The Bridge: Modality
On your initial training course, you encountered something called
modal auxiliary verbs (quite likely rather loosely described as
modal verbs or simply, and sloppily, as modals)
and may have spent some time identifying the nature of these special
verbs in English and considering the sorts of things they do.
This is not the place to itemise modal auxiliary verbs and identify
what they imply.
This is the stuff of, for example:
- must refers to
- obligation (as in I must get my hair cut)
- certainty (as in That must be right)
- can refers to
- ability (as in Can you see that?)
- permission (as in You can go now)
and so on.
Central modal auxiliary verbs
These are sometimes called pure modal auxiliary verbs.
To remind yourself of the main meanings of some central or pure modal auxiliary verbs, try a short matching test. |
You probably got all of that right. If you didn't, it's time to review the initial plus guide to the essentials of modality, linked below.
The next thing to do is to remind yourself of how to identify central modal auxiliary verbs. There are some tests and you should be able to remember them before you click here. |
1 | The verbs do not take -s or -es in the third person singular | So we cannot
have, e.g.: He cans or She musts |
2 | The verbs do not form simple regular past tenses | So we cannot
have, e.g.: She canned do it yesterday etc. |
3 | The verbs do not co-occur | So we cannot
have, e.g.: She can must do it |
4 | The verbs do not form a question with do/does but simply invert the subject and the verb | So we have,
e.g.: Can Mary come, too? not *Does can Mary come, too? |
5 | The verbs do not form negatives with do/does but simply take not after them | So we have,
e.g.: She must not be late not *She doesn't must be late |
That was another fairly easy test but do not be concerned if you didn't identify all the rules or categorised them differently.
Semi-modal auxiliary verbs
Semi-modal auxiliary verbs:
- Sometimes take the forms of central modal auxiliaries
- Sometimes work as modal auxiliary verbs but do not follow the structural rules for central modal auxiliary verbs
- Sometimes operate as 'normal' lexical verbs.
The usual list of semi-modal auxiliary verbs includes just three: need, dare and used (to). To that list some will add ought (to) and let.
For more on this, see the guide linked below to semi- and marginal modal auxiliary verbs.
Try a short test to see if you can identify when a verb is acting as a central modal auxiliary verb, a semi-modal auxiliary or a 'normal' lexical verb. Click here to do the little test. |
Now that you have got the basics in your mind, it's time to take
a slightly different view of modal auxiliary verbs and see if
there's a better way to categorise them for teaching purposes.
There is, of course.
Four kinds of modality in English |
We can tell our students that a verb is expressing
ability or obligation or permission and so on in any given clause
and that can be a helpful short-hand way of analysing something.
It can also confuse because some verbs will fall into more than one
category.
For example, what do:
John should be here
and
She may go
mean?
Click here when you have an answer.
The first one
can mean:
I
believe it is advisable for John to be here
or
I believe it is likely that
John is here
and the second one can mean:
She is allowed to go
or
I believe it is possible she will go
We cannot know what a modal auxiliary verb means without
setting it in context.
So, in order to teach modality in a way that makes intuitive sense, we need overarching categories into which to set the verbs, whether they are modal or semi-modal in nature.
Here they are:
Deontic modality |
This form of modality concerns obligation, lack of obligation, advice and permission. It comes from a Greek word meaning duty.
A number of verbs can express this concept, for example:
- I must not be late for the meeting
expressing strong obligation - I cannot be late for the meeting
expressing the same thing - I oughtn't to be late for the
meeting
expressing slightly weaker obligation - I needn't go to the meeting
expressing a lack of obligation - Might I go to the meeting?
expressing a request for permission - You must not go to the meeting
expressing denial of permission - You should be at the meeting
expressing advice
and so on.
Epistemic modality |
Epistemic modality concerns the speaker / writer's view of the
likelihood or possibility of a proposition being true or untrue.
Again, we have a range of possible forms to do this, for example:
- The meeting will start at 6
expressing strong likelihood - The meeting may be delayed
expressing some likelihood - The meeting could be dull
expressing slightly weaker likelihood - This has to be the right meeting
room
expressing strong sense of likelihood - I might go to the meeting
expressing a weak sense of likelihood - The meeting won't take long
expressing a negative sense of strong possibility - The meeting can't be here
expressing a strong negative possibility
and so on
Dynamic modality |
This refers to ability or willingness and we only use two verbs modal auxiliary verbs to do this: can/could and will/would. For example:
- I will be happy to chair the
meeting
expressing strong willingness - I would be happy to chair the
meeting
expressing slightly hedged willingness - The meeting can decide
expressing the meeting's ability - I could have come to the meeting
but wasn't invited
expressing past, unfulfilled ability - I was able to persuade the meeting
expressing fulfilled ability - The meeting couldn't decide
expressing a negative ability
Alethic modality |
This refers to absolute truths both positive and negative and there are no degrees of those. So, for example, the following express alethic modality:
- A cube must have six equal sides
expressing a fact of mathematics - The last piece of the jigsaw has
to go here
expressing an inevitable truth - Two plus two cannot make 5
expressing a negative truth
Overlapping and ambiguity |
There is in this area, as in many others in language analysis,
something called categorical indeterminacy. This means that it
is sometimes not an easy matter to attribute some language items to
a single category.
