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The English modal auxiliary verbs are a subset of the English auxiliary verbs used mostly to express modality, properties such as possibility and obligation. [a] They can most easily be distinguished from other verbs by their defectiveness (they do not have participles or plain forms [b]) and by their lack of the ending ‑(e)s for the third-person singular.
could: That could happen soon. – He could swim when he was young. may: That may be a problem. May I stay? – might: The weather might improve. Might I help you? – must: It must be hot outside. Sam must go to school. – shall: This shall not be viewed kindly. You shall not pass. – should: That should be surprising. You should stop that ...
Also, would may be replaced by another appropriate modal: could, should, might. When referring to hypothetical future circumstance, there may be little difference in meaning between the first and second conditional (factual vs. counterfactual, realis vs. irrealis). The following two sentences have similar meaning, although the second (with the ...
The sentence in (1) might be spoken by someone who has decided that all of the relevant facts in a particular murder investigation point to the conclusion that Agatha was the murderer, even though it may or may not actually be the case. The 'must' in this sentence thus expresses epistemic modality: "'for all we know', Agatha must be the ...
The chief verbs of this closed class are can–could, may–might, shall–should, will–would, and must and ought (These last two have no preterites. They were originally preterites themselves). There are also dare and need, which follow the same pattern (no -s) in some contexts: "Dare he jump?
Our guide to streaming the winners of the Academy Awards' top prize, including "Nomadland" and "CODA."
The MoSCoW method is a prioritization technique used in management, business analysis, project management, and software development to reach a common understanding with stakeholders on the importance they place on the delivery of each requirement; it is also known as MoSCoW prioritization or MoSCoW analysis.
“Better late than never.” This often-used expression may apply to arriving at 10 a.m. for a 9:30 meeting or taking up Brazilian jiu-jitsu at 48 years old. It’s also for those valuable ...