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April 1, 2026

Modaux et Phrasal Verbs — Anglais

Verbes modaux§

Les modaux sont invariables (pas de -s à la 3e personne), suivis de l’infinitif sans “to”.

Modal	Présent/Futur	Passé	Sens principaux
can	can	could	capacité, permission informelle, possibilité
could	could	could have + pp	capacité passée, suggestion polie, possibilité
may	may	may have + pp	permission formelle, possibilité
might	might	might have + pp	possibilité faible, suggestion prudente
must	must	must have + pp	obligation forte, déduction logique
shall	shall	—	futur formel (surtout BR), proposition (Shall I…?)
should	should	should have + pp	conseil, obligation morale, probabilité
will	will	would	futur, volonté, promesse
would	would	would have + pp	conditionnel, demande polie, habitude passée
need (to)	need to	needed to	nécessité (semi-modal)
have to	have to	had to	obligation externe
be able to	am/is/are able to	was/were able to	capacité (remplace can aux autres temps)
be going to	am/is/are going to	was/were going to	intention, futur prévu

Contexte	Forme	Exemple
Capacité présente	can	I can swim.
Capacité passée	could	I could swim when I was 5.
Capacité future	will be able to	I’ll be able to speak English soon.
Demande polie	Can/Could you…?	Could you help me, please?
Permission informelle	Can I…?	Can I use your phone?
Permission formelle	May I…?	May I come in?
Possibilité présente	could/might/may	She could be at home.

Modal	Sens	Exemple
must	obligation interne / déduction	I must call her. / He must be tired.
have to	obligation externe, règle	You have to wear a seatbelt.
should	conseil, obligation morale	You should see a doctor.
mustn’t	interdiction forte	You mustn’t smoke here.
don’t have to	pas obligatoire	You don’t have to come.
shouldn’t	déconseillé	You shouldn’t eat so much sugar.

Forme	Sens	Exemple
must have + pp	déduction passée	He must have forgotten.
can’t have + pp	impossibilité passée	She can’t have done that.
should have + pp	regret, reproche	You should have called me.
could have + pp	possibilité non réalisée	We could have taken the train.
might have + pp	possibilité passée incertaine	He might have missed the bus.
would have + pp	conditionnel passé	I would have helped if I’d known.

Un phrasal verb = verbe + particule (préposition ou adverbe). Le sens est souvent non compositionnel. Classés par verbe de base.

Phrasal verb	Sens	Exemple
get up	se lever	I get up at 7am.
get on	monter (bus, train) / s’entendre avec	Get on the bus. / We get on well.
get off	descendre (bus, train)	Get off at the next stop.
get in/into	monter (voiture) / entrer	Get in the car.
get out (of)	sortir (voiture)	Get out of the car.
get away	s’échapper / partir en vacances	We need to get away for a few days.
get back	revenir / récupérer	When did you get back? / I got my money back.
get over	se remettre de	She got over the flu quickly.
get through	traverser / passer (examen)	I got through the interview.
get along	s’entendre	Do you get along with your boss?
get rid of	se débarrasser de	Get rid of those old clothes.
get away with	s’en tirer sans punition	He got away with cheating.

Phrasal verb	Sens	Exemple
take off	décoller / enlever (vêtement)	The plane takes off at noon.
take on	embaucher / accepter	They took on 10 new staff.
take up	commencer (activité) / occuper (espace)	She took up yoga last year.
take over	reprendre le contrôle de	He took over the company.
take out	sortir / emmener / retirer	Take out the trash.
take in	comprendre / héberger	I couldn’t take in all that information.
take back	reprendre / rappeler	I take back what I said.
take after	ressembler à (famille)	She takes after her mother.
take apart	démonter	He took apart the engine.
take down	noter / démolir	Take down this address.

Phrasal verb	Sens	Exemple
make up	inventer / se réconcilier / se maquiller	She made up an excuse.
make out	distinguer / prétendre / comprendre	I can’t make out what he’s saying.
make up for	compenser	I’ll make up for the lost time.
make do with	se contenter de	We’ll have to make do with what we have.
make for	se diriger vers	They made for the exit.
make of	penser de	What do you make of this situation?

Phrasal verb	Sens	Exemple
go on	continuer / se passer	Go on, I’m listening. / What’s going on?
go off	exploser / sonner (alarme) / se gâter	The alarm went off at 6am.
go out	sortir / s’éteindre	We’re going out tonight.
go over	réviser / examiner	Let’s go over the plan again.
go through	traverser / examiner en détail	She went through a difficult time.
go back	retourner	When are you going back?
go along with	accepter / approuver	I’ll go along with your plan.
go without	se passer de	I can’t go without coffee.
go ahead	procéder / feu vert	Go ahead, start without me.

Phrasal verb	Sens	Exemple
come up with	trouver (idée, solution)	She came up with a brilliant idea.
come across	tomber sur / paraître	I came across this book by chance.
come back	revenir	Come back soon!
come out	sortir (livre, film) / se révéler	The album comes out next week.
come round/around	passer chez quelqu’un / reprendre conscience	Come round for dinner.
come down with	tomber malade de	I’m coming down with a cold.
come up	surgir / être mentionné	Something came up at work.

Phrasal verb	Sens	Exemple
put off	remettre à plus tard / dégoûter	Don’t put off what you can do today.
put up with	tolérer	I can’t put up with this noise.
put on	mettre (vêtement) / prendre (poids) / allumer	Put on your coat.
put out	éteindre	Put out the fire.
put away	ranger	Put away your toys.
put forward	proposer	She put forward an interesting idea.
put through	passer (appel) / faire subir	I’ll put you through to the manager.
put down	poser / critiquer / abattre (animal)	Put down that phone!

Phrasal verb	Sens	Exemple
turn up	arriver / augmenter le volume	She turned up late again.
turn down	refuser / baisser le volume	He turned down the job offer.
turn on/off	allumer / éteindre	Turn off the lights.
turn out	s’avérer / se terminer	It turned out to be a great film.
turn into	se transformer en	The caterpillar turned into a butterfly.
turn around	se retourner / redresser	The company turned around in 2 years.

Phrasal verb	Sens	Exemple
look up	chercher (dictionnaire)	Look up the word.
look after	s’occuper de	Can you look after my cat?
look forward to	avoir hâte de	I’m looking forward to the weekend.
look into	enquêter sur	The police looked into the matter.
look out	faire attention	Look out! There’s a car!
look back	regarder en arrière / rétrospective	Looking back, I have no regrets.
look up to	admirer	He looks up to his father.
look down on	mépriser	Don’t look down on others.

—The Gardener