In Modals^x, Articles^x, Inflections^x

The list isn't meant to be exhaustive or carefully arranged. Any additions, corrections or further examples would be welcomed. 1 main verbs; lexical verbs (all verbs which are not auxiliaries or modals) 2 action verbs; event verbs; dynamic verbs (a verb which can be used...

Jackson6612 wrote: Need sometimes behaves like a modal, for example 'She need know', 'She needn't know', or, in more formal English, 'She need not know'. Examples: 1: You needn't worry 2: Buying budget-priced furniture needn't mean compromising on quality or style... 3: Loneliness...

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...

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...

It's interesting that the central modals can be grouped into related pairs that sometimes distinguish between past and non-past time. My thinking was just that, though they are related, they are not a single modal that's being inflected for tense. So, if they can refer to time, how does that...

"Linguists reserve the technical term "tense" for true inflection, . . . . . . I'm one, so yeah, I know. Cacarr, have you had a chance to read the article? Putting terminology aside, what is it about the distribution of modals that permits a change in time that's seemingly separate in...