English modal auxiliary verb

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					                                           English modal auxiliary verb

         In the English language, a modal auxiliary verb is an auxiliary verb (or helping verb) that can
modify the grammatical mood (or mode) of a verb. The key way to identify a modal auxiliary is by its
defectiveness; the modal auxiliaries do not have participles or infinitives.

The modal auxiliaries are as follows:

1.   Would
                   Would is originally the past tense of will, and it (or its contracted form 'd) is still used
         in that sense: "In the 1960s, people thought we would all be driving hovercars by the year
                   Its more common use, however, is to convey the conditional mood, especially in
         counterfactual conditionals; that is, to express what would be the case if something were
         different: "If they wanted to do it, they would have done it by now." There is not always an
         explicit protasis ("if" clause) in this use: "Someone who likes red and hates yellow would
         probably prefer strawberries to bananas" means the same as, "If someone liked red and hated
         yellow, he or she would probably prefer strawberries to bananas."
                   Would can also be used with no modal or temporal meaning, to affect either
         politeness or formality of speech:
         "I would like a glass of water, please."
         "Would you be a dear and get me a glass of water?"
         "It would seem so."
                   All of these uses can be described as displaying remoteness: either remoteness of
         time (the past), remoteness of possibility (a conditional), or remoteness of relationship to the
         addressee (politeness or formality).

2.   Shall

         See also: Shall and will
                    Shall is used in many of the same senses as will (see above), though not all dialects
         use shall productively, and those that use both shall and will generally draw a distinction
         (though different dialects tend to draw different distinctions). In standard, perhaps old-
         fashioned, British English, shall in the first person, singular or plural, indicates mere intention,
         but in other persons shows an order, command or prophecy: "Cinderella, you shall go to the
         ball!" It is, therefore, impossible to make shall questions in these persons. Shall we? makes
         sense, shall you? does not.
                    Shall derives from a main verb meaning to owe, and in dialects that use both shall
         and will, the former is often used in instances where an obligation, rather than an intention, is

3.   Should
                   Should is to shall as would is to will, except that should is common even in dialects
         where shall is not.
                   In some dialects, it is common to form the subjunctive mood by using should: "It is
         important that the law should be passed" (where other dialects would say, "It is important that
         the law be passed") or "If it should happen, we are prepared for it" (or "Should it happen, we
         are prepared for it"; where early Modern English would say, "If it happen, we are prepared for
         it," and many dialects of today would say, "If it happens, we are prepared for it").
                   Should commonly describes an ideal behavior or occurrence and imparts a normative
         meaning to the sentence; for example, "You should never lie" means roughly, "If you always
         behaved perfectly, you would never lie"; and "If this works, you should not feel a thing"
         means roughly, "I hope this will work. If it does, you will not feel a thing." In dialects that use
         shall commonly, however, this restriction does not apply; for example, a speaker of such a
         dialect might say, "If I failed that test, I think I should cry," meaning the same thing as, "If I
         failed that test, I think I would cry."
4.   May and might

                    May is used to indicate permission ("May I have a word with you?") or possibility
         ("That may be."), though in some dialects, the former use is often supplanted by can (see
         below), and the latter by might (which was originally its past tense), making this auxiliary
         rather uncommon in those dialects.
                    May is able to be used with either a present or a future sense: "I am not sure whether
         he is there now; he may not be, but even if he is not, he may go there later." Theoretically
         speaking, might is the corresponding past-tense form, but since some dialects use might quite
         commonly with a present or future sense, it is more common to use may or might with the
         perfect aspect to provide a past sense: "He might have been gone when we got there, or he
         might have been hiding."
                    May is also used to express irrelevance in spite of certain or likely truth: "He may be
         taller than I am, but he is certainly not stronger" may means roughly, "While it is true that he
         is taller than I am, that does not make a difference, as he is certainly not stronger." (However,
         it may also mean, "I am not sure whether he is taller than I am, but I am sure that he is not
         stronger.") In many dialects, might is used in this sense as well.
                    In addition to what has already been mentioned, might also serves as the conditional
         mood of may: "If he were more polite, he might be better liked." Also, while there are some
         dialects where the use of might to replace may is very common, even in colloquial or informal
         speech, there are other dialects where might serves a more polite or formal form of may, just
         as would does for will (see above) and could does for can (see below).
                    May and might do not have common negative contractions (equivalents to shan't,
         won't, can't, couldn't etc).

