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Tagged with modal-verbs deontic-vs-epistemic
3 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
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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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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
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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 ...
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