modal auxiliary verb

modal auxiliary verb
noun
an auxiliary verb (such as `can' or `will') that is used to express modality
Syn: ↑modal auxiliary, ↑modal verb, ↑modal
Hypernyms: ↑auxiliary verb

* * *

modal [ˈməʊdl] [ˈmoʊdl] (also modal ˈverb, modal auˈxiliary, modal auˈxiliary verb) noun (grammar)
a verb such as can, may or will that is used with another verb (not a modal) to express possibility, permission, intention, etc.
Derived Word:modal
See also: ↑modal auxiliary verb modal verb  
Word Origin:
[modal] mid 16th cent.: from medieval Latin modalis, from Latin modus ‘measure’, from an Indo-European root shared by mete; compare with mood in its grammatical sense.  
Grammar Point:
modal verbs
The modal verbs are can, could, may, might, must, ought to, shall, should, will and would. Dare, need, have to and used to also share some of the features of modal verbs.
Modal verbs have only one form. They have no -ing or -ed forms and do not add -s to the 3rd person singular form:

He can speak three languages.

She will try and visit tomorrow.

Modal verbs are followed by the infinitive of another verb without to. The exceptions are ought to and used to:

You must find a job.

You ought to stop smoking.

I used to smoke but I gave up two years ago.

Questions are formed without do/does in the present, or did in the past:

Can I invite Mary?

Should I have invited Mary?

Negative sentences are formed with not or the short form -n’t and do not use do/does or did.
You will find more help with how to use modal verbs at the dictionary entries for each verb.

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • English modal auxiliary verb — In the English language, a modal auxiliary verb is an auxiliary verb (or helping verb ) that can modify the grammatical mood (or mode ) of a verb. The key way to identify a modal auxiliary is by its defectiveness; the modal auxiliaries do not… …   Wikipedia

  • modal auxiliary — noun an auxiliary verb (such as can or will ) that is used to express modality • Syn: ↑modal auxiliary verb, ↑modal verb, ↑modal • Hypernyms: ↑auxiliary verb * * * noun : a verb or a grammatical form resembling a verb …   Useful english dictionary

  • auxiliary verb — noun a verb that combines with another verb in a verb phrase to help form tense, mood, voice, or condition of the verb it combines with • Hypernyms: ↑verb • Hyponyms: ↑modal auxiliary verb, ↑modal auxiliary, ↑modal verb, ↑modal …   Useful english dictionary

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  • Auxiliary verb — In linguistics, an auxiliary verb is a verb that gives further semantic or syntactic information about a main or full verb. In English, the extra meaning provided by an auxiliary verb alters the basic meaning of the main verb to make it have one… …   Wikipedia

  • modal auxiliary — UK / US noun [countable] Word forms modal auxiliary : singular modal auxiliary plural modal auxiliaries linguistics a modal verb …   English dictionary

  • modal auxiliary — noun Date: circa 1904 an auxiliary verb (as can, must, might, may) that is characteristically used with a verb of predication and expresses a modal modification and that in English differs formally from other verbs in lacking s and ing forms …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • modal auxiliary — helping verb, auxiliary verb …   English contemporary dictionary

  • modal auxiliary — modal aux iliary n a modal verb …   Dictionary of contemporary English

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