5.   Can and could
                 Can is used to express ability (as in "I can speak English", meaning "I am able to
        speak English" or "I know how to speak English"), permission (as in "Can I use your phone?”
        meaning "Do you permit me to use your phone?"), willingness (as in "Can you pass me the
        cheese?” meaning "Please pass me the cheese"), or possibility ("There can be a very strong
        rivalry between siblings", meaning "There is sometimes a very strong rivalry between
        siblings"). (Some of these senses may be perceived as incorrect in some dialects; in particular,
        formal American English often prefers to use may when the sense is permission and could
        when the sense is willingness.) The negative of can is the single word cannot or the
        contraction can't.

                  Could has at least three distinct functions. First, it can often replace can, although
         generally it gives the phrase a conditional tone. For example, "I can help you with your work"
         suggests that the speaker is ready and willing to help, whereas "I could help you with your
         work" gives a more tentative sense of ability to help. In this sense, could is often used like a
         conditional: "I could help you if you helped yourself."

                  Second, could functions as a kind of past tense for can, though could does not
         function grammatically like any regular past simple verb.

                   Third, could carries the same meaning as might or may in the present. That is, could
         suggests that something is a possibility. For instance, John is not in the office today, he could
         be sick. In this phrase, might or may would carry the same meaning. Note that can in the
         negative carries the same idea as couldn't in this sense: "He cannot have left already; why
         would he want to get there so early?" Also, note that when regarding potential futures actions
         could is not equivalent to might or may. "I might go to the mall later," does not have the same
         connotations as "I could go to the mall later," which suggests ability more than possibility/

6.   Must and have to

         1. Must and "Have to" are used to express that something is imperative or obligatory ("He
         must leave"). According to many scholars, the difference between "must" and "have to" is
         found in the source of the obligation.[citation needed] "Must" is said to be chosen when the
         obligation stems from an internal source (i.e. an obligation one imposes on oneself); "have to"
         when the source is external (i.e. your boss, rules, the law, an authority figure, etc). Compare "I
         have to finish this report today" (There is a deadline, which I did not set) with "I must finish
         this report today" (I am imposing my own deadline).

         2. Both "Must" and "Have to" are used to express a strong belief that something is the case,
         but makes it clear that the speaker is not stating a fact but an opinion ("It must be here
         somewhere"). The basis of this belief is not factual but logical. In other words, we are
         speculating based on what we know about the world and how it works (i.e. what has happened
         in the past, someone's character, etc).

7.   Ought to and had better
                  Ought to and had better are synonymous with one of the senses of should: it is used
        to express an ideal behavior or occurrence or suggested obligation. In dialects that use shall
        commonly, should has a wide array of meanings, so ought is very common (as it is more
        precise), as is ought not (or oughtn't). In other dialects, ought may or may not be common, but
        ought not is generally quite rare: the opposite of "You ought to tell him how you feel" is
        generally "You should not tell him how you feel," or "You had better not tell him how you
        feel." There is no negative contraction for had better. Had better not is used at all times. In
        speech, the had in had better is generally disregarded.

8.   Dare and need
                   Nowadays, dare and need are not commonly used as auxiliaries, but formerly, both
        were. Dare is especially rare in common parlance, with the notable exception of "How dare
        you!". "He dare not do it" is equivalent to today's "He does not/will not/would not dare to do
        it," while "It need not happen today" is equivalent to today's "It does not need to happen
        today" or "It might not happen today." However, in the sentence "I need to lose weight," need
        is not being used as an auxiliary since it can be conjugated to other forms: "I needed to lose
        weight," "I have been needing to lose weight," etc.
9.   Do
        As an auxiliary, do is essentially a "dummy"; that is, it does not generally affect the meaning.
        It is used to form questions and negations when no other auxiliary is present: "I don't want to
        do it." It is also sometimes used for emphasis: "I do understand your concern, but I do not
        think that will happen." Also, do sometimes acts as a pro-verb: "I enjoy it, I really do [enjoy
        it], but I am not good at it." (Other auxiliaries do this as well: "I can do it, I really can [do it], it
        just takes me longer"; but it bears particular note that in the case of do, it is often used as a
        pro-verb when it would be absent if the verb were present.) Because it does not affect the
        meaning of its verb, not all grammarians acknowledge do as a modal auxiliary. In a sense, it
        indicates a lack of modal auxiliary. (Do is also different in that it has a distinct third-person
        singular form, does, and in that its past tense, did, is used exactly as a past tense, not as a more
        general remote form).

         See also

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