Modal Verbs.doc

1
MODAL VERBS - REVISION
They are grammatical formatives: may, can, must, will, shall, need, dare
Lexical modal verbs: to be able to, to be allowed to, to be permitted to, to
have to, etc.
A. Major syntactic properties:
 Inversion with the subject. This is a property they have in common with
auxiliaries which also exhibit Subject-Auxiliary Inversion (SAI): Must I
come?
 Negative by adding not or n’t: I can’t go. / I cannot go.
 Appear in codas: He can swim and so can she.
 Emphatic affirmation: He will be there.
 They are defective verbs: Present and Past forms; infrequently used as
past forms but used as Subjunctives;
 Lack –s in the third person singular;
 They are always followed by a short (bare) infinitive: I must go. / *I must
to go.
 They are also characterized by the absence of non-finite forms.
 They do not exhibit co-occurrence: *I may will come.
B. Morpho-syntactic features:
 In the case of adding negation to the modal we may have two
interpretations:
o [modal verb + not] + V in the infinitive = external negation
May I go out? No, you may not.
Deontic meaning = interpersonal relations (permission, prohibition,
obligation)
o modal verb + [ not + V in the infinitive] = internal negation
It may or it may not rain tomorrow.
Epistemic meaning = the degree of probability of a fact (possible,
certain, necessary)
C. Grammatical features (can, may, must, need):
 The deontic meanings require personal subjects.
You may come in. (permission) deontic
The train may come into the station. (possibility) epistemic
 For deontic modal verbs in Indirect Speech, the Past tense forms act as
real past tenses.
He told me that I might come in.

2
The train might come in. (= with epistemic meanings the past tense
forms chiefly function as subjunctives)
 The deontic forms are chiefly used with the simple infinitive while the
epistemic verbs allow all the forms of the infinitive.
He must do it (now). = obligation = deontic (simple infinitive)
He must be doing it. = probability = epistemic (infinitive
progressive)
He must have done it by now. = certainty = epistemic. (perfect
infinitive)
 The source of the modality:
o Discourse oriented modalities (internal modalities). The modality
emanates from one of the two discourse participants.
You may leave now! (= I allow you to leave)
May I leave? (=Do you allow me to leave?)
o External modalities.
Women must cover their head in church. (must = not discourse
oriented)
MODAL VERBS EXPRESSING OBLIGATION AND NECESSITY 1
(MUST / HAVE TO)
MUST
a) OBLIGATION = DEONTIC
Present and future reference: He must do it now / next week.
In Indirect Speech: He told me I must do it now.
Source of modality:
1) Discourse oriented: Must I do it now?
2) Inner strong desire: I must work harder.
3) External verb: Children must be polite to their parents.
You must do it at once.
MUST = performative verb = conveys facts that are extralinguistic
I oblige you to do it.
(deontic performative = discourse oriented)
but:
Children must be polite to their parents.
(deontic reading, but not performative)
You must come and see me.
(invitation or advice, an obligation which is to the advantage of the
interlocutor)
MUST may be replaced by: HAVE TO, BE TO.
He was to come.

3
Negation of MUST:
a) internal (obligation not to do = prohibition to do): mustn’t, must not.
b) external obligation (absence of obligation): needn’t, need not, don’t have to.
Indirect directives: (polite requests = performative requests)
Must you come so late?
Must you make that noise? = (Stop making that noise.) (You have no
reason to make that noise)
MUST + a performative verb
I hereby cancel your promotion.
(a degree of power to the disfavour of the interlocutor)
I must cancel your promotion. (= hedge performative must)
(must suggests that the speaker is under an obligation)
b) NECESSITY, PROBABILITY = EPISTEMIC MUST
If it is a bird, it must have wings.
Epistemic must may be used with the progressive or simple infinitive to render
present or future time reference:
He must be learning. (= something is probably going on now)
He must learn.
Past time reference is achieved by means of the perfect infinitive:
He must have done it in his childhood.
Negation:
He must be sleeping.
He can’t be sleeping.
He needn’t be sleeping. (= soft negation)
Probability vs. HAVE TO.
He must be crazy to do it. (= inductive probability.)
He has to be crazy to do it. (= deductive probability)
MUST HAVE TO
we get information by: acquaintance description
more or less inductive deductive
factual indirect
information
theoretical necessity
MODAL VERBS EXPRESSING ABILITY AND PERMISSION
CAN / MAY
CAN

