Questions tagged [modal-verbs]
Modal verbs (such as can, could, shall, should, will, would, may, might, and must) combine with verbs in the bare infinitive to express information about the verb such as possibility or necessity.
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The usage of "can not" vs. "cannot" in mathematics
I saw the following passage in Professor West's homepage, and I hadn't noticed this point before. See https://dwest.web.illinois.edu/grammar.html#cannot
"Can not" and "may be". ...
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"No, it can't be...." vs " No, it may not be..."
I know "No, it can't be" can mean "It's impossible that it is", but I don't think "No, it may not be" can also mean "It's impossible that it is". I know that &...
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Should I use 'can' or 'will be able to'? "If he fixes your car tonight, you [?] drive it to school tomorrow." [closed]
Should I change "will be able to" to "can" in the bolded sentence from the exchange below?
A: My car broke down and I have to drive to school to pick up my daughter tomorrow. I ...
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What is this conditional-type sentence used to express reluctance or uncertainty?
The difference between "I can fix the computer" and "I could fix the computer" (present tense) is that the latter expresses more reluctance or doubt.
What is this type of sentence ...
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When the verb dare is an auxiliary, can it take the preterite form dared?
I need to distinguish the auxiliary dare and the lexical dare. I know that as semi-modals need and dare act similarly. As a modal the verb need can only have present tense forms without the 3rd person ...
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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 ...
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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.
...
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How modal verbs change while converting active voice to passive voice? [closed]
We can buy electrical appliances from Amazon.
Electrical appliances can be bought from Amazon.
Electrical appliances could be bought from Amazon.
Which among the two is the correct passive voice of ...
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I may go to the party - permission or possibility? Or both? [duplicate]
Hope you can help me to answer this tricky question. I´m posting here as I got the impression that it needs a linguist or at least a native to answer it.
When you say: I may go to the party. Does this ...
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Should "seem" be used instead of "seems" in this sentence: "Technology may have made the world seems smaller." [closed]
An editing textbook suggested that "seem" should be used instead of "seems" in this sentence:
Technology may have made the world seems smaller.
The shorter sentence "the ...
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The possibility of can and may
I ask about the possibility of can.
I would like to ask further to the past Stack Exchange answer.
Question
What is the difference between 'can', 'could', 'may' and 'might&#...
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What are the roles of ‘can’, ‘do’, and ‘is’ in ‘All a man can do is smile back’? [closed]
What roles do the words can, do and is each play in this sentence in terms of its syntactic grammar, either individually or as a group?
Death smiles at us all, but all a man can do is smile back.
If ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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How did "ought" lose its original usage as the past tense of "owe"?
Ought is originally the past tense of owe (v.). It appears that this usage is retained in Scottish and in some dialects of English. The current use of ought in standard English is a modal auxiliary (...
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Is "can be able to" idiomatic among native speakers at all? If not, what's its origin?
I've heard the expression can be able to consistently from a couple of folks from India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Here are a couple of paraphrased examples:
By signing up to our service,...
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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 ...
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Difference between must and have to, and might and may [closed]
So what is the difference between "you have to do this" and "you must do this"? Don't they mean the same?
Same goes with "he may be in the library" and "he might be ...
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Is "should" in if-clause common in the USA?
I was wondering if the "should" in if-clause is commonly used nowadays, or if it's kinda outdated. E.g.,
If you should meet him, tell him he owes me.
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Grammatical Structure of Complex Sentence
The Sentence in Question
The legal “theories” of democracy that evolved in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were precisely intended to provide such definitions as would link certain actual or ...
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Meaning of "shall be of" in regulation language
There is an interesting style in some regulations e.g, in NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) I often see "shall be of".
For instance; Sprinklers shall be of the open or automatic ...
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Can "may have" be used in a past-tense narrative?
In a narrative written in third person past tense, such as you'd find in most published books, can the phrase "may have" be used after verbs like "thought" or "said"? As ...
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"Will have done" vs "would have done" in expressing certainty
Recently, I have been looking a little bit deeper into the modal verb “will”, its usage and properties. In the process I have been able to find the usage I have already encountered, though have seen ...
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What tense is "He would never see her again"?
In the following passage, what tense is the second sentence?
John said goodbye to his mother. He would never see her again.
I know it's not the past tense, which would be "He never saw her ...
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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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If saying 'Why can't I ...?' is correct, would 'Why cannot I ...?' be technically correct?
Why can't I ...?
is perfectly correct grammar as far as I can tell. But what happens if the contraction is removed,
Why cannot I ...?
This sounds bizarre, but would this be technically correct ...
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"I might do too"
Today I came read someone write "I might do too" and it struck me as non-idiomatic – but I was unable to identify the offending aspect.
