Modality map
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Finding your way around modality |
The concept of modality and the ways in which English expresses mood is a complex area and there are a number of guides on this site which address various aspects of the systems.
Here's a map to help you navigate to the parts you want. The menu is below or you can click on the area of the map that interests you.
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Where next? |
| modality index | for links to all relevant guides to modality |
| types of modality: epistemic, deontic, dynamic, alethic | introduces the four main types of modality on the left of the diagram and provides an alternative way of dealing with modality in the classroom. There are links from that guide to the four main types. |
| suasion | concepts such as hortation (persuading), the optative (wishing) and the imperative (demanding) |
| certainty | expressing certainty and uncertainty in English, including considerations of, particularly, epistemic modality |
| obligation | expressing obligation and permission (or the lack of either) including considerations of, particularly, deontic modality |
| likelihood | epistemic modality and ways of expressing degrees of likelihood and the overlap between epistemic and alethic modality |
| requirement | deontic modality and ways in which degrees of obligation and requirement can be expressed |
| ability and willingness | dynamic modality and ways to express ability and willingness using can and will |
| central modal auxiliary verbs | such as can, should etc. |
| semi-and marginal modal auxiliary verbs | such as need, dare, let, be about to, be supposed to etc. |
| modality: tense and aspect | examining how the two ideas work with modal auxiliary verbs |
| the subjunctive | looking at some ways English has of expressing the imagined, wished for or possible |
| non-modal-verb modality | covers how we express modality through the use of verbs, nouns, adjectives and adverbials without the use of modal auxiliary verbs |
| mood | mood bears the same relationship to modality that time bears to tense. This is a short guide to it. |
| PDF document | for a list of primary and modal auxiliary verbs with their main functions |
| test yourself | click on this link to go to six linked tests on types and realisations of modality in English |