Transcript Document

Lecture 9: Auxiliaries
1. Classification of Auxiliaries


As has been pointed out before, English
verbs, in terms of their functions in forming
verb phrases, fall into two major categories:
main verbs and auxiliaries.
Auxiliaries can again be divided into primary
auxiliaries, modal auxiliaries, and semiauxiliaries.

It is generally acknowledged that English has
13 modal auxiliaries (or "modals" for short).
They are can, could, may, might, will, would,
shall, should, must , ought to, dare, need,
used to.
2. Modals and modal meanings

This section examines, in terms of semantics,
modality and the English modals
incorporating some related semi-auxiliaries.
1) Ability and possibility



The modals used in these senses arc cat:,
could, may, ; tight and be able to.
a) To talk about "ability", we can use can,
could, and be able to.
He got so drunk that he couldn't / wasn't able
to find the door.




b) To talk about "possibility", we can use
may, might, can and could.
Where can he be?
He may be in the office.
He may 'not go tomorrow. (prohibition)
He 'may not go tomorrow. (impossibility)
If you don't have a guide, you could lose
your way.
Can / Could the news Ix: true?
It can't / couldn't be true.
2) Permission, and prohibition

The modals used in these senses are can,
could: may and might.


a) To ask for permission, we can use can g could
g may, might. Compared with can / could , tray /
might sounds more formal; compared with can /
may, the past forms sound more polite, implying
no difference in time reference. In colloquial
English, can is very frequently used to ask for
permission, eg:
Can I smoke in here? Could I use your phone?
Yes, of course you can.
In those days anyone might / could enroll for this
course.


b) To refuse to give permission, we can use
may not (with stress on not ) or cannot , eg:
Can I go out for' a moment?
No, you can't.
May I use your car for a few days?
No, you may not.
3) Obligation and necessity

The modals used in these senses arc should,
ought to, must and have to / have got to.



a) To talk about "obligation", we can use
should, ought to and must. Used in this
sense, these three modals vary slightly in
tone.
You should what your teachers tell you to.
You should / ought to have asked
permission first.


Must is even stronger than should, Used in
the sense of “obligation”, must usually
implies that speaker is the person in
authority , the one who gives the orders,
binding both on the listener and on the
speaker himself eg:
You must be back by ten o’clock.
I really must stop smoking.




“Obligation” with future time reference is normally
expressed by “will / shall have to”, eg :
We’ll have to do it again.
As must has not a past form, “obligation” with past
time reference is usually expressed by had
to ,though in past time contexts, must can also be
used to denote an obligation in the past , eg:
I had to leave at 6:30 yesterday.
I told him that he must mind his own business.


Need not / needn’t denotes absence of
obligation or necessity, Alternative forms of
needn’t are “don’t need to ”, “don’t have
to ”,and “haven’t got to ”with corresponding
past forms “didn’t need to ”, and “didn’t have
to ”,eg :
A: Must you leave so soon?
B: No, I needn’t.
He didn’t need to do it at once.




b) Should and ought to can be used to denote
assumptions arrived at by inference, not by direct
experience, eg:
That should not be a difficult problem for Mary.
These young trees ought to provide shade in ten
years.
Ought to in this sense is synonymous with must
denoting “necessity”, while in questions and
negative statements, can and can’t should be
used instead, eg:
You must have difficulty getting the tickets.
=You oughtn’t to have any difficulty getting the
tickets.
4) Prediction and predictability

The modals used in these censes are will,
shall, would, should, ought to and must.

a) The shall / will future can be used for
predicting. Although shall and, particularly,
will, are the closest approximations to a pure
future, they do not form a future tense
comparable to the present and past tenses.
Shall in the sense of future is restricted to the
first person in Standard BrE, whereas will can
be used in the same sense in all persons
throughout the English speaking world.



b) The modals relating to predictability or
assumption are will and would apart from
should ,ought to and must . Predictability
denoted by will and would can be classified into
specific predictability, habitual predictability and
timeless predictability.
eg:
A: Who’s that man over there?
B: That will be George, no doubt.
B: That would be George, I expect.
5) Willingness, intention and
determination

The modals used in these senses are will.
Would and shall.


a. Will in the meaning of willingness or weak
volition is found with subjects of all three
persons. Will so used is normally unstressed
and can be contracted to ’ll , eg :
I will / I’ll lend you the money if you need it.
Who will / who’ll go with me?




Another type of weak volition is intention that
can be expressed by will in all persons. Will
in this sense is unstressed and is generally
contracted to ’ll, eg :
I’ll get some drinks. What’ll you have?
He won’t help me unless I accept his offer.
Past intention can be expressed with would,
eg ;
He said he wouldn’t have any cold drinks.
6) Other modal meanings

The modals dealt with here are should .would,
dare, need and used to.


In specific contexts, should can denote
emotional feelings of sorrow, joy displeasure,
surprise, wonder, etc. Should in this sense is
especially common in certain that-clauses, in
rhetorical questions and in some idiomatic
exclamations. eg :
It’s unbelievable that he should have finished
the work so soon.
How should I know?
That he should dare to attack me!


b ) Would can be used to make a tactful
statement ,a polite request, and a tentative
suggestion, eg :
It would be a shame to stop our work halfway.
Would you like to stay here for the night?
Wouldn’t it be better for us to start off a little
earlier tomorrow morning?


As a modal, dare (except in “I dare say”) is
restricted to questions and negative
statements. Modal dare commonly occurs in
its present form. It may refer to present time
as well as to past time. Likewise, daren’t, the
negative form of dare, can also be used for
both present and past time reference, eg :
I dare not go there.
How dare he say such rude things about me?
My brother went alone, but I daren’t.


Used to is commonly used to denote a past
habitual action or an existence in the past.
The use of this modal stresses the notion that
the habit has been given up or the state no
longer exists.
He didn’t use to smoke cigarettes.
= He usedn’t to smoke cigarettes.
Didn’t Maria use to be interested in the
theatre?
=Usedn’t Maria to interested in the theatre?
2. Epistemic and non-epistemic use of
modals







Epistemic modals
modals
non-epistemic use
epistemic use
can / could
ability, permission
possibility
may / might
permission
possibility
will / would
volition
predictability
should / ought to
obligation
logical
necessity
must
obligation
logical
necessity








2) Syntactic features of epistemic modals
The following five syntactic features are
common to all epistemic modals;
a) All epistemic modals can combine with a
perfective infinitive, eg:
You must have beers disappointed.
b) All epistemic modals can combine with a
progressive infinitive, eg:
He must be working late at the office.
He must haw been working late at the office.
c) All epistemic modals can be used in
existential sentences, eg:
There must be some mistake.





d) All epistemic modals can combine with
stative verbs, eg:
He must understand that we mean business.
e) All epistemic modals can be used with an
inanimate subject, eg:
It must be George.
Not all these features arc shared by nonepistemic modals.





3) Time reference of epistemic modals
First, indirect speech, the modal statement is
invariably made with present time reference,
because judgments or deductions arc usually
made at the moment of speaking, eg:
He might haw lost his way.
He couldn't be still working at the office.
Secondly, the time reference of the contents of
the judgment or deduction is determined by the
form of the infinitive that follows the modal. eg:
He must be calling tonight.
= I'm sure he is calling tonight.