MODALITY and MODAL AUXILIARIES
Grammaire explicative de l’anglais
Paul Larreya & Claude Rivière
Chapters 7 - 10
Modality concerns meaning; it refers to expressions asserting or denying
possibility, impossibility, contingency, or necessity. Expressions of modality are
not limited to those that contain modal auxiliaries.
Modal auxiliaries (CAN, MAY, MUST, WILL, etc.) are verb forms used to
express modality. There are also other verbs that express modality (have to, be to,
etc), and the modal preterit is found in conditional clauses.
Expressions of modality have different values : root and epistemic. ROOT
MODALITY concerns deontic root : obligation, permission, and dynamic root : the
physical or moral possibility of doing something, and will. EPISTEMIC
MODALITY poses the question of whether a statement is true or false, its degree of
probability. Often these two values overlap in the same expression.
English modals can express a judgment of an event but they cannot express its
realization: He had the keys; he could open the door (but we don’t know if he did).
This judgment may also take the form of a personal opinion, an expression of will or
a wish: She may want to come; I would like her to come; I will come. In the
interrogative form, the subjectivity becomes that of the person to whom the question
is addressed: Would you like to come? May I close the door?
WILL and SHALL
Will
Present tense: will (will not, won’t)
Past tense : would (would not, wouldn’t)
Different values :
1. pure will : negative context : The train is out of control. It won’t stop. / He
won’t change his mind. He won’t budge. / It was so cold yesterday that the
car wouldn’t start. Here “will” is attributed to the grammatical subject.
2. expression of future time : (prediction or will) The weather will be warm all
week. I will be absent next week. I won’t be here next week. I’ll wait for you
after class. I’ll be waiting for you after class.
3. certitude or absolute necessity : I hear the doorbell; it will be Sue. (operation
of deduction). Class will be cancelled next week. The exam will take place
during the last week of class.
4. conditional would (a hypothetical situation) : If we had more money, we would
spend the holidays on the Black Sea.).
5. characteristic behavior : He’ll talk on the phone for hours. When she was a
little girl, she would stay in her room and read all day.
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Shall
Present : shall (shall not, shan’t)
Past : should (should not, shouldn’t)
Shall presents a subjective view, whereas will presents a necessity existing
independently of the utterer’s personal opinion.
Different values:
1. expression of future time (prediction or imposed will) : I shall look forward to
seeing you again (pure prediction). Offer or question about what is the best
course to follow : Shall I close the window? Shall we go to the opening?
What shall we do? Commitment of the speaker, solemn promise : You shall
be rewarded. Menace : You shall never set foot on my property again. Rule
or law : No one shall hold the floor for more than ten minutes. Solemn
prophecy : we shall overcome.
2. Should : conditional value with a first person subject : I should be greatly
disappointed if you did not succeed.
3. Attenuated obligation (moral) : You should read the paper more often. I
should get to bed earlier. You should have stayed another week.
4. Probability or logical possibility : They should be home by now. They should
have phoned by now (here root and epistemic values overlap).
(For more detailed information and analysis see chapter 9 in GEA)
CAN, MAY, MUST
Can
Present : can (cannot, can’t)
Past : could (could not, couldn’t)
Neutral possibility, independent of subjective viewpoint of utterer.
Different values:
1. aptitude, physical possibility: I am doing all I can. She can speak Russian.
Can you hear me?
past tense, modal value: If I could only speak to him again! Could you explain
your absence?
past tense, temporal value (indirect speech, narrative past) : She said she could
participate in the meeting. Before she could walk, she could swim.
3. moral possibility (permission, ethical legitimacy, permission concerning a
future event; non-permission) : Can I stop by tomorrow morning? We can’t
condemn him for defending his family. You can’t sit there.
past tense, modal value : Could we come with you?
past tense, temporal value : (indirect speech, narrative past): When we were
children, we could stay up late on Saturdays. He said we could accompany
him.
4. directive, reproach, request : Do you know what that word means? No, but
you can/could look it up in the dictionary. You could have told me you were
coming! Could you help me with this job?
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5. slight probability : He could be at home.
May, Might
Present : may (may not)
Past : might (might not, mightn’t)
May presents a subjective modal judgment whereas can presents a neutral view (He
can speak English; he may speak English).
Different values :
1. permission : You may now kiss the bride. You may borrow three books at a
time from the library. Might I use your cell phone? May I have some more,
please? If I may interrupt, I would like to add that you are perhaps mistaken
(here, one accords oneself “permission”).