This is either because there is no context or co-text or because
even with a context the items can carry two possible meanings.
There is overlap both in the type of modality an utterance may
express and the kind of modality we should assign to a particular
utterance.
Some examples will help:
- I could have left my money with John
This has two possible meanings:
I was allowed to leave my money with John (but probably didn't)
It is possible that I left my money with John (but I don't know)
Here, we have a case of deontic modality (I was allowed) or epistemic modality (I don't know if I did or not). - This must be platform 6
This, too, has two possible meanings:
Epistemic modality:
I am sure that this is platform 6
Alethic modality:
This is the truth and is not open to debate. - The figures had to be correct
Three meanings:
Someone was obliged to get the figures right (deontic modality)
The figures were correct (alethic modality)
I am sure the figures were right (epistemic modality)
This underlines the need to present all modal language with a clear context and a clear co-text. Sentence-level analysis is not good enough.
Modality without modal auxiliary verbs |
One problem with language analysis on most initial training
courses is inevitable. The need to cover a range of types of
language in a short course with other competing priorities often
results in half truths being presented because they are neat and
brief.
However, later in any teacher's career, the need becomes apparent to
refine and deepen understanding.
This is especially true of modality where the temptation is to
confine the phenomenon to modal auxiliary verbs of one kind or
another and ignore all the other ways there are to express the four
types of modality we have just encountered.
Here are some examples of modal meaning expressed without modal
auxiliary verbs:
- epistemic modality
- Verbs:
That proves he is at home
This contradicts the idea that it is going to be easy
That undermines my faith in her honesty - Nouns:
There's a good chance he's in
That's an impossibility
This is evidence of theft - Adverbs:
She's obviously intelligent
That's arguably true
He's patently got it wrong - Adjectives:
It's an undeniable effect of the weather
She's a possible replacement
That's a debatable position
- Verbs:
- deontic modality
- Verbs:
She is compelled to work late
They encouraged me to sing a song
I was allowed to decline - Nouns:
I don't feel an obligation to go
It's your duty to pay for the work
There's no need for you to complain - Adverbs:
She's necessarily strict
He was needlessly rude
That was pointlessly detailed - Adjectives:
This is an obligatory declaration
She's liable for the costs
That's a needless complication
- Verbs:
- dynamic modality
- Verbs:
I achieved the targets
They managed to do it
He coped with the workload - Nouns:
It was a great success
That was a terrible failure
Her accomplishment was recognised - Adverbs:
It was unproductively done
That was fruitlessly discussed
The problem was effectively solved - Adjectives:
It was a fruitless attempt
There was a pointless argument
This was a successful project
- Verbs:
- alethic modality
- Verbs
Parallel lines do not meet
A triangle is not permitted to have more than three sides
A polysyllabic word needs more than one syllable - Nouns:
It is a fact that a polygon has many sides
The truth is that the sun is just another star
A prerequisite of a window is transparency - Adverbs:
A trio is necessarily made up of three people
It is always important to protect the terminal from water
It will inevitably melt - Adjectives:
A required characteristic of an isosceles triangle is two equal sides.
The inescapable truth is that I am 60 years old
It is unavoidable that the work cannot be finished
- Verbs
Some of these alternatives may sound somewhat unnatural,
especially in the areas of dynamic and alethic modality, because
English happens to be rich in modal auxiliary verbs performing the
same modal functions, but the admonition
always to use
modal auxiliary verbs to perform these functions is mistaken and
unhelpful.
Other languages, which may have a more limited range of modal
auxiliary verbs, often confined to expressions for must, can
and should, will use more of these non-modal-auxiliary
ways of expressing the same ideas and learners from those language
backgrounds may often select something in English which expresses
the right meaning but is either clumsy or too formal.
Finally, to see if you can identify the four types of modality, try a test. |
If that's all clear enough to you, you can go on to the guides below (on the right). If you still feel slightly confused, try the links on the left.
Guides in other areas | |
Initial plus essential guides | In-service guides |
the essentials of modality | semi- and marginal modal auxiliary verbs |
central modal auxiliary verbs (more difficult) | modality without modal auxiliary verbs |
auxiliary verbs | the in-service modality map |