Modals

Some examples of auxiliary verbs include:

• She is cooking dinner for us tonight.
• Does he play the ukulele?
• They have finished the assignment.
• He was reading a book during lunchtime.
• I did call you last night.

Modal verbs are placed right before the base form of the main verb in a sentence and help express possibility, ability, or necessity. Note that the main verbs used after the modal verbs do not take '-s', '-es', or '-ing' at the end of the verb.

Examples:

• She can sing beautifully.
• It might rain later today.
• He should apologize for his bad behavior.
• You must complete your work before the deadline.

Some examples of modal verbs include:

• She can solve this puzzle within one minute.
• He may come late to the meeting.
• You must wear a seatbelt while driving.
• I would love to visit South Korea.
• You should study regularly.

Auxiliary Verbs or Primary Helping Verbs are the verbs used with main verbs to express different voices, questions, tenses, and negations in a sentence. These include different forms of Be, Have, and Do, such as is, am, are, be, been, being, do, did, does, was, and were.

Modals are an integral part of sentence structure in English, Hence, their correct knowledge and understanding is important to speak and write correct English. Students can consider following books to study Modals in details:

The modals 'could' and 'might' are generally considered as the past forms of the modals 'can' and 'may'. In some cases, could and might are also used as a less positive version of 'can' and 'may'. For example: She could have scored good marks; She may not come.

Modals are divided into four main categories:

1.       Epistemic (relating to speculation): Expresses possibility, probability, and certainty

2.       Deontic (relating to rules or regulations): Expresses obligation, permission, and advice

3.       Volitional (relating to the subject's will): Expresses the subject's will, intention, or desire

4.       Praxic (relating to performance): Expresses ability, capacity, or skill