4
a) ABILITY CAN (DYNAMIC ROOT)
- a disposition property; what the subject can do generically
He can swim/walk/speak English/run the mile in 10 seconds.
Time reference: only present
*He can walk tomorrow.
Past time reference: could, be able to. in negative and interrogative sentences
indiscriminately.
In affirmative sentences:
- be able to, mange to are used for successful accomplishment on one
specific occasion.
I was able to see her yesterday.
- could shows generic ability in the past.
When I was a kid I could skip the rope / run faster.
He could speak fluently when he was two.
Related uses:
- can + physical (mental) perception. = aspectual device; to actualize a
state:
I can remember / understand now.
Compare:
His nutty sister says she hears voices telling her she is Venus.
His nutty sister says she can hear voices telling her she is Venus.
(=suggests that the ability is indeed real)
- can = used to suggest sporadic ability.
Students can be nice.
She can be nasty.
- pragmatic uses:
a) request: Can you step off my toes, please?
b) statement form: You could be a little more polite to your parents.
c) with performative verbs: I can tell you he’s lying! (= I am telling
you) - hedge performative can
b) PERMISSION CAN (DEONTIC)
- preferred in negative sentences.
Both can and could have present and future reference.
- could used in Subjunctives = more polite / and as past tense
Could I go out today? No, you can’t.
Father said you couldn’t.
c) POSSIBILITY CAN (EPISTEMIC) = stronger than probability
- both can and could have future reference
Past time reference with perfect infinitive
It could have happened.

5
In colloquial speech: in negative sentences, while may occurs in affirmatives
and interrogatives.
- can appears in rhetorical questions.
Who can be such a coward as to betray his soul?
- in scientific discourse epistemic can in affirmative sentences.
The temperature can rise to 100 degrees Celsius.
The disease can have fatal consequences.
If you could obtain this result then the conclusion was correct.
- may expresses factual possibility
Negation is external: (= impossibility)
This cannot be achieved.
MAY
a) EPISTEMIC MAY (POSSIBILITY = inductive, factual)
The pound may be devalued. (empirical coverage)
The pound can be devalued. (empty statement)
Inductive possibility
You might as well do it now.
He might as well be dead for all the help I’m getting for him.
- can/may = strengthened by well, possibly
He could possibly be her brother.
He can well be the murderer.
He might well have gone there.
Negation of may: internal.
He may or may not be the author of this play.
It may or may not rain tomorrow.
b) DEONTIC MAY (PERMISSION)
- may may be discourse oriented:
May I come in? (= Do you allow me to come in?)
No, you may not / can’t / mustn’t.
Negation = external.
Such activities may not be carried on in this country.
- might = with past value in Indirect Speech. It is a tentative, polite form.
Might / May I go out? (might more polite than may)
c) It looks as if there is a ROOT ABILITY MAY but it is less important.
Love those than may, weep those that can.
Rice may grow tall in warm countries.
EXERCISES
1. Use the perfect infinitive of the verb in italics with a suitable modal:

