By Modals, Auxiliaries

Kilimanjaro wrote: Hello Cool Breeze, This sentence is taken from Michael SWAN's Practical English Usage. He says "might" can be used in such contextsHi KilimanjaroYes, I know it's from that book. You mentioned it in a previous post. I didn't say it was right or wrong in my opinion. I said I...

Let's not forget that much formality in English is not based on word meanings. We also create fomality by using the past tense of verbs and what are traditionally called the past tense of modal auxiliaries.

Milky wrote:He has to go and He must go.> Well, I guess that would be part of the mastering part of the language - i.e. the complex part. It's easy for anyone to claim that English is not complex, or is much simpler than many other languages, if he/she avoids talking about mastering the...

<To use any other form of write with a defective auxiliary is always wrong, except for reductions like: He will have. Looks extremely simple to me! If English were an arttificial language, I can't imagine how anyone could possibly make this simpler without adding considerably to the ambiguity...

<They are similar to other Germanic languages in structure and as there are only two infinitives in English (and in Swedish, for that matter), the modals or defective auxiliaries are very easy and simple to learn. They have no inflections for different grammatical persons, which is also...

<They are similar to other Germanic languages in structure and as there are only two infinitives in English (and in Swedish, for that matter), the modals or defective auxiliaries are very easy and simple to learn. They have no inflections for different grammatical persons, which is also...

Milky wrote:<To my mind, the articles are the trickiest part of English grammar> And modals?They are similar to other Germanic languages in structure and as there are only two infinitives in English (and in Swedish, for that matter), the modals or defective auxiliaries are very easy and...

I think the following would be considered a typical Type 3 Conditional. If I had studied hard in college, I would have become a successful person. Yes. This is a typical Type 3 conditional. If ... had ..., would have .... Here, I think would is a modal verb for a clause that...

Cool Breeze wrote: Grammarian-bot wrote:Congress is debating a bill requiring certain employers to provide workers with unpaid leave so that they can care for sick or newborn children.I have a serious problem with deciding when to use prepositions before verbs and when not to. Any...

Grammarian-bot wrote:Congress is debating a bill requiring certain employers to provide workers with unpaid leave so that they can care for sick or newborn children.I have a serious problem with deciding when to use prepositions before verbs and when not to. Any help/suggestions.Hi GBThe to in...