2. legitimisation, recognition : You may call it borrowing; I call it stealing! That
strange beast may be what is called a unicorn. Some might call it a unicorn,
but I’d say it looks like a donkey wearing a dunce’s cap!
3. logical possibility (some chance of probability) : Where’s Carey this evening?
Why is she late? She may be stuck in a traffic jam. She might be coming to
class, but I’m not sure.
4. occasional habit or characteristic : Sue always finds something to do around
the house. Sometimes she will run the vacuum, or she may scrub the floors.
On her day off, she always found something to do. Sometimes, she would visit
a museum, or she might go for a walk in the park.
5. interrogative form : may is not possible in most contexts: *May he be at
home? Can he be at home? Whereas might is possible : Might he be at
home?
6. an expression of unreality : If they had taken an earlier plane, they might still
be alive today (they are not alive).
7. an expression of doubt : If I were you, I’d put on a pair of boots. It might
snow this afternoon.
8. concession : He may say he can’t drive, but I’m sure I saw him at the wheel of
your car.
9. suggestion; reproach : You might take the subway rather than a bus; it would
be quicker. You might have told me you were not going to go.
Must
Present : must
Present + negation : must not, mustn’t
Necessity, presented as subjective.
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Different values :
1. obligation : You must obey my orders! I must stop worrying so much about
what tomorrow may bring. Must you always open your big mouth at the worst
moments?
2. the past : There is no preterit of must. For indirect speech in the past, the
present is used : She said he must have the operation. It was a difficult
decision to make, but he must make it. He realized that the situation was
deteriorating. He must leave. The situation was deteriorating. Eventually, he
had to leave.
3. strong probability : She’s not in class. She must be sick. You haven’t touched
your spinach. You must not like vegetables. He doesn’t answer the door. He
must not be home. He must have been here this morning. I saw a light on at
about seven am.
4. must and have to : must expresses a necessity that originates with the utterer,
whereas have to does not specify the source of the necessity. Have to can
replace must, but must cannot replace have to. He mustn’t stay. He doesn’t
have to stay. The doctor says she must wear glasses. She has to wear glasses.
(See Chapter 8, GEA, for more details on the above.)
OUGHT, NEED, and expressions of modality
Ought
Preterit: ought (this verb form only exists in the preterit and always has a modal
value). Ought is followed by to: ought + to. Ought not; oughtn’t.
Expression of an attenuated obligation or logical necessity.
You ought to be ashamed of yourself.
He ought to have done the work himself.
We ought to go, shouldn’t we? (ought = neutral; should = subjective)
All work ought to be handed in by the 12th (but there’s a good chance it won’t be).
All work should be handed in by the 12th. (obligation)
Need
Present : need (the modal auxiliary exists only in this form); need not, needn’t
Don’t confuse the auxiliary modal need and the verb need. The is a clear syntactic
difference: Need I go?(modal) Do I need to go? (verb)
1. obligation (denied or questioned) : You needn’t do the washing up (obligation
denied, which is different from “you must not do the dishes” – which is an
order). Need I leave right away?
2. in the past tense, need + have + -en : You needn’t have hurried. We’re all still
waiting for the teacher to show up.
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3. See page 117 in GEA (chapter 10) for an explanation of differences between
must, need not, and have to. You might also like to read the explanation of the
uses of the modal DARE.
Have to : “have” functions as a verb; its negative and interrogative forms are formed
with the auxiliary “do”.
Basic meaning: necessity seen as neutral (independent of the utterer’s viewpoint).
1. obligation : It was raining so hard that we had to cancel the picnic. You have
to help me with this exercise or I’m going to fail the test.
2. logical necessity : I can’t find my keys, but they have to be here somewhere.
You’d have to be a glutton for punishment to want to take this class.
Be to :
1. Be + to : action planned or programmed (verb “devoir” in French) : Charlene
and Tom are to marry in June. In the preterit, an action planned in past time :
He reported the president was to travel to Egypt the following month.
2. Be + to : obligation – an imperative or an order transmitted: The chairs and
tables are not to be removed from the classrooms. She says you are to arrive
at four on the dot.
3. Be + to : possibility – limited to passive constructions: The park and fountains
are to be visited between five and seven.
4. Be + to : a “retrospective” prophecy : He fell ill on his sixtieth birthday. He
was to die two days later.
5. In conditional subordinate clauses : If we were to win the lottery, what would
we do with the jackpot?
6. In some passive constructions: He is to be pitied. House (is) to let. Nobody’s
to blame.
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