Near variations all sound acceptable to my ear:
"...
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Another one on the past tense of must have
I'm having a disagreement with two of my (non-native English speaker) country people about the (un)grammaticality of the following sentences:
I had to tell him at least five times before he actually ...
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Embedded phrases and clauses in "May I know..." questions
Hello everyone and thank you for your consideration. I am a professional English teacher and I usually can find answers for every grammar question, but I have one student that is very good at coming ...
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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 ...
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Is the verb 'will' modal in these sentences? [closed]
Everyone will get it: Virus warning.
Virus will ‘get worse, very quickly’.
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"Could have + past participle" in questions
I have a hard time understanding the meaning of the following question:
Who could have taken my coffee? I thought I was the only person in the office today!
All grammar books say that the structure &...
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Why use subjunctive mood in 'all the force would be transferred back to the ship'?
When reading a discussion about whether the Titanic could have avoided sinking, I saw a sentence that puzzled me a lot, as following:
– it would probably have survived. [When a ship hits an iceberg ...
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What is the history of the incomplete "can"/"could" verb?
The verb can/could is incomplete in the following sense. There is a present tense:
I can
You can
He/she/it can
[…]
There is also a past tense:
I could
You could
He/she/it could
[…]
But there is ...
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Is there a term for a construction like "...can and has developed," where the omission ("develop") results in an apparent lack of agreement?
Perhaps I'm just overlooking the explanation in grammar references (and questions on ELU), but I haven't found a discussion of this construction (or its advisability): a verb is omitted after a modal, ...
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'I would have liked to see' or 'I would like to have seen'? [duplicate]
When teaching my students the usage of the verbs 'like, love, hate, prefer' with the modal verb 'would', I stumbled upon the following:
"It's a shame we didn't see Anna. I would like to have seen ...
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Should in the past [closed]
If I say "I should have done it." it means that I didn't do it.
Imagine: there was something that needed to be done. And I did it. How do I say "should" about REAL past?
I should ...
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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 ...
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Which of the following sentences is correct: Can you not travel during this period? or Are you unable to travel during this period? [closed]
I came across the following sentence written by a supposedly native (British) English speaker in a text I'm currently editing and it immediately struck me as being odd:
We offer special discounts to ...
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"can remind" or "can to remind"?
I found this sentence in a book that is as follows:
Great poets are expressly aware of this, and they do what they can to remind the rest of us.
I ask because on one site it says that the verb that ...
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Modal verbs (must, may, would) in reported-speech backshift
Could a native English speaker please finally clear this confusion for us? The textbooks are either silent or contradicting each other.
Must
Direct speech:
"That must be wrong!"
Later she ...
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"could" with the progressive aspect of a verb
Situation 1: My friends are playing outside. My leg is injured. Sitting at home, I'm thinking:
It's pity that my leg is injured. I could be playing with them now.
Situation 2: My friends are playing ...
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Modal verbs usage [closed]
Why do we use "have to have a visa to travel abroad", but not "must have a visa to travel abroad"? As far as I'm concerned, it's impossible to travel overseas without a visa, it's ...
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If it's a page lead, I'll normally try to get hold of it [closed]
If it's a page lead, I'll normally try to get hold of it. If it's a summary I normally won't have time.
I would normally read abstract and discussion, and skim the rest. If it's about quantum ...
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Use of "would" to depict uncertain future
Consider the following scenario:
A clinical trial that was initiated in Jan 2021 is currently recruiting participants.
The estimated enrollment of the trial is 50 participants.
It is not always sure ...
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I can solve it/ can see the car
Context: In a math class,
Teacher: solve this problem.
After some time, when the students are still trying:
Teacher to one of his students: John, can you solve it? (He is basically asking John whether ...
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the difference between "must have + (past participle)" and "should have + (past participle)"
The following is a question from the university entrance examination held in 2013 using the DNC Japan Test.
My brother ( ) have been very popular when he was a high school student.
He still gets lots ...
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Around 1970 in Britain, was this use of 'shall', in 'You shall go (=I let you go)', already out-of-date in daily conversation?
A striking grammatical difference between BE and AE is the various uses of auxiliary verbs (now, modal verbs) of will and shall. When I was a high school boy studying English without any chance of ...
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If he got the job, he would be very happy now
Consider this, please:
Person A: My brother was supposed to appear for an interview at 8am, and now it's 10. I don't know if he got the job or not. But one thing is for sure,
If he got the job, he ...
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Otherwise I would/could/might be playing now [closed]
Person A: Why are you sitting here and not playing with them?
Person B:
My leg is injured. Otherwise I would be playing with them now.
My leg is injured. Otherwise I could be playing with them now.
...
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