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Topic: Auxiliary & Modal Verbs: Forms and Functions
Topic: Auxiliary & Modal Verbs: Forms and Functions
PRIMARY AUXILIARIES
Modal verbs, also auxiliary; they accompany another main verb, -They convey
distinct meanings. I must go now, “must” conveys obligation.
They combine with infinitives (present or perfect) of lexical verbs to indicate a full range of
meanings.
Under this umbrella we have 12: can/could, may/might; shall/should; will/would; dare,
must, needn’t and ought to, plus the semi-modal “used to”.
Be, have and do
Be, have & do both LEXICAL VERBS & PRIMARY AUXILIARIES.
DO- Five forms, do, does & did; contracted with the negative form “not”: don´t, doesn´t, &
didn´t . And the participles done & doing.
As an auxiliary, “do” can be used with three main functions: operator, proform or emphatic particle.
OPERATOR- to form the negative and interrogation of the present & past tenses of ordinary verbs.
PRO-FORM to avoid repetition, used for simple present and simple past in question tags
He studies music, doesn’t he? Short agreements and disagreements: Tom smokes a lot. Yes,he
does; Additions to remarks: He likes reading and so do I; Short answers: Did he arrive on time?
Yes, he did; and in comparisons: He eats more than I do.
Auxiliary “do” gives emphasis to a verb in the imperative, present simple or past: they did win the
match.
Be, have and do
BE the lexical and auxiliary verb “be” is unique among English verbs eight different forms. The
forms of the auxiliary “be” for the present: am, is, are; for the negative we simply place “not” after the
verb or use the contractions “isn’t” and “aren’t”, but there is no contraction between “am” and “not”.
Past simple, two forms: was, were and their respective negative contractions: wasn’t, weren’t. The past
participle is “been” and that of the present participle is “being”.
-Used to form the continuous tenses, followed by the -ing form of the lexical verb. They
are playing football.
-In all PASSIVE FORMS followed by the past participle of the lexical verb: The ball
was given to the referee.
In continuous forms of the passive. In the sentence “the injured player is being taken to hospital”
“be” is used twice, once for the continuous & another time for the passive.
Other uses of aux. TO BE
Be + to +INF. “Be” can be followed by “to + infinitive” to indicate obligation,
equivalent to “ought to/have to”: the players are to train for two hours
To refer to future plans; this use is often found in newspapers: The players are to
play in Germany next month
Use of past was/ were + to + inf., this expression refers to an idea of destiny: They
had lost too many matches, they were never to win the championship.
Expression as above, followed by a was/ were + to + Perfect Infinitive , something which had
been expected did not come true: The plane was to have taken off at 6, but it was delayed.
We can form several tenses: pres/past cont; pres/past perf cont; fut/ fut perf. cont.
BE ABOUT TO + INF or the equivalent expression be on the point of + ING to express
immediate future: the match is about to start /on the point of starting)
“Be”, as a semi-auxiliary to denote future tense in the combination be+ going to+ inf.:
Spain is not going to win because the other team is better.
HAVE Primary auxiliary. 4 forms: for the present have , for the past “had”, which
can also be contracted with not, hadn’t. The same form of the past participle and “having” is the
present participle form.
-Main use an auxiliary to form perfect tenses, followed by the past participle of the main verb: they have
won the match. We can form several tenses: pres/past perf;
pres/past perf. cont; past. perf. conditional.
Also used as an auxiliary in the construction have to + infinitive.
“have (got) to” correspond to “must” to express obligation : You have to be back by ten o’clock, or
logical necessity: Somebody had to lose the game.
Have
The auxiliary “have” used in the expression had better + infinitive; in this case it has a present or future
meaning, to give a strong recommendation: You had better not miss the last bus.
Have + object + past participle. is also used in causative constructions, followed by a direct
object and the past participle of the lexical verb
- To emphasize that the performance supposed a special effort, we prefer verbs such as :
“succeeded in” or “manage to”: I succeeded in winning the faster runner.
CAN / COULD
With the idea of future ability “can” is also used for suggestions or decisions:
I can pick you up at ten.
