Modal verb - wikipedia Modal verb A modal verb is a type of verb that is used to indicate modality -- that is : likelihood, ability, permission and obligation. Examples include the English verbs can / could, may / might, must, will / would and shall / should. In English and other Germanic languages, modal verbs are often distinguished as a class based on certain grammatical properties. Contents 1 Function 2 Modal verbs in Germanic languages 2.1 English 2.1. 1 Defectiveness 2.2 Comparison with other Germanic languages 2.2. 1 Morphology and syntax 3 Modal verbs in other languages 3.1 Hawaiian Creole English 3.2 Hawaiian 3.3 French 3.4 Italian 3.5 Mandarin Chinese 3.6 Spanish 4 See also 5 Bibliography 6 References 7 External links Function A modal auxiliary verb gives information about the function of the main verb that it governs. Modals have a wide variety of communicative functions, but these functions can generally be related to a scale ranging from possibility ( `` may '' ) to necessity ( `` must '' ), in terms of one of the following types of modality : epistemic modality, concerned with the theoretical possibility of propositions being true or not true ( including likelihood and certainty ) deontic modality, concerned with possibility and necessity in terms of freedom to act ( including permission and duty ) dynamic modality, which may be distinguished from deontic modality in that, with dynamic modality, the conditioning factors are internal -- the subject 's own ability or willingness to act The following sentences illustrate epistemic and deontic uses of the English modal verb must : epistemic : You must be starving. ( `` It is necessarily the case that you are starving. '' ) deontic : You must leave now. ( `` You are required to leave now. '' ) An ambiguous case is You must speak Spanish. The primary meaning would be the deontic meaning ( `` You are required to speak Spanish. '' ) but this may be intended epistemically ( `` It is surely the case that you speak Spanish. '' ) Epistemic modals can be analyzed as raising verbs, while deontic modals can be analyzed as control verbs. Epistemic usages of modals tend to develop from deontic usages. For example, the inferred certainty sense of English must developed after the strong obligation sense ; the probabilistic sense of should developed after the weak obligation sense ; and the possibility senses of may and can developed later than the permission or ability sense. Two typical sequences of evolution of modal meanings are : internal mental ability → internal ability → root possibility ( internal or external ability ) → permission and epistemic possibility obligation → probability Modal verbs in Germanic languages English Main article : English modal verbs The following table lists the modal auxiliary verbs of standard English and various senses in which they are used : Modal auxiliary Epistemic sense Deontic sense Dynamic sense can That can indeed hinder. You can sing underwater. She can really sing. could That could happen soon. - He could swim when he was young. may That may be a problem. May I stay ? - might The weather might improve. - - must It must be hot outside. Sam must go to school. - shall - You shall not pass. - should That should be surprising. You should stop that. - will She will try to lie. I will meet you later. - would Nothing would accomplish that. - We would eat out on Sundays. The verbs in this list all have the following characteristics : They are auxiliary verbs, which means they allow subject - auxiliary inversion and can take the negation not, They convey functional meaning, They are defective insofar as they can not be inflected, nor do they appear in non-finite form ( i.e. not as infinitives, gerunds, or participles ), They are nevertheless always finite and thus appear as the root verb in their clause, and They subcategorize for an infinitive, i.e. they take an infinitive as their complement The verbs / expressions dare, ought to, had better, and need not behave like modal auxiliaries to a large extent, although they are not productive ( in linguistics, the extent commonly or frequently used ) in the role to the same extent as those listed here. Furthermore, there are numerous other verbs that can be viewed as modal verbs insofar as they clearly express modality in the same way that the verbs in this list do, e.g. appear, have to, seem etc. In the strict sense, though, these other verbs do not qualify as modal verbs in English because they do not allow subject - auxiliary inversion, nor do they allow negation with not. Verbs such as be able to and be about to allow subject - auxiliary inversion and do not require do support in negatives but these are rarely classified as modal verbs because they inflect and are a modal construction involving the verb to be which itself is not a modal verb. If, however, one defines modal verb entirely in terms of meaning contribution, then these other verbs would also be modals and so the list here would have to be greatly expanded. Defectiveness Modals in English form a very distinctive class of verbs. They are auxiliary verbs like be, do, and have, but they are defective insofar as they can not be inflected like these other auxiliary verbs, e.g. have → has vs. should → * shoulds, do → did vs. may → * mayed, etc. In clauses that contain two or more verbs, any modal that is present appears as the left-most verb in the verb catena ( = chain of verbs ). What this means is that the modal verb is always finite ( although it is, as stated, never inflected ). In the syntactic structure of the clause, the modal verb is the clause root. The following dependency grammar trees illustrate the point : The verb catenae are in blue. The modal auxiliary in both trees is the root of the entire sentence. The verb that is immediately subordinate to the modal is always an infinitive. The fact that modal auxiliaries in English are necessarily finite means that within the minimal finite clause that contains them, they can never be subordinate to another verb, e.g. a. Sam may have done his homework. - The modal auxiliary may is the root of the clause. b. * Sam has may done his homework. - The sentence fails because the modal auxiliary may is not the root of the clause. a. Jim will be helped. - The modal auxiliary will is the root of the clause. b. * Jim is will be helped. - The sentence fails because the modal auxiliary will is not the root of the clause. This trait of modal auxiliaries has motivated the designation defective, that is, modal auxiliaries are defective in English because they are so limited in their form and distribution. One can note further in this area that English modal auxiliaries are quite unlike modal verbs in closely related languages. In German, for instance, modals can occur as non-finite verbs, which means they can be subordinate to other verbs in verb catenae ; they need not appear as the clause root. Comparison with other Germanic languages The table below lists some modal verbs with common roots in the West Germanic languages English, German, Dutch, Low Saxon, West Frisian and Afrikaans, the North Germanic languages Danish, Swedish and Faroese, and the extinct East Germanic Gothic language. This list comprises cognates, which evolved from old Germanic modal auxiliaries. It does not attempt to be complete for any one of the modern languages, as some verbs have lost or gained modal character later in separate languages. ( English modal auxiliary verb provides an exhaustive list of modal verbs in English, and German verb # Modal verbs provides a list for German, with translations. Dutch verbs # Irregular verbs gives conjugations for some Dutch modals. ) Words in the same row of the table below share the same etymological root. Because of semantic drift, however, words in the same row may no longer be proper translations of each other. For instance, the English and German verbs will are completely different in meaning, and the German one has nothing to do with constructing the future tense. These words are false friends. In English, Afrikaans, Danish and Swedish, the plural and singular forms are identical. For German, Dutch, Low Saxon, West Frisian, Faroese and Gothic, both a ( not the ) plural and a singular form of the verb are shown. Forms within parentheses are obsolete, rare, and / or mainly dialectal in the modern languages. Etymological relatives ( not translations ) English German Dutch Low Saxon West Frisian Afrikaans Danish Swedish Faroese Gothic can können, kann kunnen, kan könen, kann kinne, kin kan kan kan kunna, kann kunnum, kann shall sollen, soll zullen, zal schölen, schall sille, sil sal skal ska ( ll ) skula, skal skulum, skal will wollen, will willen, wil wüllen, will wolle, wol wil vil vill vilja, vil wiljau, wileima ( mote ), must müssen, muss moeten, moet möten, mutt moatte, moat moet måste måste ? -, gamōt may mögen, mag mogen, mag mögen, mag meie, mei mag må ( må ) mega, má magum, mag ( wit ) wissen, weiß ? ? ? ? ved vet vita, veit witum, wait ( tharf ) dürfen, darf durven, durf dörven, dörv doarre, doar durf ? ( torv ) ? þaúrbum, þarf The English could is the preterite form of can ; should is the preterite of shall ; might is the preterite of may ; and must was originally the preterite form of mote. ( This is ignoring the use of `` may '' as a vestige of the subjunctive mood in English. ) These verbs have acquired an independent, present tense meaning. The German verb möchten is sometimes taught as a vocabulary word and included in the list of modal verbs, but it is actually the past subjunctive form of mögen. The English verbs dare and need have both a modal use ( he dare not do it ), and a non-modal use ( he does n't dare to do it ). The Dutch, West Frisian, and Afrikaans verbs durven, doarre, and durf are not considered modals ( but they are there, nevertheless ) because their modal use has disappeared, but they have a non-modal use analogous with the English dare. Some English modals consist of more than one word, such as `` had better '' and `` would rather ''. Owing to their modal characteristics, modal verbs are among a very select group of verbs in Afrikaans that have a preterite form. Most verbs in Afrikaans only have a present and a perfect form. Some other English verbs express modality although they are not modal verbs because they are not auxiliaries, including want, wish, hope, and like. All of these differ from the modals in English ( with the disputed exception of ought ( to ) ) in that the associated main verb takes its long infinitive form with the particle to rather than its short form without to, and in that they are fully conjugated. Morphology and syntax Germanic modal verbs are preterite - present verbs, which means that their present tense has the form of a vocalic preterite. This is the source of the vowel alternation between singular and plural in German, Dutch and Low Saxon. Because of their preterite origins, modal verbs also lack the suffix ( - s in modern English, - t in German, Dutch, Low Saxon and West Frisian ) that would normally mark the third person singular form. Afrikaans verbs do not conjugate, and thus Afrikaans non-modal verbs do not have a suffix either : normal verb modal verb English he works he can German er arbeitet er kann Dutch hij werkt hij kan Low Saxon he warkt he kann West Frisian hy wurket hy kin Afrikaans hy werk hy kan The main verb that is modified by the modal verb is in the infinitive form and is not preceded by the word to ( German : zu, Low Saxon to, Dutch and West Frisian te and Afrikaans om te ). There are verbs that may seem somewhat similar in meaning to modal verbs ( e.g. like, want ), but the construction with such verbs would be different : normal verb modal verb English he tries to work he can work German er versucht zu arbeiten er kann arbeiten Dutch hij probeert te werken hij kan werken Low Saxon he versöcht to warken he kann warken West Frisian hy besiket te wurkje hy kin wurkje Afrikaans hy probeer om te werk hy kan werk In English, main verbs but not modal verbs always require the auxiliary verb do to form negations and questions, and do can be used with main verbs to form emphatic affirmative statements. Neither negations nor questions in early modern English used to require do. normal verb modal verb affirmative he works he can work negation he does not work he can not work emphatic he does work hard he can work hard question does he work here ? can he work at all ? negation + question does he not work here ? can he not work at all ? ( German, Afrikaans, and West Frisian never use `` do '' as an auxiliary verb for any function ; Low Saxon and Dutch use `` do '' as an auxiliary, but only in colloquial speech in Dutch, whereas in Low Saxon it is of very common use, sometimes to a point where it is comparable to the way the English makes use of it ). In English, modal verbs are called defective verbs because of their incomplete conjugation : they have a narrower range of functions than ordinary verbs. For example, most have no infinitive or gerund. Modal verbs in other languages Hawaiian creole English Hawaiian Creole English is a creole language most of whose vocabulary, but not grammar, is drawn from English. As is generally the case with creole languages, it is an isolating language and modality is typically indicated by the use of invariant pre-verbal auxiliaries. The invariance of the modal auxiliaries to person, number, and tense makes them analogous to modal auxiliaries in English. However, as in most creoles the main