Language Structures — Part 3: Building Blocks / 5e


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3.5b — Auxiliary, Modal, and Irregular Verbs

Auxiliary verbs — [from Latin auxilium = help]

They allow other verbs (and one another) to adjust to past and future tenses, to progressive form, to set statements in negative, interrogative, passive modes:

The example above shows auxiliary verbs "to have" and "to be" ("been") contributing to setting verb "to interview" in indicative mode, passive form, future perfect mode.

In the following example:

  • They were gone to the movies when their grandparents rang at their door.
"to be" ("were") contributes to past perfect, indicative mode, of verb "to go".

Auxiliary "to be" is also instrumental for passive forms and progressive (continuous) forms:

  • The clothes bag was forgotten in the laundry room.
    •   [passive]
  • In Rio, Carnival was being celebrated with samba dancing
    •   [progressive]
A third auxiliary is to do, needed for verbs to take up negative and interrogative forms:
  • She does not believe me.
  • Do they always dress like that?

[On auxiliaries, refer to Alexander, p. 187.]

Modal verbs — The following verbs

Present
Past
|
Present
Past
|
Present
Past
|
|
can could
|
 will would
|
 may might
shall should
|
 ought to
—
|
 must
—

are called modal because they add a special flavour to the way (to the mode) things are carried out, felt, or planned. In:

  • You must see a doctor.
modal verb "must" conveys a sense of urgency, whereas modal "may" in
  • You may see a doctor.
is less compelling in suggesting that health problems should be looked into.

While auxiliaries "to be", "to have", "to do" (seen above) are also verbs in their own right (meaning "to exist", "to own/possess", "to effect"), modals are not self-standing.

The only purpose served by modals is to modulate the sense of the verb they precede, or to construct tense forms such as conditional ("I would agree, if ...") or future ("I shall go").

    Modals do appear alone in the so called tag questions (those expecting a "yes / no" answer: "Can I?", "Shouldn't she?"). However, an implicit verb is understood to follow:
    • "Can I (+ come in)?"
    • "Shouldn't she (+ accept our apology)?"
Note that modals, unlike self-standing verbs, do not have a "to" infinitive form (to can, to may etc. are faulty formulations).

Related to modals are the verbs:

  • to need
  • to dare
which comply with modal forms in a limited number of constructions (typically, in tag questions or in negative statements):
  • They needn't worry about that!
  • I daren't think of the consequences!
  • How dare you make such request?

When that is the case, they take up all modal features, inclusive of the lack of terminal "-s" in 3rd singular person of present tense:

  • Our cousin need never learn the truth.

Outside tag questions and negative constructions, "need" and "dare" behave normally - or the choice is given between modal and regular inflexion:

  • "Why do you need to buy so much bread?"
  • "I didn't dare to tell them."

To a lesser extent, also:

  • used to
  • ought to
  • had better
  • have to
share some modal characteristics.

[For a review of modals and related verbs, see Alexander's grammar, chapter 11.]

Irregular Verbs — They are found in all languages and — surprisingly enough — verbs in the irregular list roughly overlap moving from language to language.

"To be" and "to have" are employed as auxiliaries(1) in virtually all European languages, which likewise resort to modals to express varying degrees of obligation, willingness:

  • French modals: pouvoir, vouloir, devoir
    "Oui, tu peux y aller!"
      ["You can go there" and also "You may go there"]

  • Italian modals: potere, volere, dovere
    "Certo, ci puoi andare!"

  • While French and Italian lack the nuances of obligation / permission conveyed by "may"/"must"/"ought to", German modals mirror the English:
    kann / konnte (for English "can"/"could"), darf / durfte (for "may"/"might"); muss / musste (for "must"/" — "), soll / sollte (for "shall"/"should"), will / wollte (for "will"/"would").
    The lack of "ought to" is compensated by a German modal unknown to English: mag / mochte (roughly: "I would like" / "I would have liked").

    • [Irregular paradigms(2) which recur most frequently in English are found here.]

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FOOTNOTES
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(1) — But "to do" as an auxiliary is a peculiar English construction.
Most languages turn to interrogation by swapping subject and predicates (German, French) or by relying on context and voice tone (Italian).
Negation is usually obtained by adding "not" (but French has "ne"+verb+"pas").

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(2) — Paradigm: systematic arrangment of verbal forms needed to construct the conjugation of a given verb.