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Languages and Linguistics

Lionel Mandrake

(4,076 posts)

4. Modals are a special type of verb.

Reply to Manifestor_of_Light (Reply #3)

Sat Aug 30, 2014, 10:03 PM

Aug 2014

They are also called modal auxiliary verbs.

Except for "must", they come in pairs, like "will/would". "would" is arguably the past tense of "will", and similarly for the other pairs. As far as I know, modals occur only in Germanic languages.

You can read more about them in

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modal_verb

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Highlight:

vestiges of gender and case in English [View all] Lionel Mandrake Aug 2014 OP

People don't know about inflected verbs. Manifestor_of_Light Aug 2014 #1

Yes, bad spelling and bad grammar are ubiquitous. Lionel Mandrake Aug 2014 #2

Yes, hanged and hung are two different words. Manifestor_of_Light Aug 2014 #3

Modals are a special type of verb. Lionel Mandrake Aug 2014 #4

No "arguably." Igel Aug 2014 #5

I would argue a few points, including "arguably". Lionel Mandrake Aug 2014 #7

Grammatical categories come and grammatical categories go. Igel Aug 2014 #6

Fascinating stuff, as usual Igel Starboard Tack Sep 2014 #8

Interesting, merging the Perfect and Preterite seems to be widespread... Odin2005 Nov 2014 #10

We still preserve the Subjunctive in rural NW Minnesota, too! Odin2005 Nov 2014 #9