verbs are also invariant ; the auxiliaries are distinguished by their use in combination with ( followed by ) a main verb. There are various preverbal modal auxiliaries : kaen `` can '', laik `` want to '', gata `` have got to '', haeftu `` have to '', baeta `` had better '', sapostu `` am / is / are supposed to ''. Unlike in Germanic languages, tense markers are used, albeit infrequently, before modals : gon kaen kam `` is going to be able to come ''. Waz `` was '' can indicate past tense before the future / volitional marker gon and the modal sapostu : Ai waz gon lift weits `` I was gon na lift weights '' ; Ai waz sapostu go `` I was supposed to go ''. Hawaiian Hawaiian, like the Polynesian languages generally, is an isolating language, so its verbal grammar exclusively relies on unconjugated verbs. Thus, as with creoles, there is no real distinction between modal auxiliaries and lexically modal main verbs that are followed by another main verb. Hawaiian has an imperative indicated by e + verb ( or in the negative by mai + verb ). Some examples of the treatment of modality are as follows : Pono conveys obligation / necessity as in He pono i na kamali'i a pau e maka'ala, `` It 's right for children all to beware '', `` All children should / must beware '' ; ability is conveyed by hiki as in Ua hiki i keia kamali'i ke heluhelu `` Has enabled to this child to read '', `` This child can read ''. French French, like some other Romance languages, does not have a grammatically distinct class of modal auxiliary verbs ; instead, it expresses modality using conjugated verbs followed by infinitives : for example, pouvoir `` to be able '' ( Je peux aller, `` I can go '' ), devoir `` to have an obligation '' ( Je dois aller, `` I must go '' ), and vouloir `` to want '' ( Je veux aller `` I want to go '' ). Italian Like in other Romance languages, modal verbs in Italian ( verbi modali or verbi servili ) together with the preterite ( passato remoto ) possess the perfect form ( passato prossimo ), where they have the peculiarity to preferably inherit the auxiliary verb from the verb they hold. Although, when used alone, the auxiliary of modal verbs is always avere ( `` have '' ) -- Italian language can use both avere ( `` have '' ) and essere ( `` be '' ) as auxiliaries. Modal verbs in Italian are the only group of verbs allowed to follow this particular behavior, forming so a distinct class. For example, the perfect of potere ( `` can '' ) is avere ( `` have '' ), as in ho potuto ( `` I could '' ) ; nevertheless, when used together with a verb that has as auxiliary essere ( `` be '' ), potere inherits the auxiliary of the second verb. E.g. : ho visitato il castello ( `` I have visited the castle '' ) / ho potuto visitare il castello ( `` I could visit the castle '' ) -- but : sono scappato ( `` I have escaped '' ) / sono potuto scappare ( `` I could escape '' ). Italian modal verbs that follow this particular pattern are : potere ( `` can '' ), volere ( `` want '' ), dovere ( `` must '' ), sapere ( `` to be able to '' ). Mandarin Chinese Mandarin Chinese is an isolating language without inflections. As in English, modality can be indicated either lexically, with main verbs such as yào `` want '' followed by another main verb, or with auxiliary verbs. In Mandarin the auxiliary verbs have six properties that distinguish them from main verbs : They must co-occur with a verb ( or an understood verb ). They can not be accompanied by aspect markers. They can not be modified by intensifiers such as `` very ''. They can not be nominalized ( used in phrases meaning, for example, `` one who can '' ) They can not occur before the subject. They can not take a direct object. The complete list of modal auxiliary verbs consists of three meaning `` should '', four meaning `` be able to '', two meaning `` have permission to '', one meaning `` dare '', one meaning `` be willing to '', four meaning `` must '' or `` ought to '', and one meaning `` will '' or `` know how to ''. Spanish Spanish, like French, uses fully conjugated verbs followed by infinitives. For example, poder `` to be able '' ( Puedo andar, `` I can walk '' ), deber `` to have an obligation '' ( Debo andar, `` I should walk '' ), and querer `` to want '' ( Quiero andar `` I want to walk '' ). The correct use of andar in these examples would be reflexive. `` Puedo andar '' means `` I can walk '', `` Puedo irme '' means `` I can go '' or `` I can take myself off / away ''. The same applies to the other examples. See