Otherwise for the idea of future capacity “will be able to”.
- Both modals are used TO REQUEST & GIVE PERMISSION in the present and future time.
SLIGHT DIFFERENCE between both, a difference of politeness or distance with the listener;
In POSSIBILITY & PROBABILITY Less likely tan with “ can /could”: He may come, but it’s not very
frequent. A very rare use of “may”, to express a wish with a similar meaning to a subjunctive: May
God bless you.
Mustn’t and can’t instead of “may not” , used to deny permission: No, you can’t leave earlier.
- Although it is less frequent, “shall” can also indicate determination or prediction: I shall
Tell him what I think.
With this meaning it can be also used with the 2nd and 3 rd person, in this case it
indicates determination on the part of the speaker that something will or will not happen: you
shall do as I tell you.
WILL In spoken English the negative form of is won’t, In its primary use, the modal is
used to express futurity with an idea of volition or certainty that a future event will take place.
Volition: -Weak volition by means of polite requests, used in second person: Will
you drive me to the football match?.- Intermediate volition intention or determination on the
part of the speaker (first person): I will ask him out - Strong volition Insistence of orders, (second
and third person)
NO contraction with a stressed form You will wait for me till the end of the match
-Certainty of an action is CHARACTERISTIC or HABIT: My dog will sit and wait till I arrive home.
- FUTURE meaning, We decide to do something at the time of speaking: I’ve no money to go to the
match. I’ll lend you some.
- For PREDICTIONS when there’s no evidence: I think we will win the match.
- Used in the FIRST CONDITIONAL for PROMISING, INVITING & OFFERING
SHOULD something ESCAPABLE OBLIGATION or ADVISABLE .
You should practice some sport
-It is also used to refer to something that is expected: I wonder where Tina is, she should be here.
-SHOULD followed by a perfect infinitive refers to an action a person did not do,; :
You should have come with us, we really enjoyed ourselves
DARE.
-In affirmative sentences as a lexical verb followed by a to-infinitive, meaning “not to be afraid of”. -
NEGATIVE & INTERROGATIVE can be used as a lexical verb + “DO” operator or as a modal verb
functioning as an operator itself: Dare you tell me that? or do you dare to tell me that?
-NOT frequently USED in Modern English except in some expressions such as “I dare say” meaning
probably: I dare say it will rain tomorrow.
WOULD - In second and third type conditional sentences HYPOTHETICAL meaning of the
lexical verb: if I were fitter I would play football.. Others similar to “Would”.
-Expressions “I wish” and “If only” when you want something or someone to change:
I wish you would give up smoking.
WOULD -In Reported Speech when the message in direct speech contains “will”.
He said he would watch the match.
-For INVITATIONS Would you like a cigarette? and REQUESTS Would you mind telling me the
truth?
WOULD indicates that an action occurred repeatedly in the past; similar meaning as
“used to” when referring to actions, but not when referring to states: the trainer would sit
and stare.
MUST.-For present and future obligation, the authority comes from speaker OR speaker is
giving his opinion about somebody’s obligation, -It implies emotional involvement on the
part of the speaker..It is also used to express logical deduction: He must be rich, he has a lot of houses.
As a fixed expression- I must say..
First person the difference “HAVE TO “ & “MUST “difficult to distinguish if it is external obligation or
if I feel that it is my responsibility to do it: I must study/have to study. Though, with an OBLIGATION in
the PAST , only “had to” is possible
Third person, “must” is used when giving written instructions or stating general rules:
Cars must stop when the traffic light is red.
-In the negative form PROHIBITION.One mustn’t gossip about people’s private life.
NEEDN’T can be both a modal auxiliary and a lexical verb.
As a modal its forms are “need/need not/needn’t”,same forms for all persons.
-Needn’t + inf. lack of obligation and is similar to “don’t have to”.
When referring to the past or to the future we are left with only the second
alternative: I needn’t wear a suit but I do.
Needn’t + perf. Inf. an unnecessary action which was nevertheless performed:
You needn’t have helped me, I could do it on my own.