Modal Verbs

ENGLISH MODAL VERBS: WHAT ARE THEY AND WHAT DO THEY DO?

Marcel Quiroz: 18.645.770

Do you really know English modal verbs? You may think that you do, but you are probably thinking about auxiliaries. It is understandable because their usage is so common that a certain automatization is to be expected. It is also confusing because technically modal verbs are auxiliaries. Both regularauxiliaries and modal auxiliaries share certain characteristics but modals are much more than just static auxiliaries. This essay will try to shed light about what Modal verbs are and what distinguish them from regular auxiliaries. These verbs show a duality in them, they have two very different sides.
English Modal verbs are verbs that express a variety of attitudes, have similarities to auxiliaryverbs, and contain semantic qualities. These characteristics must be explained in order to fully grasp what they are. The attitudes could be understood as modality and According to Hewings (2005) “Modality is the expression of possibility or obligation through the use of modal verbs such as may, can, could…” (p. 66). Modals are also similar to auxiliary verbs because they share the syntacticqualities of them, that is, among other things, they share the same positional characteristics -they are located before main verbs. Aslam (2006) states “Like other helping verbs, modals are always followed by the main verb” (p. 173). The semantics qualities of modal verbs are bound to context. Facchinetti, et al (2003) conclude about context in modals by stating that “Few modal auxiliaries permit a“straight” interpretation in polar questions; other interpretations reflect assumptions and presuppositions set by context, i.e. pragmatic factors” (p. 65). Most modals then, require context information to be properly determined. We can conclude then that modal verbs in English are verbs of semantic nature that express modality, are bound to context most of the time and share the syntactic characteristicsof auxiliary verbs.
There are more characteristics that modal verbs share with auxiliaries than just their position regarding main verbs within sentences. Firstly, Aslam (2006) states that “They do not add ‘s’ in the third person singular (he, she, it).” (p.173). Therefore, constructions such as “he cans do it” or “it musts create that” are wrong. Secondly, they modify how the main verb of thesentence is written. Aslam (2006) explains this by stating that “…the main verb must follow a different conjugation pattern if a modal is present. The second verb can never add –s, -es, -ed, or –ing. It also cannot be in the infinitive form (to…) or in the gerund form (…ing)” (p.173). According to this, constructions such as “He can works” or “They must working” are wrong. Thirdly, they negate byputting the adverb “not” after the modal, just like auxiliaries. Bakshi (2000) states that “Negatives can be formed by adding not after the modal.” (p. 165). Although, the location of modal verbs within sentences is already known –they are located before the main verb- there are some instances in which modals and auxiliaries both reside within a sentence, and they follow a positional pattern. Cowan(2008) states that “Modals appear either directly before a main verb, as in (2a), or before the auxiliary verbs be and have…” (p. 294). Based on this, modals and auxiliaries could be combined like this “They could be working”. Modal verbs share characteristics with auxiliaries such as the lack of inflections in them, inversed negation, and the modification that they cause in main verbs, they alsohave a defined positional pattern when they operate in sentences that contain other auxiliaries.
English Modal verbs possess different types of modality that make them complex. These types of modality have been outlined and there are three main types. According to Wright (1951: 1-2), quoted by Facchinetti, et al (2003) Three types of modality exist in the English modal system and they are...