By Expressions, Modal verbs

It's not subjunctive. It's the modal use of need. Modal need can occur in non-assertive contexts. Modals never take the s in the first person singular of the present tense the way non-modal verbs do. In that way they resemble subjunctive forms, which are also missing the s. The...

Anonymous wrote: Hi, Sometimes I get confused which one to used in the situations like the one or ones below. Did he go to school on Sunday? Was he born in Japan? Why one takes a modal verb 'did', whereas the other one takes an auxiliary verb 'was'? How can I make correct choices? 'Go'...

Hi again,I think you guys are right. maybe now I understand. I just read some stuff on the net about negative questions, plus one of Jim's posts, and this "idea" I had seems the right one: Kooyeen wrote:Idea! Maybe that only works with modals and with requests, not permissions? So couldn't you,...

Let's spread out the issue a little bit: ____ O ____ Type 2. Basic forms. a. If we caught the 10 o'clock train, we would (could, might, etc.) get there by lunch-time. b. If I came into a fortune, I would give up smoking. c. If I knew how it worked, I could tell...

Milky wrote: <By the way, would you always interpret this as the expression of an external "drive"?> Why do you ask? That's what we do here, old chap. Except when we're answering. But let me explain what I mean. Suppose your attractive neighbour (a native BrE speaker) confessed to...

Alienvoord, I appreciate you're constructive criticism. Allow me to rebute:1) Comprehensible, yes. But many expressions are comprehensible even without being gramatically sound. The nuances I try to reveal in this post are to help you write better gramatically, not to sound or to write...

In the first example (mild annoyance), he might have offered = he should have offered.* In Clive's example, he might have offered = it is possible that he would have offered. In my example, he might have offered = it is possible that he did offer. Oh, the joys of modal verbs! CJ *The...

Yes, you're right. Apparently we do have different understandings of objective and subjective. But look at the bright side: We agree that the sentences do not illustrate deontic usage! On this whole topic I am in basic agreement with John Lyons, who, to say it as briefly as possible,...

The auxiliary "do" is used in questions, negatives, emphatic expressions, and tags. You liked her. Did you like her? You didn't like her. Didn't you like her? You did like her. You liked her, didn't you? You did like her, didn't you? As for emphatics, they frequently occur in the "but"...

1. If he would have brought the beer, I would have brought the meat. 2. If you would assist us in this matter, we would be most grateful. 3. If you would have assisted us at that time, we would have been most grateful. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Hello JT Your sentence #2 doesn't contain...