In Tenses^x, Modals^x

CJ On the contrary I find your comments completely intelligible Mr P JTT That s telling CJ Are we in some kind of warp speaking a different language from JT JTT No Jim you re simply a couple of old prescriptivists who are having a devil of a time shedding long held canards CJ I think the past...

CJ It seems to say that these verbs can occur in any tense therefore they do not have any tense JTT That s correct Jim you re getting there CAN OCCUR are the operative words In modern English modal auxiliary verbs are special types of verbs tenseless verbs which carry modal meaning into sentences...

On the contrary I find your comments completely intelligible Mr P Are we in some kind of warp speaking a different language from JT I think the past tense modals might more easily be seen as conditional tense modals I use conditional tense in the manner of the Romance languages i e the would...

JTT The possibility started yesterday It therefore started in the past But it has not come to fruition It can have no past tense because nothing has past ie nothing has finished How curious A possibility has no past Maybe I misremembered the conversation with Casi Casi I hear you told CJ you re...

2 On Wednesday I tell CJ what I said on Tuesday The possibility started yesterday It therefore started in the past Two major problems with your theory Mr P 1 The possibility started yesterday It therefore started in the past And what it started with was a may designating a small to a good chance...

1 Use of present perfect tense and simple past tense Speakers of American English generally use the present perfect tense have has past participle far less than speakers of British English In spoken American English it is very common to use the simple past tense as an alternative in situations...

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JTT wrote You couldn t have done more than glanced at the box May might at the commnet site Mr P If you had you d have noticed the glaring inconsistencies that show that different people DO NOT hear conditional and modal verbs slightly differently No need for all caps JTT Please use appropriate...

1 2003 GWB The Iraqis are going to hold elections in Iraq in January 2005 Mr P In 1 GWB situates the intention in the present JTT No it doesn t Mr P GWB s speech clearly situates the intention in the future January 2005 to be exact You have mistaken the time of speaking and the effect of that...

From JTT s earlier post on this subject Here are four of the modals that express levels of certainty in descending order ie from highest to lowest certainty must should may might 1 If these simply express separate levels of certainty as stated here it should be possible to replace might with may...