6
e.g. I’ve never seen a London Policeman! / You see one! You’ve been in
London a week already!
ANSWER: You must have seen one!
I heard the phone ringing in the flat above yours. / You not hear their phone
ringing. They haven’t got a phone.
ANSWER: You couldn’t have heard their phone ringing.
1) I’ve written to Paul. You not write. He’s coming here tomorrow. You’ll see
him before he gets your letter.
2) They build a two-storey house (this was the original plan), but money ran out
so they built a bungalow instead.
3) If the dog hadn’t woken us we not notice the fire for several hours, and by
that time it spread to the house next door.
4) Ann: Why didn’t you wait for me yesterday?
Tom: I waited five minutes.
Ann: You wait a little longer!
5) How did Peter get there?
He come on a motorcycle. (This is a possibility.)
He not come on a motorcycle. He doesn’t ride one.
He come hitch-hiking.
6) Why are you so late? You be here two hours ago!
7) If I’d known we’d have to wait so long I bring a book!
If I’d known it was going to be so cold I not come at all!
8) Tom (looking out of the window): Fortunately that teapot didn’t hit anyone,
but you not throw it out of the window, Ann! You kill someone.
9) Look at this beautiful painting! Only a very great artist paint such a picture!
Nonsense! A child of five paint it with his eyes shut!
10) I wonder how the fire started! Oh, someone drop a lighted cigarette. Or it
be an electrical fault.
11) There is only one set of footprints, so the kidnapper carry his prisoner out.
He not do it in daylight or he be seen. He wait till dark.
2. Look at the following sentences and identify those that express degrees of
likelihood (certainty, probability, or possibility). Categorize the remaining
sentences in terms of what their modals express (obligation, permission,
ability and willingness).
1) You can borrow the car, I don’t need it.
2) He can still be at the office, it’s after 9 o’clock.
3) I can’t hear you very well, the line’s bad.
4) That won’t be the postman at the door, he’s been already.
5) Will you give me a hand with this? It’s so heavy.

7
6) John’s awful. He simply won’t admit that he’s made a mistake!
7) A: What’s that scratching noise?
B: Don’t worry. It’ll be the cat trying to get in.
8) He’ll be at the airport by now.
9) No, you may not leave before the end.
10) We may be in for a rough crossing, there’s a storm coming.
11) He might change his mind, if we keep on at him.
12) You mustn’t give up yet, try just once more.
13) He always looks so exhausted, he must have a very demanding job.
14) If you hurry up, we could be there by 6.
15) You should drive more slowly round there; it’s a dangerous corner.
16) You should have no trouble passing, it’s you best subject.
3. Fill in the gap by putting the concept expressed by the modal verb in
form (i) into the past.
1. (i) She can ski very well.
(ii) She … really well when she was five.
2. (i) I can finish it by Friday, but it won’t be easy.
(ii) I … by Friday, but it won’t be easy.
3. (i) John can’t live here. This is the wrong street.
(ii) Shakespeare … in that house. It wasn’t built until 1840.
4. (i) May I leave the room? I don’t feel well.
(ii) I … the room because I didn’t feel well.
5. (i) I must check the oil before we leave.
(ii) I … the oil before we left.
6. (i) It must be raining. Everyone has their umbrella up.
(ii) It … . The ground is wet.
7. (i) Thank you very much. You needn’t give me a lift, but it’s very kind.
(ii) You … me a lift, but it was very kind.
8. (i) He needn’t collect me from the station. I’ll walk.
(ii) He … me from the station. I walked.
9. (i) Why don’t you take the exam? You might pass.
(ii) Why don’t you take the exam? You … .
10. (i) He should stop smoking before it’s too late.
(ii) He … smoking before it was too late.
11. (i) I could visit you next Sunday.
(ii) I … you last Sunday. Why didn’t you ask me?
12. (i) There’s the phone. It’ll be Paul.
(ii) Did he have a deep voice? It … Paul.
13. (i) He’ll sit in the armchair for hours, staring into space.
(ii) He … in the armchair for hours, staring into space.
14. (i) Let’s take the map. We may get lost.

