah. Bye. Okay.
Oh, hey, everyone. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on "Fixed Modal Expressions". So, in this lesson I am going to improve your speaking skills and specifically your ability to use some very common conversational expressions that use modal verbs. In case you don't know, modal verbs are verbs like: "can" or "could", "would", "should", "will", "might", "may", etc. And a modal verb is always followed by a base verb, so for example: "can" plus a base verb, so: "can do", "can make", "can play", "can see", "will play", "will do", "will make", "will see". It doesn't matter what the subject is. All right? So, for example: "I can play", "You can play", "He can play", "She can play", etc. For, you know, a deeper understanding of modal verbs and their rules, we have tons of videos on engVid for you to check out. For this video, though, I'm just going to give you a whole bunch of different fixed expressions, expressions that are fixed, meaning that you cannot change the order of the words and that they are very commonly used in conversations. So I've divided them into, you know, expressions with "can", with "would", with "should", and with "will". Obviously there are tons more than this, but these will get you started.
So: "can". "You can say that again!" When you use this expression it means that, you know, you want a person to repeat what they said because you strongly agree with them. So if your friend says: "This is impossible. It's impossible." Like: "Yeah, you can say that again." If you really think and agree the person that whatever they're talking about really is impossible, if I say: -"Oh, he really, really, really needs to get a new job." -"Yeah, you can say that again", because I know he's very stressed or something like that. Okay, next: "I can't help it." or "I couldn't help it." For this one you can use different subjects: "He can't help it.", "She can't help it.", "They can't help it." This means they have no control; they have an impulse, an instinct, a habit of doing something. So, if you are laughing at your friend and your friend thinks you shouldn't be laughing, it's a bad situation to laugh, but you can't stop laughing, say: "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. No, I can't help it. It's really funny." Okay? And your friend's like: "Hey. Why are you laughing at me?" Okay? So, if you can't help it, it means you can't control yourself. So if you're laughing, if you... I don't know. If you like to eat ice cream and you can't help it because you want to eat a whole tub, it's like: -"Slow down, slow down." -"I can't help it. It's so good. It's so good." Okay? Next: "I can't" or "I couldn't"-in the past-"believe it". Obviously... I think you guys know what this means. Right?
And you probably use this in your life already as an English speaker: "I can't believe it", similar to: "I don't believe it." or "I couldn't believe it." It means that you don't believe what the person is saying or you don't believe what you are seeing in front of you. So if you can't believe it, you think that there is no way that this is true or this is real. "I could use a break." This can be used with other subjects, too. So, if you have a friend, for example, who is very busy all the time or who has a stressful life, maybe they're constantly working or they're constantly with their family, or you know, something else takes up a lot of their time, and you look at that... At that person, at your friend and say: "He could use a break." or "She could use a break." This means that they should go on vacation or they should... They deserve to have a break, they deserve to, you know, have some free time to relax and to recharge their batteries, basically. Not, like, real batteries; that's an idiomatic expression, but you know, get their energy back to rest and relax. Okay, so just for pronunciation, now that I've explained them, repeat these expressions after me: "You can say that again!", "I can't help it.", "I can't believe it.", "I could use a break." Good. […]
