Examples

I can write in complete sentences.

Inflation may decrease next year.

Can we eat outside?

🧾Definition

Modal verbs are a group of auxiliary (helping) verbs that add interpersonal meanings to clauses such as necessity, possibility, permission, uncertainty, ability, or obligation. They form part of the bigger system of modality (read more about it on Englicious). The English modal verbs are:

• shall is the missing modal verb but is almost never used in modern North American English

Modals have a wide range of meanings in different contexts, but you can see their effect on a clause in these examples:

• Students eat in the cafeteria.
• Students will eat in the cafeteria.
• Students can eat in the cafeteria.
• Students cannot eat in the cafeteria.
• Students should eat in the cafeteria.
• Students could eat in the cafeteria.
• Students must eat in the cafeteria.

🔬Discovery

Please read this summary of Tinker v.Des Moines, the Supreme Court case that gives schools the right to restrict certain types of clothing in school (adapted from iCivics).

| Students and teachers have First Amendment rights even when they are at school. Even so, teachers and principals must keep order at school so that learning can take place. In a school setting, therefore, the First Amendment must be applied in a special way to protect free speech and keep order at the same time. A student at school may express opinions, even about controversial subjects like war. However, the student may not disrupt learning or interfere with other peoples’ rights. [...] Schools cannot prohibit speech unless they have good evidence that the speech will be disruptive. They cannot prohibit speech only to avoid the uncomfortable situation of someone expressing an unpopular opinion. | 1. Match the bolded modal verb with the meaning below: required to allowed to able to not allowed to 2. There is no modal verb in the first sentence. Why not? | | --- | --- |

✅Form