11. ANOMALOUS OR SPECIAL VERBS (MODAL AUXILIARIES)

1. Introduction

                They are the following

2. General characteristics

3. Can / Could

a) Forms

b) Uses of  can

               1. The most important uses
                  1. Natural ability à He can lift the table
                  2. Learned ability à He can swim ('saber')

                2. Other uses
                   1. Poder in the sense of permission and in negative sentences, of prohibition: 
                        Can I go?  [May, in this case, is more formal]
                   2. Poder in the sense of possibility: Anyone can make a mistake
                   3. Negative deduction: He can't have arrived yet
                   4. Requests: Can you do me a favour?
                   5. With verbs of perceptions like to see, to hear... can + infinitive without to is usually used instead of the present: 
                        I can hear it, but I can't see it
                   6. Natural behaviour or the way things or people are: e can be very rude

c) Uses of could

                * It could be translated into Spanish by
                                               - Pretérito Indefinido: He couldn't come
                                               - Pretérito Imperfecto: She couldn't type
                                               - Conditional: ould you do me a favour?
                                               - Pr. Imperfecto Subjuntivo: She'd do it if she could according to the sense
                1. The most important uses
                      1. Natural ability: He tried, but he couldn't lift the case
                      2. Learned ability: She could speak English very well.
                2. Other uses
                      1. Polite requests: Could you help me (to) cut the grass
                      2. Permission (less formal than may): Could I go and play in the garden?
                      3. Possibility (practically with the same value as might, which is more frequent for this use): 
                            The road could be blocked.
                      4. In indirect speech, the equivalent of can in direct speech: 
                            I can finish it in a couple of days / He said he could finish it in a couple of days

4. May / Might

    a) Forms

    b) Uses of may

                1. The most important uses
                                1. Permission, especially in questions: May I smoke? [Can is less formal]
                                2. Possibility: It may rain this afternoon
                                3. Polite requests, in interrogative sentences, naturally: May I have a cup of tea, please?
                2. Other less frequent uses
                                1. Concessive meaning: t may be more expensive, but it is much better
                                2. The subjunctive
                                a) expressing a wish: May you have many children?
                                b) expressing purpose in subordinate clauses: Give them something to eat (so) that they may not starve

    c) Uses if  might

                * The likeliest translation is the conditional, the subjunctive or the pretérito imperfecto of 'poder'.
                    1. The most important uses
                                1. Possibility (more remote than may): They might come tonight
                                2. Permission or polite requests (too formal): Might I have a word with you
                    2. Other less frequent uses
                                1. In purpose clauses: I brought in this armchair (so) that you might be more comfortable
                                2. Concessive meaning: It might be a little more expensive, but it's much better
                                3. In indirect speech (the equivalent of may in direct speech): 
                                    May I go to the party? / She asked if she might to go to the party
                                4. Other idiomatic uses: You might try to be a little more polite

5. Must

                a) Forms: Present & Past: must, must not, mustn't
                                * the missing tenses can be covered by to have to
                b) Uses
                                1. Duty or obligation to do something
                                               This duty may have a variety of connotations:
                                                               - moral duty: You must obey your parents
                                                               - command: You must paint that door too
                                                               - need: You must eat less
                                                               - advice: You mustn't do that
                                               The negative mustn't indicates prohibition: You mustn't do that
                                               The absence of need or obligation by needn't  or no to have to
                                2. Affirmative deduction or assumption / prediction: He must be in the park
                                               Negative deduction by can't
                                3. In indirect speech, must can be used with the value of the past tense or  had to according to the case.
                c) Summary of the meanings of must and its opposites                 

                d) Difference between must and  to have to
                                * Both must and to have to express the need to do something
                                * In practice, both constructions are used indiscriminately

6. Shall / Should

                a) Introduction
                      * It is in fact an anomalous verb which originally means deber which more or less reflect that original meaning.
                b) Forms

