Modal verbs are defined by their inability to conjugate for tense and the third person singular (i.e., they do not take an “-s” at the end whenhe, she, oritis the subject), and they cannot form infinitives, past participles, or present participles. All modal auxiliary verbs are follo...
The modal 'could' is used to indicate the possibility of an event or situation happening. Though it is seen as a past form of the modal 'can', it can be used to talk about possibilities in the present and future. When used for the past (with 'have + past participle') it is used...
Past Tense with Modal Verbs: Some modal verbs have past tense forms, but they are not always used to express past time. For instance, "could" can express ability in the past, but it can also express possibility or permission in the present. Formal and Informal Use: ...
The present paper focusses on the historical development of the relationship between the English core modals can, could, shall, should, will, would, may, might and must and the negator not . It explores whether semantic and morphosyntactic factors, parti
Modals have been studied by a great many of linguistic professionals from different perspectives. Halliday (1994: 357-358) systematizes these meanings into 'probability', 'usuality', 'obligation' and 'inclination' and further into degrees: 'high', 'median', and 'low'. Palmer (1987) similarly...