Tag Archives: modal verbs
Coulda/Shoulda/Woulda Posted by Gary Locke on Sep 9, 2021
There are three common English verbs that everyone knows but many misuse: could, should, and would. All three verbs are in the past tense. All three are modal verbs. And all three, being past tense, are commonly paired with the auxiliary verb have – usually as a contraction. But they will mess you up. Could…
English Modal Verbs: How and why to use them. Posted by Gabriele on Jan 13, 2015
Modal verbs are a unique category of verbs in English, they have their own rules, which are not the same as other verbs. This post offers an overview (or review) of how modal verbs are different from other verbs, and how/why we use them in English. To start off, here is a list of common…
Expressing degrees of certainty with modal verbs and adverbs Posted by Gabriele on Aug 19, 2012
Today I would like to talk a little about expressing different degrees of certainty using modal verbs and adverbs. To keep this discussion as simple as possible I will only be using the modal verb ‘will’, but I will be introducing a number of adverbs that can be used to express degree of certainty with…