Modal verbs 2 – article

Introduction

A quick question: What’s the difference in meaning between the underlined words in these sentences?

This article is the second of two in which we take a closer look at modal verbs, concentrating on might/may, must/have to and should/ought to. Grammatical syllabuses and descriptions often feature the terms intrinsic and extrinsic in relation to modal verbs, so we begin by explaining what these words mean.

The meaning of modal verbs: intrinsic and extrinsic

Higher-level descriptions of English modal verbs often distinguish between two main types of meaning, described as intrinsic and extrinsic meanings.

Intrinsic meanings are those which imply some kind of human control over events, so they include meanings which are often described as permission, willingness, and necessity.

Extrinsic meanings are those which involve some kind of human judgment about what is or isn’t likely to happen, so include meanings which are often described as prediction or possibility.

All modal verbs have both intrinsic and extrinsic uses. For instance, an intrinsic use of the modal verb can is in talking about permission, e.g.

but an extrinsic use is in discussing possibility, e.g.

Sometimes, the two types of meaning overlap in one particular example. For instance, the modal verb will in

could be said to be combining an intrinsic use to express willingness and an extrinsic use to imply a prediction about the future.

In some grammatical descriptions of modals, intrinsic meanings are described as deontic or root, and extrinsic meanings are described as epistemic.

May and might: possibility

Modal verbs may and might are often used to say that something is possibly true, e.g.

There may/might be other problems that we don’t know about.

In informal speech, might is more common than may when talking about what someone will possibly do in the future, e.g.

May is more common in more formal descriptions, e.g.

Note that may is not usually used in questions which ask about the possibility of something happening or being true, e.g.

Might is sometimes used in this type of question, but sounds rather formal. May/might + have + past participle can be used to talk about a possible event in the past, e.g.

and can sometimes be used to talk about a possible event occurring before a time in the future, e.g.

May/might + be + -ing can be used to talk about a possible event in the present, e.g.

and can sometimes be used to talk about a possible event in the future, e.g.

May/might + have + been + -ing can be used to talk about possible events in the past that happened over a period of time, e.g.

May and might: permission

May (but not might) is sometimes used to talk about permission in formal contexts, e.g.

Calculators may not be used in the examination. You may begin.

It is also sometimes used in formal requests for permission, e.g.

Must and have (got) to: necessity

Must and have to are used to say that it is necessary that something happens or is done, e.g.

Must is used in stating formal rules and regulations, e.g.

Have (got) to is used to describe necessity resulting from a situation and which is not usually the speaker’s decision. Compare:

Note that have got to is less formal than have to and is more common in spoken English. However, have to is usually used with the past simple, especially for question and negative structures, e.g. We didn’t have to wait long. Why did you have to leave?, and also when another modal verb occurs, e.g. They’ll have to pay the money back eventually. When have is contracted however, have got to must be used, e.g. He’s got to work an extra two hours.

Note that must has no past, perfect, continuous, infinitive or -ing form, and have to is used instead, e.g. Visitors must remove their shoes. Visitors had to remove their shoes.

Must is often used to talk about things which we think will be necessary or enjoyable in the future, e.g.

Have (got) to is more common than must when asking questions about whether something will be necessary. Must in questions sounds rather formal and old-fashioned, e.g.

Don’t have to and haven’t got to can be used to say that something is not necessary, e.g.

Note however that the negative form mustn’t has a different meaning to don’t have to or haven’t got to. Mustn’t is used to say that someone should definitely not do something. Compare, e.g.

Must and have (got) to: drawing conclusions

Must is sometimes used to draw conclusions about past, present and future events. Must + have + past participle is used to draw a conclusion about something that happened in the past, e.g.

Must + be + -ing is used to draw a conclusion about something happening at the time of speaking, e.g.

Must + be is used to draw a conclusion about a present situation, e.g.

Must + be going to or must + be + -ing are sometimes used to draw a conclusion about something that is likely to happen in the future, e.g.

Have (got) to is sometimes used when someone feels certain that something is true or will happen, e.g.

Should and ought to: obligation

Should and ought to are often used to talk about obligation, saying what is the right thing to do, e.g.

They are also often used to give recommendations, saying what is the best or a good thing to do, e.g.

Note that should is more usual in questions, e.g. Who should I ask? Should I bring sandwiches? Ought to can be used, but sounds rather formal and old-fashioned, e.g. Who ought I to ask? Ought I to bring sandwiches?

Should is also usually used when talking about the recommendations of some outside authority, e.g. The computer should be restarted after loading the software.

Should/ought to + have + past participle is often used to talk about something that didn’t happen and the speaker feels sorry that it didn’t happen, e.g.

And shouldn’t/oughtn’t to + have + past participle is often used to talk about an event or action that happened but which the speaker regrets, e.g.

Should and ought to: probability

Should and ought to are sometimes used to say that something is probable, indicating that someone expects something to be true or to happen, e.g.

Should/Ought to + have + past participle can be used to talk about something that was expected to happen in the past, e.g.

or that is expected to happen in the future, e.g.

Note that when used in this sense, should and ought to almost always occur with verbs and expressions which express a positive meaning and they are not usually used to indicate that we expect something to go wrong, e.g.