8
(ii) I wonder where they are. They … .
4. Look at this unnatural monologue. Replace the words in italics with the
appropriate modals to make it sound more natural:
“Wonderful, it’s Sunday and (a) not necessary for me to get up at 7
o’clock. (b) I’ll possibly stay in bed a bit longer although (c) I think the children
are probably awake now and I’ll (d) be obliged to get their breakfast soon. They
(e) refuse to make it for themselves. (f) It would be a good idea for me to get up
immediately because (g) perhaps they will wreck the house. However, it is still
very early and they (h) are probably not very hungry yet. (i) It would have been
a good idea if I had put out the corn-flakes and milk yesterday evening. But all
this thinking and not acting is really silly! (j) It is really necessary for me to get
up this minute. Now where are my bedroom slippers? – That lousy dog (k) has
probably hidden them again! (l) It would be a good idea for us to train it better,
but I suppose we (m) weren’t obliged to buy it in the first place, and after all, it’s
only a puppy.
Oh, I’d forgotten! (n) It’s just possible that Alan will be back from his
business trip today – marvelous! One adult isn’t enough to look after four
children, a puppy and three goldfish! Why (o) did he refuse to take me with
him? (p) It was possible for us to get his mother to come and look after the
children. Never again!”
SHALL / SHOULD vs. WILL / WOULD
SHALL / SHOULD
a) OBLIGATION, NECESSITY
Thou shall not kill!
- discourse oriented: obligation, volition that emanates for the speaker and is
imposed on someone else.
(shall is dying out)
Shall I do it now? (= Must I do it now? / Do you want me to do it now?)
Shall he wait for you? (= Do you want him to wait for you?)
You shall get the doll. / You shall have the money. / You shan’t come
out with a whole skin this time. (expressing promises and threats, by the
authority of the speaker)
- shall is used in formal discourse (legalese, rhetorical types of discourse. It is
felt as obsolete, out of date)
A player who bids incorrectly shall forfeit 25 points.
Earth shall / will be filled with God’s glory.
- should may be a past tense in Indirect Speech for all the uses of shall and in if-
clauses (modal verbs have Subjunctive forms)
He asked me whether he should wait for me.
If he would lend me money. If he could come in time.

9
WILL / WOULD
a) ROOT MEANING (VOLITION)
Will you do it? Would you do it?
Will you be doing it? (in the nature of things / future as a matter of
course)
- when it is stressed, it expresses strong volition, obstinacy, stubbornness
I asked him to do it but he wouldn’t listen.
Why will you always come late.
b) PROBABILITY, INDUCTION, PREDICTABILITY EPISTEMIC
MEANING
Oil will float on water.
Accidents will happen.
Boys will be boys.
He will be at home at this time of the day.
Shops will be closed now.
That will be the postman.
He would often come to visit her. (frequentative would)
- they have all properties of epistemic verbs + perfect / progressive infinitive
He will have arrived by now.
I thought he would be sleeping.
5. Analyse the modal verbs below:
1) Yes, I must say, it’s a lovely day so far. 2) I’ve known whole week-
ends when Muldoon manor might as well have been floating on a pack of ice,
for all the goof it would have done phoning the police. 3) “I will tell them you
are here.” “I can’t really stay as a matter of fact, please don’t disturb them. I
really should be off.” 4) I think I must be waiting for Higgs to die, half afraid
that I’ll vanish when he does. 5) You must have got the wrong number. 6)
“Honestly, darling, you really are extraordinary. You must have been desperate
to see me - I am flattered but…
6. Write 1 beside the verb WOULD if it refers to a past habit and 2 if it
refers to a future-in-the-past.
a) Every night when I was a child, one of my parents ( ) would read me a story,
then the other ( ) would hold my hand until I fell asleep.

