Modal verb

A modal verb is a type of verb that is used to indicate modality – that is: likelihood, ability, permission, request, capacity, suggestions, order and obligation, advice, etc. Modal verbs always accompany the base (infinitive) form of another verb having semantic content. In English the modal verbs are can / could, may / might, must, will / would, shall / should / ought to, had better, 'have to' and sometimes need and dare. In English and other Germanic languages, modal verbs are often distinguished as a class based on certain grammatical properties. A modal verb is a type of verb that is used to indicate modality – that is: likelihood, ability, permission, request, capacity, suggestions, order and obligation, advice, etc. Modal verbs always accompany the base (infinitive) form of another verb having semantic content. In English the modal verbs are can / could, may / might, must, will / would, shall / should / ought to, had better, 'have to' and sometimes need and dare. In English and other Germanic languages, modal verbs are often distinguished as a class based on certain grammatical properties. A modal auxiliary verb gives information about the function of the main verb that it governs. Modals have a wide variety of communicative functions, but these functions can generally be related to a scale ranging from possibility ('may') to necessity ('must'), in terms of one of the following types of modality: The following sentences illustrate epistemic and deontic uses of the English modal verb must: An ambiguous case is You must speak Spanish. The primary meaning would be the deontic meaning ('You are required to speak Spanish.') but this may be intended epistemically ('It is surely the case that you speak Spanish.')Epistemic modals can be analyzed as raising verbs, while deontic modals can be analyzed as control verbs. Epistemic usages of modals tend to develop from deontic usages. For example, the inferred certainty sense of English must developed after the strong obligation sense; the probabilistic sense of should developed after the weak obligation sense; and the possibility senses of may and can developed later than the permission or ability sense. Two typical sequences of evolution of modal meanings are: