All Questions
Tagged with modal-verbs deontic-vs-epistemic
20 questions
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"Will be living since" vs "Will have been living since" [duplicate]
Could you tell me which is correct, please? The following is just part of an exercise given at B2 British Council online course, so no context at all.
Joe will be living in Austria since April.
Joe ...
5
votes
2
answers
454
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What's quasi-modal be?
What's quasi-modal be? It is not a traditional grammar term. Google says
You are to be good. <=> You must be good.
Other than obligation, what modalities can the quasiness refer to?
What ...
- 161
2
votes
3
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733
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Max couldn’t go out after dark. <permission at a past time?>
A linguistics paper titled "Tense and Modals" by Tim Stowell shows these examples and explains them as follows:
(9) a. Carl can’t move his arm. (ability at the utterance
time)
b. Carl ...
- 7,316
0
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2
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93
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Could "It needn't have been Jill that wrote the note" be interpreted other than deontic?
I know that the modality can be ambiguous and many clauses can be interpreted in many ways. I find that the clause "It needn't have been Jill that wrote the note" can be interpreted as ...
- 137
2
votes
1
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119
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Is "Could you help me move these boxes?" interpreted as deontic or dynamic when it comes to the modality families?
I have a problem with the following clause:
Could you help me move these boxes?
I would like to know for my upcoming English test that if this clause is interpreted as epistemic, deontic or dynamic.
...
- 137
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0
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118
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Can "must have + past participle" ever express obligation (deontic modality)?
Can a sentence using a must have + past participle construction ever express deontic modality?
These are all epistemic:
He must have showered.
Someone must have eaten the apple.
The laundry must have ...
user163011
0
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1
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460
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What’s the difference between saying “I’m willing ɴᴏᴛ to do it” and “I’m ɴᴏᴛ willing to do it”? [duplicate]
I’ve been asked to paraphrase this sentence without changing the meaning:
I won’t do it.
I’m confused as to which of these possible rewrites I should choose:
I’m willing not to do it.
I'm not ...
- 11
2
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0
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105
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What is the reason for quasi-modals existing and why do they imply different meaning than the modals themselves?
What I mean is - Why do we have collocations such as "be supposed to", "have to", "be able to"? I understand that modals are defective, but maybe more fundamentally, why ...
- 101
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39
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Confusion with 'Would" [duplicate]
What could be the possible meaning of the sentence?: "If you would agree to my conditions, I would give you compensation."
I would highly appreciate your response.
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Real Conditional Clause + Present Unreal Main Clause [closed]
Is it grammatical to say these four sentences?
If I have studied it for four years, I should be good at it.
If I had studied it for four years, I should be good at it.
If I have been studying it ...
- 51
-2
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1
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482
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"Will have heard by now" sounds like bad usage to me; what is your opinion? [closed]
I posted the question here
https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/295727/bad-usage-of-will-have
but it was closed due to insufficient details or clarity. I'm trying here.
The following sounds wrong ...
- 119
0
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0
answers
65
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Use of 'would' for evidentiality in American English
In American English, "would" is used more often than in British English. It seems that one reason is using 'would' for evidential use in American English. especially for indirect ...
- 139
0
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1
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928
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Meaning of "will" in "I will be unable to meet with you tomorrow as arranged" [closed]
According to grammar rules, "will" can be used to mean: a1) promise or decision; a2) prediction based on opinion, while "going to" mean: b1) plan; b2) prediction based on evidence.
But in that ...
- 67
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1
answer
16k
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Is it grammatical to use "would" twice in a sentence? Why? Please consider the following examples [duplicate]
Is "would" used correctly in these sentences?
I would not be surprised if you would lose.
I would not give you the weapon if you would use it to harm others.
- 31
1
vote
1
answer
624
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Is “mustn’t be doing something” deontic or epistemic?
Do the following sentences have a deontic or epistemic meaning?
He must be studying now.
He mustn't be studying now.
- 645
5
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1
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751
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"must": obligation x certainty. Which meaning developed first in the English language?
ORIGIN OF MUST - Middle English moste, from Old English mōste, past indicative & subjunctive of mōtan to be allowed to, have to; akin to Old High German muozan to be allowed to, have to
First ...
- 50.2k
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2
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2k
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Is “shall” an appropriate word for a scientific thesis? [closed]
May I use the word shall in my scientific thesis?
As in
The relevant ones shall be introduced in the following.
Or is shall considered slang or outdated?
- 157
15
votes
3
answers
60k
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Using "will" after "if"
I've been told that native-speakers don't ever use "will" after "if", and that saying it this way is a not-native style.
So from the film (Harry Potter, pt5) I noticed a line that confused me. Look ...
- 167
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2
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955
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Is “Jack could get to work earlier” deontic or epistemic?
Please consider:
Jack could get to work earlier.
Is this use of could in the dynamic modality about Jack’s inherent ability, or is this the could of epistemic modality about the speaker’s ...
- 47
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2
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2k
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Is “Can you carry this book?” acceptable? [closed]
Is it grammatically correct to say:
Can you carry this book?
I said this to a friend and this person commented that I need to learn grammar. To me the statement seems grammatically correct and ...
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