10
b) I come from quite a poor background. If my parents ever had any money,
which was rare, they ( ) would pay all their debts and try to clothe us kids.
c) The couple looked around their new house, excited yet anxious. It ( ) would
be a long time before everything was how they wanted.
d) When I was younger, I ( ) would stay up night after night going to parties,
but I find I need my sleep these days.
e) Before stepping into the plane, she looked around wistfully at the country she
had grown to love. She wanted to savour every last sensation. It ( ) would be
a long time before she came back.
7. Fill the gap in the second sentence by putting the concept expressed by
the modal verb in the first sentence into the negative:
a) The painting must have been stolen.
The painting …! It’s too big to get out of the room!
b) If the traffic isn’t too bad, he could be here by 3.00.
He … here until 5.00 if he gets stuck in a jam.
c) You must work hard!
You … so hard! You’re a millionaire!
d) You must work hard!
You … so hard! Can’t you see you’re killing yourself?
e) I need to see a doctor.
You … doctor. A chemist can prescribe something for you.
8. Insert could or was/were able to:
1) He was very strong; he … ski all day and dance all night.
2) The car plunged into the river. The driver … get out but the passengers were
drowned.
3) I was a long way from the stage. I … see all right but I … hear very well.
(neg.)
4) We … borrow umbrellas; so we didn’t get wet.
5) … you walk or did they have to carry you?
6) I had no key so I … lock the door. (neg.)
7) I knew the town so I … advise him where to go.
8) When the garage had repaired our car we … continue our journey.
9) At five years old he … read quite well.
10) The swimmer was very tired but he … reach the shore before he
collapsed.
MODAL VERBS EXPRESSING OBLIGATION AND NECESSITY 2
(HAVE TO / HAVE GOT TO; NEED / TO NEED)

11
HAVE TO / HAVE GOT TO: same meaning as MUST.
a) OBLIGATION, COMPULSION = DEONTIC
In the service you have to obey the orders of your superiors. / She’ll have to
sleep in the kitchen. / You have to be back by ten. / There has to be some reason
for his absurd behaviour. / You have to be crazy to do a thing like this. / There
has to be a way out. / He had to have passed the examination by ten.
HAVE TO is conjugated with DO; I don’t have to do it now, but I want to
do it.
Temporal reference: all tenses and moods.
Future reference: MUST is used when the obligation is felt as existing at
the present moment; HAVE TO is used when the obligation exists only in the
future eventually, as a consequence of some other event:
If we miss the last bus, we’ll have to walk.
In colloquial style HAVE /HAD GOT TO may replace HAVE / HAD TO
reinforcing the idea of external authority which characterizes HAVE TO
normally. HAVE TO tends to be used in general, habitual statements, while
HAVE GOT TO and MUST may be preferred in statements referring to
particular occasions:
I have to feed the baby three times a day.
I must / have got to feed the baby now.
The negatives: DON’T HAVE TO, HAVEN’T GOT TO.
MUST / HAVE TO differ in use; unlike must, have to does not involve
the speaker’s authority (or the hearer’s); it expresses external obligation = the
subject is bound to do something because it is the only possible course of action,
because it is his duty.
You must / have to answer the questions.
You must / have to see this film.
b) EPISTEMIC USE
In the second place MUST is factual (the obligativity of some fact),
HAVE TO is theoretical (the obligativity of some idea). HAVE TO is thus
stronger as theoretical necessity; it implies that the opposite state of affairs
cannot even be conceived of. Compare:
Someone must be telling lies. (mere suspicion)
Someone has got to be telling lies. (sounds more like an accusation)
Note again the sarcastic questions:
Do we have to have jam rolls and coffee every day?
NEED / TO NEED