also Grammatical mood English auxiliaries and contractions German modal particle Modal logic Bibliography The Syntactic Evolution of Modal Verbs in the History of English Walter W. Skeat, The Concise Dictionary of English Etymology ( 1993 ), Wordsworth Editions Ltd. This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. ( May 2008 ) References Jump up ^ Palmer, F.R., Mood and Modality, Cambridge University Presents, 2001, p. 33 Jump up ^ A Short Overview of English Syntax ( Rodney Huddleston ), section 6.5 d Jump up ^ Palmer, op. cit., p. 70. The subsequent text shows that the intended definitions were transposed. Jump up ^ Bybee, Joan ; Perkins, Revere ; and Pagliuca, William. The Evolution of Grammar, Univ. of Chicago Press, 1994, pp. 192 - 199 Jump up ^ The forms are given as in § 85 and in § 84 2 of Dansk grammatik ( in Swedish ) by Niels Nielsen, Gleerups förlag, 1959, but with modernised orthography. Jump up ^ The forms are given as in § 77 and in § 83 h ) of An introduction to modern Faroese by W. B. Lockwood, Thórshavn, 1977. Jump up ^ These first person forms are given as in § 96 and in § 101 of Germanische Sprachwissenschaft, II. Formenlehre ( in German ) by Hans Krahe, Sammlung Göschen, Band 780, 1942. Jump up ^ Krahe ( op. cit., § 101 ) treats this verb separately. He notes, that in Gothic the endings are the usual ones for the optative preterite, and assumes that this reflects the original situation. Later, he argues, in e.g. Anglo - Saxon, they were replaced by the ordinary indicative preterite forms, under influence of the preterite - present verbs proper. Jump up ^ Obsolete or dialectal, confused with and replaced by dare ( OED, s.v. † tharf, thar, v. and dare, v. ). Jump up ^ Ian Jacobs. English Modal Verbs. August 1995 Jump up ^ Sakoda, Kent, and Jeff Siegel, Pidgin Grammar, Bess Press, 2003. Jump up ^ Alexander, W.D., Introduction to Hawaiian Grammar, Dover Publ., 2004 ^ Jump up to : Li, Charles N., and Sandra A. Thomson, Mandarin Chinese : A Functional Reference Grammar, 1989. External links German Modal Verbs A grammar lesson covering the German modal verbs ( in Portuguese ) Modal Verbs Modal Verb Tutorial Lexical categories and their features Noun Abstract / Concrete Adjectival Agent Animate / Inanimate Attributive Common / Proper Countable / Mass / Collective Initial - stress - derived Relational Strong / Weak Verbal / Deverbal Verb Forms Finite / Non-finite Attributive Converb Gerund Gerundive Infinitive Participle ( adjectival adverbial ) Supine Verbal noun Types Accusative Ambitransitive Andative / Venitive Anticausative Autocausative Auxiliary Captative Catenative Compound Copular Defective Denominal Deponent Ditransitive Dynamic ECM Ergative Frequentative Impersonal Inchoative Intransitive Irregular Lexical Light Modal Monotransitive Negative Performative Phrasal Predicative Preterite - present Reflexive Regular Separable Stative Stretched Strong Transitive Unaccusative Unergative Weak Adjective Collateral Demonstrative Nominalized Possessive Postpositive Adverb Genitive Conjunctive Flat Locative Interrogative Prepositional Pronominal Relative Pronoun Demonstrative Disjunctive Distributive Donkey Dummy Formal / Informal Gender - neutral Gender - specific Inclusive / Exclusive Indefinite Intensive Interrogative Objective Personal Possessive Prepositional Reciprocal Reflexive Relative Resumptive Subjective Weak Preposition / postposition Inflected Casally modulated Stranded Conjunction Determiner Article Demonstrative Interrogative Possessive Quantifier Classifier Measure word Particle Discourse Interrogative Modal Noun Possessive Complementizer Other Yes and no Copula Coverb Expletive Interjection ( verbal ) Preverb Pro-form Pro-sentence Pro-verb Procedure word Prop - word Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Modal_verb&oldid=803599226 '' Categories : Verb types Hidden categories : Articles to be expanded from May 2008 All articles to be expanded Articles using small message boxes Articles with Portuguese - language external links Talk Article Talk Contents About Wikipedia Alemannisch Brezhoneg Čeština Dansk Deutsch Eesti فارسی Français Íslenska Italiano Magyar Nederlands Norsk Norsk nynorsk Polski Română Svenska Українська 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 3 October 2017, at 13 : 44. 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Question: what is the function of modal auxiliary verbs in english
Answer: to indicate modality – that is: likelihood, ability, permission and obligation