Compound predicate

Modal Verbs

§75. We find the following modal verbs in English: can, may.
must, ought, shall, should, will, need and dare. Besides, to have

and to be in some of their uses are also classed among modal

verbs.

A modal verb in combination with the infinitive forms a modal

Modal verbs are defective verbs since they lack many forms
characteristic of regular verbs: they have no -s in the third per-
son singular in the present tense and no verbals, so they have no
analytical forms; some of them lack the form of the past tense.

Modal verbs have the following peculiarities:

1) they are followed by the infinitive without the particle to
(with the exception of ought, to have and to be);

2) their interrogative and negative forms are built up without
the auxiliary do.

Most of the modal verbs have more than one meaning. Each of
their meanings is characterized by a specific usage.

1) Some of the meanings may be found in all kinds of sentenc-
es; others occur only in affirmative or interrogative or negative
sentences;

2) Different meanings may be associated with different forms
of the infinitive — simple and perfect (both in the active and pas-
sive forms), continuous and perfect continuous;

3) If the modal verbs have more than one form (can — could-,
may — might, will — would, also the verbs to have and to be),
their different meanings are not necessarily found in all those
forms.

The use of modal verbs is in most cases independent of the
structure of the sentence: the use of this or that modal verb is de-
termined by the attitude of the speaker towards the facts con-
tained in the sentence. In this case we may speak of the free or in-
dependent use of modal verbs.

e.g. He admires you. He thinks you're a little beauty. Perhaps I

oughtn't to have told you that.
He may be in the hall now, waiting for me.

But sometimes the use of certain modal verbs depends on the
structure of the sentence, mainly on the type of the subordinate
clause, and occasionally also on the lexical character of the predi-
cate verb in the principal clause. This may be called the structural-
ly dependent use of modal verbs.

e.g. It is obviously necessary that an investigation should be

made.
Christine feared she might not be met at all.

As the difference between the active and the passive forms of the infinitive is of
no consequence for the meaning of the modal verb, there is no need to illustrate these
forms separately. However, instances where the differentiation between the active
and the passive infinitive is important, are dealt with specialty.

When the use of modal verbs is structurally dependent, their
meaning is sometimes weakened; in fact, it may be quite vague.
This may be accounted for by the fact that these verbs become
rather part of the structure than bearers of individual meaning.

It is important to take into account one more feature peculiar
to modal verbs. They all show that a certain action is represented
as necessary, possible, desirable, doubtful, etc. from the point of
view of the speaker. Consequently, modal verbs are generally used
in conversation, In past-time contexts they may be found only in
reported speech or thought. Thus You should have done it before,
or He might be wrong, or It must be true cannot be possibly found
in narration unless they are used after He thought that.... He
said that.... He knew that..., etc.

The only exceptions are the past tense forms could, would,
had, was and might which may be used not only in conversation
but also in narration.

e.g. Walker was illiterate and could not sign his name.

When I looked at her I saw tears in her eyes. So I had to tell
her the truth.

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