In Modal verbs^x, Auxiliaries^x

Hello Troy 1. I was passing by, and noticed your post. 2. I shall try to comply with Nona's request, though I too am no grammarian. 3. I shall also try to add a little to Roadrunner's and Paco's replies. 4. Luckily everyone else has gone out for the evening, 5. leaving me alone to listen to...

Hello Eladio I would distinguish between only 3 forms. Your extra forms relate to different tenses, rather than changes in the structure. There are some tenses you've omitted, too: 'I'm getting used to', for instance. Here's how I'd divide them: 1. Your first form: Adjectival use, meaning...

Some words, not only verbs, that are used a lot in speaking, have one weak sound and one strong sound. Weak forms are used in 'connected speech', that is, when you are having a normal, everyday conversation or when they are in the middle of a sentence. For example, the weak form of the verb...

Of course I don't mind your asking I don't know what your first language is, but in my country, Spanish speakers find it difficult too to understand that the "s" is necessary to form the simple present of a verb for the 3rd. person singular. The reason is that we associate the addition of an "s"...

I was a bit confused myself in the beginning becuase I thought that modals were just can, could; may, might; will, would; must; shall, should. These verbs are the "classical" modals, but every verb that expresses/describes the modus of a full verb is a modal verb: I may go e.g. means I have...

All of your sentences are correct. The choice of where to position the "maybe" is one of style rather than grammatical necessity. If style is what you'd like to improve on, I would suggest getting rid of the "was...maybe" structure altogether: He saw something that may have been a ghost. It...

Let's first compare "would" to "could" in questions. "Could" means do you have the ability, whereas "would" means do you have the willingness: "Would you help me?" vs. "Could you help me?" We often use could to mean willingness as well, but it really should be "would." Now let's try some...