12
NEED: Like must, it is discourse oriented. This verb is chiefly used in
negative and interrogative sentences, where it functions as the counterpart of
must. It also appears in affirmative sentences if the context is non-assertive:
a) DEONTIC NEED:
All you need to do is go there and pay the money.
I need hardly tell you that it was a most gratifying experience.
I wonder if I need be present. / He need have no fear. / You need only
ask.
Questions: NEED is used especially if a negative answer is expected (these
questions are conducive):
Must she come tomorrow? (open question)
Need she come tomorrow? (hoping for a negative answer)
Need I learn all that? No, you needn’t.
Deontic NEEDN’T expresses absence of obligation:
You needn’t take this medicine any more.
b) EPISTEMIC NEED (infrequent):
I need look changed, for I have been through much suffering, both in
mind and body.
When I think of what he went through, he need be made of iron to stand
here and talk about it.
He needn’t be Mr. Brown. (= Nu este neapărat ca el să fie dl. Brown.)
TO NEED parallels HAVE TO in expressing external obligation, and in
being more suited to express general, habitual actions:
Do I have / need to show him my ID card every time?
Must I / have I got to show him my pass now?
You needn’t come if you don’t want to. (I allow you not to come.)
You don’t need to see a doctor, you’re really healthy. (It isn’t necessary
for you to see a doctor.)
I don’t have to work on Sundays. (I’m not obliged to.)
I don’t need to get up till eight to get to work.
NEEDN’T HAVE + past participle (perfect infinitive) = absence of obligation
which was fulfilled (accomplished action):
I needn’t have gone there. (entailment: but I did.)
DIDN’T NEED TO: real past absence of obligation:
I didn’t need to go there. (entailment: and I didn’t.)
EXERCISES
9. Insert must or the present, future, or past form of have to:
1) She … leave home at eight every morning at present.
2) Notice in a picture gallery: Cameras and umbrellas … be left at the desk.

13
3) He sees very badly; he … wear glasses all the time.
4) I … do all the typing at my office.
5) You … read this book. It’s excellent.
6) The children … play in the streets till their mothers get home from work.
7) She felt ill and … leave early.
8) Mr. Pitt … cook his own meals. His wife is away.
9) I hadn’t enough money and I … pay by cheque.
10) I never remember his address; I always look it up.
11) Employer: You … come to work in time.
12) If you go to a dentist with a private practice you … pay him quite a lot of
money.
13) Father to small son: You … do what Mummy says.
14) My neighbour’s child practice the piano.
15) Mother to daughter: You … come in earlier at night.
10. Use must not or need not to fill in the blanks:
1) You … ring the bell; I have a key.
2) Notice in cinema: Exit doors … be locked during performances.
3) You … drink this; it is poison.
4) We … drive fast; we have plenty of time.
5) You … drive fast; there’s a speed limit here.
6) Candidates … bring books into the examination room.
7) You … write to him for he will be here tomorrow.
8) We … make any noise or we’ll wake the baby.
9) You … bring an umbrella. It’s going to rain.
10) You … do all the exercises. Ten sentences will be enough.
11) We … reheat the pie. We can eat it cold.
12) Mother to child: You … tell lies.
13) You … turn on the light; I can see very well.
14) You … strike a match; the room is full of gas.
15) You … talk to the other candidates during the exam.
11. Replace the underlined words by need not / need I / etc. or a negative or
interrogative have to form:
1) It isn’t necessary for him to go on working. He has already reached retiring
age.
2) Was it necessary for you to wait a long time for your bus?
3) It isn’t necessary for me to water my tomato plants every day.

14
4) It will be necessary for them to get up early when they go out to work every
day.
5) We had to stop at the frontier but we were not required to open our cases.
6) It wasn’t necessary to walk. He took us in his car.
7) My employer said. “I shan’t require you tomorrow.”
8) It is never necessary for me to work on Saturdays.
9) When I am 18 I’ll be of age. Then it won’t be necessary to live at home if I
don’t want to.
10) Father to son: It is not necessary for you to call me, “Father”; call me
“Alfred”.
11) Will it be necessary for us to report this accident to the police?
12) When you buy something on the installment system you are not required
to pay the whole price at once.
13) Is it essential for you to finish tonight?
14) Is it necessary for people to go everywhere by boat in Venice?
15) Will it be necessary for me to sleep under a mosquito net?

Modal Verbs.doc

More Related Content

Similar to Modal Verbs.doc (20)

Recently uploaded (20)

Modal Verbs.doc