In Grammar^x, Modal auxiliaries^x

These terms may not be the same everywhere but the basic grammar of the language is the same all over the Anglo-Saxon world! Would have had completed is always wrong. Would is a defective/modal auxiliary and only an infinitive is possible after these auxiliaries. In this case the perfect...

Lest 'tends to have a modal auxiliary or (esp in AmE) the present subjunctive' (Quirk, et al. 15.48)He was scared lest the corpse be / should be removed.

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...

See at the BBC learning site: ------ Note that with modal auxiliary verbs, do and did are not used: Can you play the clarinet? NOT: Do you can play the clarinet? I can't play the clarinet very well. NOT: I don't can play the clarinet. But I can play the recorder. NOT: I do can play the...

Jackson6612 wrote:I hope this sentence is correct. Your teacher may have discussed the sequence of tenses. Can we use might in place of may? If we cannot do that then please let me know the reason. Your teacher might have discussed the sequence of tenses. Hi Jackson 6612All defective...

Inchoateknowledge wrote:What does (simple) future tense mean in this sentence? The grammarian (it is a grammarian, isn't it?) you're quoting would probably tell you that there is no future tense. Many linguists claim English has only two tenses: Past and Non-past (sometimes called present)....

Thank you to all those who have posted their suggestions to my little imagination game. Some have taken it very seriously thinking they would have to relearn English after the 'changes'. This was meant to be just a game, not for those wo take everything seriously, and of course in this game...

A grammar book I use lists the following as the modal auxiliaries:can/couldmay-mightwill/wouldshall/shouldmust oughtand the following as modal-like auxiliaries:had betterhave gotget (to) have (to)be ablebe supposedbe boundI've never heard of usedn't, or You do not ought to stop smoking. I would...

Inchoateknowledge wrote:there are some oddities I have just dug up in a grammar book and in which you might be interested:Marginal modal auxiliaries:used to, ought to, need, dareused to:He usedn't to smoke.He did not use to smoke.He used to drink, did he not.Did he use to drink?ought to:Ought I...

there are some oddities I have just dug up in a grammar book and in which you might be interested: Marginal modal auxiliaries: used to, ought to, need, dare used to: He usedn't to smoke. He did not use to smoke. He used to drink, did he not. Did he use to drink? ought...