Modal verb

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A modal verb (also modal, modal auxiliary verb, modal auxiliary) is a type of auxiliary verb that is used to indicate modality. The use of auxiliary verbs to express modality is characteristic of Germanic languages.

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[edit] Function

Modal verbs give additional information about the mood of the main verb that follows it. In other words, they help to incorporate or add the level of necessity: (must = obligation, requirement, no choice); (should = recommendation); (can/could = it is possible); and (may/might = option, choice).

Most modal verbs have two distinct interpretations, epistemic (expressing how certain the factual status of the embedded proposition is) and deontic (involving notions of permission and obligation). The following sentences illustrate the two uses of 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.")
  • ambiguous: You must speak Spanish.
    • epistemic = "It is surely the case that you speak Spanish (e.g., after having lived in Spain for 10 years)."
    • deontic = "It is a requirement that you speak Spanish (e.g., if you want to get a job in Spain)."

Epistemic modals can be analyzed as raising verbs, while deontic modals can be analyzed as control verbs.

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[edit] List

This table lists some modal verbs with common roots in English, German and Dutch. English modal auxiliary verb provides an exhaustive list of modal verbs in English.

The words in this list are not translations of each other! Words in the same row share the same etymological root. But, because of semantic drift, words in the same row may no longer be proper translations of each other. For instance, the German verb "dürfen" is closer in meaning to the English verb "may" than to its cognate "dare".

For German and Dutch, both the plural and singular form of the verb are shown. In English, the plural and singular form are identical.

English German Dutch
can können, kann kunnen, kan
shall sollen, soll zullen, zal
will wollen, will willen, wil
must müssen, muss moeten, moet
may mögen, mag mogen, mag
dare dürfen, darf durven, durf

The English could is the past tense of can, should is the past tense of shall and might is the past tense of may. These verbs have acquired an independent, present tense meaning. The German form 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 doesn't dare to do it). The Dutch verb durven is not included in the list because its modal use has disappeared, but it has a non-modal use analogous with the English dare.

[edit] Properties

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 and Dutch. Because of their preterite origins, modal verbs also lack the suffix (-s in modern English, -t in German and Dutch) that would normally mark the third person singular form:

normal verb modal verb
English he works he can
German er arbeitet er kann
Dutch hij werkt hij 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, Dutch: 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

In English, main verbs require the auxiliary verb do to form negations or questions. Modal verbs never use this auxiliary do:

normal verb modal verb
affirmative he tries to work he can work
negation he doesn't try to work he can't work
question does he try to work? can he work?
negation + question doesn't he try to work? can't he work?

Modal verbs are called defective verbs because of their incomplete conjugation: they have a narrower range of functions than ordinary verbs.

[edit] See also

[edit] Bibliography

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