The Understanding of Modal Auxiliary
Her car may have broken down.
34
Actually, there are two groups of auxiliary verb. The first includes the functional auxiliary verbs
be, do, have and go.
35
They do not really have “meanings” of this kind when they are used as auxiliary verbs.
36
All of these verbs can also serve as main verbs as well as auxiliaries.
Examples: I do not understand your question.
We are going to visit my uncle.
37
The second includes the modals auxiliaries can, may, might, must,
should, and so on. They differ from the other auxiliaries do, be, have, and go in that they have no s-forms, or ing-forms, or participles. Furthermore,
they so called past forms of modals sometimes express the same meaning as the present or simple forms. They also occur in statements which refer to
future time. Thus, the form of a modal does not necessarily indicate the time reference of the sentence in which it is used.
38
There serve both as structural signals and have a meaning of their own. They are never used as main
verbs.
Examples: We can see the zoo some weekday.
Can we see the zoo some weekday?
You
shouldn’t try to go there on Sunday. Should
we try to go there on Sunday?
39
According to Cowan, modals can be classified according to form and
meaning. The form of modals can be categorized into three categories; pure
modals, marginal modals, and semi modals.
34
Michael swan, Practical English Usage, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980.
p.388
35
Eugene J. Hall, Grammar For Use, Jakarta: Binarupa Aksara, 1993, p. 11
36
Swan 1980, op cit., p. 91
37
Hall 1993 , loc cit.
38
Jean Praninskas, Rapid Review of English Grammar, Second Edition, New Delhi:
Prantice Hall of India, 1977, p. 234
39
Hall 1993, loc cit.
The first category, pure modals, is comprised of verbs such as can,
could, and may. It display all four the characteristics mentioned such as contraction, inversion, repetition, in resorts and tags, and invariant form.
40
Nine central modal auxiliary verbs are used to express modality: can, could,
may, might, shall, should, will, would, must. These are invariant forms taking the role of auxiliary; they precede the negative particle
not in negation and precede the subject in
yes-no questions. They are followed in the verb phrase by a bare infinitive verb. In general, modals cannot co-occur
with each other in the verb phrase; however, some regional dialects allow modals in series such as
might could or might should.
41
The second category, marginal modals, has only three members- dare,
need, and ought to. They are classified as marginal because they display only two of syntactic characteristic of pure modals.
The modals in the third category, semi modals
42
other terms used for these expressions are ‘quasi-modals’ and ‘periphrastic modals’
43
, are fixed idiomatic expression beginning with
have, had, or be – for example, have
to, had better, and be going to.
44
In addition, there are several multiword expression, such as be able
to, be obliged to, and be willing to, that have meanings similar to those of modals.
45
Modals are all “defective” verbs in the sense that they do not have all the principal parts of English verbs. They also have meanings of their own,
which separates them from the functional auxiliaries. The modals have a dual use. First, they have meanings of their own; and second, they also are
40
Cowan 2008, op cit., p. 295
41
Dougles Biber., et al, Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English,London:
Edinburg Gate, 2000, p. 483
42
Cowan 2008, loc cit.
43
Biber., et al 2000, op cit,. p. 484
44
Cowan 2008, loc cit.
45
Cowan 2008, op cit., p. 295- 296