                c) Uses of shall
                     1. Most important uses
                       1. Future auxiliary (1^st person only) à I shall be twenty tomorrow
                       2. Suggestions requiring the agreement of the hearer (1^st and 3^rd person): Shall I open the window? / Shall I we dance?
                          They are best translated into Spanish by the present tense rather than by the future.
                     2. Other less frequent uses
                        1. Promise: Don't worry, my son, you shall have your bicycle
                             Command: You shall do as you are told
                             Threat (in the 2^nd or 3^rd person): You shan't go to the party if you don't behav
                        2. Resolute determination (in any person): They shall hot pass
                        3. In official documents, proclamations, etc.: Membership of the Academic Board shall be twenty...
                d) Uses of should
                     1. Most important uses
                        1. Conditional auxiliary
                        2. Duty (it can be translated by the present, the pre. imperfecto or the conditional.
                                                               - Tempored moral duty: You should tell your father bout it.
                                                               - Suitable or advice: You should eat less
                     2. Difference between should and must
                                               * Must is more categorical than should
                                               * Must is translated by the present: You should tell your father about it.
                                               * Should is translated by the pretérito or the conditional: You should eat less
                     3. Other less frequent uses
                          1. Subjunctive: It's unnecessary that he should get angry (no colloquial)
                          2. Contingence, chance, possibility (in subordinate conditional):  If you should see her, tell her about it
                          3. Official instructions (translated by the future of deber): Candidates should be experienced in ...
                                               4. Assumption / predictions (must is more common): He should be there by now, I think
                                               5. Rhetorical questions: How should I know
                                               6. Indirect speech
                                                      - shall becomes should when some meaning other than the future is being expressed: 
                                                        Shall I go? / He asked if he should go
                                                      - shall  becomes should when all it is expressing is the idea of futurity: 
                                                         Shall I pass my exam / He asked if he would pass his exam.

7. Will / Would

                a) Introduction
                                * The primary meaning of querer
                b) Forms

                c) Uses of will
                                1. Most important uses
                                               1. Future auxiliary (2^nd. and 3^rd. person)
                                               2. Polite requests and invitations (translated by the present of querer: 
                                                   Will you please give me the key?
                                               3. Volition (in the 1^st. p. instead of shall express the idea of willingness): 
                                                  Translated by the future of the verb or by the present of querer:  will help you
                                2. Other less frequent uses
                                               1. Assumption  / prediction: That will be the plumber
                                               2. Inherent characteristics: Oil will float / floats on water
                                               3. Commands (shall with greater emphasis): You will sit there
                                               4. Sundry idiomatic uses:
                                                               - Wilful insistence in doing things: He will go on gambling and drinking
                                                               - Habit or custom: She will be the first to get up
                                                               - Natural tendency: Boys will be boys
                                                               - Inevitability: Accidents will happen
                d) Some remark on the use of shall and will in modern spoken English
                                * Shall seems to be losing ground to will
                                * Sometimes the same idea can be expressed by either of the two
                                * There is possibly more emphasis in the case of shall
                                * In any case, the difficulty in the use of shall and will stems from the interference between the idea of the future expressed by both of them and the idea of deber expressed by shall and querer expressed by will.

                                * Practical suggestions:

                                                - Use shall for questions that suggest something or ask for hearer's agreement about something

                                                               à Shall we see it?

                                               - Use will for polite requests or invitations à Will you please help me?

                e) Uses of would

                                1. The most important uses

                                               1. Conditional auxiliary (mainly 2^nd, and 3^rd. p.)

                                               2. Polite requests or invitations (the same as with will, but with more emphasis) à Would you please switch off the light?

                                               3. Habit or custom (translated by the pretérito imperfecto or by solía) à He would go to his office at eight o'clock every day

                                                               (The volition of the subject must be involved, otherwise used to = soler)

                                2. Other less frequent uses

                                               1. Volition (translated by querer in the pretérito imperfecto) à He would not tell me where he had hidden the money.

                                               2. Wilful insistence à You would do it alone

                                               3. Assumption / prediction, suggestion, modest opinion à That would be the river Avon

                                               4. Indirect speech (will becomes would) à I'll eat at one o'clock / He said he would eat at...

                                               5. Wishes (in exclamations. The subject I is omitted) à Would that I had never met her! (¡Ojalá!)

                                                               Modern English prefers I wish or if only.

8. Ought to

                * It is practically equivalent to should

                a) Forms

9. Need

                * The special verb need (tener que) should not be confused with the full verb to need (necesitar) which has all the forms and tenses.

                * Only one form, the present need

                * It is used only in interrogative and negative sentences

                * Needn't expresses the absence of obligation à You needn't come tomorrow

10. Dare

                * The full verb to dare exists alongside the special verb dare (atreverse) and with the same meaning.

                * Dare as a special verb, is used only in interrogative and negative.

                * In short answers and tag questions there is a tendency to use the auxiliary doà Dare you tell him? Yes, I do

                * Forms

11. Used to               /ju:st t/

                * It has the single form used

                * It is translated by the pretérito imdefinido of soler

                * It can be used in affirmative, interrogative and negative. (In contemporary English there is a tendency to form the interrogative and the negative with did and use) à He used to do it / He didn't use to do it

                a) Uses

                                1. To contrast past action with present ones (to show that an action which was being carried out in the past stopped à I used to think that, too

                                2. To express habitual actions in the past à He used to play football at school

Note. Used should not be confused with to be used to (estar acostumbrado a).

Summary of the most important ideas expressed by the Modal Auxiliaries