University of Kirkuk

College of Engineering

Electrical Engineering Departmen

{ English }

The tense system( Modal verbs and Full verbs)

4th Stage
by

Amjad Aidan Musa

2020/2019
 Modal verbs
1- INTRODUCTION
Modal verbs are referred to as modals, modal auxiliaries, anomalous finites,
special finites, mood-formers (Bădescu, 1984, p. 383), and in our opinion, they
are so problematic that they are worth discussing in a separate chapter, but only
after the strong, auxiliary and weak verbs are very clear in all the possible tenses
in active and passive, direct speech and reported speech, as well as conditional
sentences.
The major problem with them is that they are ‘special’ indeed, forming a
separate category of verbs, whose meaning can be only derived from the context,
which is at least the length of an entire clause or sentence, if not a paragraph. A
typical word in any language has a particular meaning. Even if words may have
multiple meanings, they do not break a basic rule a word usually stand for
another word, whereas in the case of modals (e.g. English – Hungarian
translations) we can have three cases:
a. Word for word: can – tud (‘capable to’);
b. Word for affix (suffix): She can help. – Segíthet. (-het is a Hungarian suffix of
possibility);
c. Word for ‘nothing’, when the polite meaning of the modal verb of an
analytical language (English or Romanian) may disappear during translation:
(1)
a. Can you help me?
b. Mă po i ajuta? / Mă aju i? (Romanian)
c. Tudsz segíteni? / Segítesz? (Hungarian)

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Now it is obvious why modals need to be discussed separately. Their list may vary,
but the majority of grammars agree that can, could, may, might, must, shall, should,
will, would are ‘central’ modals, have to and ought to are somewhat different as they
are followed by to, whereas need, dare and used to15 are ‘peripheral’, ‘marginal’
or semi-modals, as, for instance dare and need can be weak verbs as well. As it
is beyond the possibilities of one single article to discuss modals in detail (cf. that
there are entire books only focusing on modal verbs, e.g. Palmer, 1990 or Greere &
Zdrenghea, 2000), certain features of them should be mentioned, which complete
their nature presented above.
Palmer (1990, p. 4) describes seven distinctive features of modals, accepting that
not all of them satisfy all the criteria:
I. Inversion with the subject;
II. Negative form with n’t;
III. ‘Code’;
IV. Emphatic affirmation;
V. No -s form of the third person singular (they are not inflected, except for have
to, need, dare);
VI. No non-finite forms (they have no infinitive, participle or gerund forms);
VII. No co-occurrence (that is, two modal cannot follow each other in a verb
phrase.)
In our view, central modals are stronger than all the other verbs, signalled by the
fact that whenever there is a string of verbs and one of them is a modal, it is
always first. The longest string of verbs in English is four, as there are no Perfect
Continuous Passive Constructions
(2) Jane could have been waiting for John to pop the question for a long time.

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 At this stage we would like to highlight a grievous mistake of dictionary or
grammar book compilers who include modals in the list of irregular verbs. In our
view, the list of irregular verbs, without exception, contains the infinitive or Present
Simple in the first column, the Past Simple form in the second column, whereas
the third column is used in perfect tenses, being the past participle. Consequently,
it is totally wrong to add modal verbs to this list, as could is not always the past
form of can, and can does not always refer to the present, as the sentences below
demonstrate:

(3) Could you be a bit more specific about the John Doe you saw? (present
request)
(4) You can’t have seen the Jane Doe I saw. (past impossibility)
Modal verbs cannot have continuous (-ing) forms, although they may appear in
continuous tenses:
(5) John, you must be joking now.
(6) Jane can’t have been joking when she expressed her wish about the wedding.

Similarly to the previously discussed auxiliaries, modals can appear in short

answers, agreements and disagreements, additions, etc., so the term modal-
auxiliary is justified, even if combines two separate categories. We believe, this
is due to the fact that modals can have the majority, if not all the grammatical
functions expressed by auxiliaries.

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2-full verb
The English verbs have been defined considering their form and function.
Thus, verbs may have a full meaning and play the key role to the whole
sentence, which is the case with the lexical, main, principal or full verbs.
Very numerous, they represent the larger group of verbs in English and
they were denominated differently by the authors dealing with them. These
notional, main, lexical or principal verbs (or full verbs) have an independent
meaning and function in the sentence. They are used to form the simple
verbal predicate and express an action, a state, an event of or about the
person or the thing denoted by the subject.
Palmer (1979:24) asserts that ‘both modals and main verbs are basically
verbs and both can, in theory, share the same grammatical features’.
Nevertheless, things are different with the two groups of verbs. The main
verbs are thoroughly described in various books of grammar and because of
this reason they will not be insisted on in this presentation. The aim of this
volume is that of spotlighting those features or details not very frequently
considered in the specialized literature.

How are main verbs used in English?

How are main verbs used in English?
Main verbs (sometimes also called lexical verbs or full verbs) represent the
dominant group of verbs in the English language. So to speak, they are the
Main verbs (sometimes also called lexical verbs or full verbs) represent the
‘real’ verbs and can be used alone (as the only verb) in a sentence – unlike
auxiliary verbs. Regarding this, an important point is that main verbs usually
dominant group of verbs in the English language. So to speak, they are the
require an auxiliary verb in questions and negations. Now, compare some
possible uses:
‘real’ verbs and can be used alone (as the only verb) in a sentence – unlike
English main/full verbs occur in the following ways:As a standalone verb in a
single sentence:
auxiliary verbs. Regarding this, an important point is that main verbs usually
“He goes to the swimming pool every Sunday.”
“Jane bought a jacket yesterday.”
require an auxiliary verb in questions and negations. Now, compare some

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possible uses:
Besides, they are also part of negations and questions (interrogatives), in which an auxiliary
 In combination with an auxiliary verb to construct the compound tenses
(perfect tenses), the continuous tenses (progressive forms), the future as well
as passive sentences (passive voice):“They have travelled a lot of
countries.”Here, the verb appears in the present perfect simple.
“Hugo and Jack are going to the cinema tonight.”In this statement, the verb
is in the present continuous.
“I think it will rain soon.”Here, it stands in the future simple.
“The bridge was built five years ago.”This statement is a passive voice
sentence in the simple past.
Besides, they are also part of negations and questions (interrogatives), in
which an auxiliary verb necessarily accompanies them:“We don’t like the
new street. It’s too loud.”
“Do you know what’s on TV tonight?”

What are the particularities when using main verbs?

Three of the English main verbs can also be used as auxiliary verbs. This
group includes ‘to be, to do’, and ‘to have’. For clarity, read the following
comparisons:
The verb ‘to do’:
“Simon does his homework in the evening.”
It functions as a main verb here. It is also the only verb in this sentence.
“Lily doesn’t play the piano; she plays the bass.”Here, the form of ‘to do’
(doesn’t) is an auxiliary verb,
which assists ‘to play’ to form a negation.
The verb ‘to be’:
“My sister is a very kind person.”main verb
“Sabrina is talking very fast.”auxiliary verb
The verb ‘to have’:“Jason has a green car.”main verb
“Have you got a computer?”auxiliary verb

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 Further explanations related to the ‘Main verbs’
The following explanations relate to the topic ‘Explanation and use
of full verbs (main verbs) in English grammar’ and could be helpful
as well:

REFERENCES

[2] Palmer, F. R. (1990). Modality and the English Modals. London

and New York: Longman.
[3] Bădescu, A. L. (1984). Gramatica limbii engleze. Bucure ti: Editura