may
and
might
shall
and
should
will
and
would
must
(no preterite; see etymology below)
Note that the preterite forms are not necessarily used to refer to past time, and in
some cases, they are near-synonyms to the present forms. Note that most of these
so-called preterite forms are most often used in the subjunctive mood in the present
tense. The auxiliary verbs
may
and
let
are also used often in the subjunctive mood.
Famous examples of these are "May The Force be with you." and "Let God bless
you with good." These are both sentences that express some uncertainty; hence
they are subjunctive sentences.
The verbs listed below mostly share the above features but with certain differences.
They are sometimes, but not always, categorized as modal verbs.
[3]
They may also
be called "semi-modals".
The verb
ought
differs from the principal modals only in that it governs a
to
-
infinitive rather than a bare infinitive (compare
he should go
with
he
ought to go
).
The verbs
dare
and
need
can be used as modals, often in the negative (
Dare he
fight?
;
You dare not do that.
;
You need not go.
), although they are more
commonly found in constructions where they appear as ordinary inflected verbs
(
He dares to fight
;
You don't need to go
). There is also a dialect verb, nearly
obsolete but sometimes heard in Appalachia and the Deep South of the United
States:
darest
, which means "dare not", as in "You darest do that."
The verb
had
in the expression
had better
behaves like a modal verb, hence
had
better
(considered as a compound verb) is sometimes classed as a modal or
semi-modal.
The verb
used
in the expression
used to (do something)
can behave as a modal,
but is more often used with
do
-support than with auxiliary-verb syntax:
Did she
used to do it?
(or
Did she use to do it?
) and
She didn't used to do it
(or
She
didn't use to do it
)
[a]
are more common than
Used she to do it?
and
She used not
(usedn't) to do it
.
Other English auxiliaries appear in a variety of different forms and are not
regarded as modal verbs. These are:
be
, used as an auxiliary in passive voice and continuous aspect constructions; it
follows auxiliary-verb syntax even when used as a copula, and in auxiliary-like
formations such as
be going to
,
is to
and
be about to
;
have
, used as an auxiliary in perfect aspect constructions, including the
idiom
have got (to)
; it is also used in
have to
, which has modal meaning, but
here (as when denoting possession)
have
only rarely follows auxiliary-verb
syntax (see also
Dostları ilə paylaş: