Modal Auxiliaries: Functions & Uses

 

Modal Auxiliaries: Functions & Uses

                            

                         Nidhu Bhusan Das

 

Modals are auxiliary verbs because they help the main verb to express the mode or manner of action. They also express the attitude of the speaker. Modals are also called Defective verbs. The most commonly used modals are: can, could, may, might, need, will, would, shall, should, dare, must, used to, ought to.

 

can	could	may	might
will	would	shall	should
need	dare	must	used to
ought to	………………….	…………………	………………

 

Now let us see how the modals function and how they are useful as grammatical elements.

 

Functions  & uses of Modals

 

can	Indicates – ability,possibility,permission,advice,offering help, right
could	Indicate – past ability, polite request, wish,advice,possibility
may	Indicates – possibility, permission, request, doubt/uncertainty, wish/prayer, purpose, concession.
might	Indicates – possibility, weak possibility,permission,polite request, gentle reproach, purpose

 

Shall	Indicates – Simple present with first person ( I, We ) subject. With second/third person subject indicates – command,threat,promise,compulsion,certainty,determination
Will	Indicates – Simple present with second or person (you, he/she, they ) subject. With first person ( I, We) subject indicates –  willingness,promise,intention,threat,determination,quality/capacity.Never used with the first person in question.
Should	Indicates – Past form of Shall. Besides, it indicates duty/obligation, supposition/possibility/condition, opinion, disapproval, purpose & result, assumption, wish, and after the conjunction Lest.
Would	Indicates – Past form of Will.Besides,it indicate polite request,refusal,wish, past habit,permission,determination, preference
Need	Indicates – Used in the Negative & Interrogative, Need not with a Perfect Infinitive
Dare	Inflectional suffix –s/es is not added when  dare is followed by not if the subject is in the third person singular(he/she) in the simple present tense.
Must	Indicates – obligation/compulsion, strong determination,duty,certainty of belief/strong likelihood, inevitability, prohibition.
Ought to	Indicates – Duty/social or moral obligation,advice,desirability,strong probability,recommendation,Ought to have for past obligation, Ought not to have disapproval

 

Used to

Indicates – discontinued habit

 

We may show all the functions and uses of the modals in the table above in sentences to indicate how the modals express mode/manner of action and attitude of the speaker/user. (to be continued)

Tense and Aspect of Verb

 

Tense and Aspect of Verb

Nidhu Bhusan Das

 

Verb is a word that says something (Predicate) in a sentence about something (Subject).What is said is the Predicate or predication made by the verb and about what or who it is said is the subject of the verb.

Predication is what the verb says in the sentence. Example: We play cricket.  Here “We” is the subject and “play cricket” is the predicate or predication.

Now Predication has reference to time Frame and state of action of a verb. The Time Frames (past, present, future) denotes Tense. Tense roughly means reference to the time at which events take place, or at which processes or states hold. The state of action refers to Aspect of the relevant verb. Thus verb tense shows the combination of Time Frames and Aspects. It can be expressed as Time Frames + Aspects = Complete Verb Tenses.

So, we have three Tenses – Past, Present and Future and

Four Aspects of the verb - Simple, progressive (Continuous), Perfect and Perfect Progressive

Simple tenses refer to actions of a specific time either in the present, past or future. They do not tell us if the action is finished. The simple tenses are Present (simple), past (simple) and future (simple).

Progressive (continuous) tenses indicate an action in progress, and not completed.
We have present progressive, past progressive and future progressive.

Perfect tenses show a completed action. We have present perfect, past perfect and future perfect tenses.

 Perfect progressive (continuous) tenses show an action in progress and eventually completed. We have present perfect progressive, past perfect progressive, future perfect progressive.

Present simple tense shows the present state or condition of something, a habitual action or universal truth. Example: I like to play cricket. (Habit), He is happy. (State), The sun rises in the east. (Universal Truth).

Present Progressive tense describes an action in progress at present. Example: I am reading Shakespeare.

Present Perfect tense shows an action already completed in the past but has an impact felt by the speaker at the time of speaking. Example: I have lost my purse.

The present perfect progressive tense describes an action that began in the past, continues into the present and is likely to continue into the future. Example: My brother has been doing his homework since morning.

 Past Simple tense shows an event or action which occurred in the past. Example: I was busy yesterday.

Past Progressive tense shows an event or action that was going on in the past. I was reading when she knocked on the door.

Past Perfect tense shows an event or action completed at a point of time in the past. Example: I had completed my homework by the time you came.

Past Perfect Progressive tense shows an action that began in the past, continued and ended in the past. Example: I had been reading till it was time for dinner.

Future Simple tense shows as action or event to occur in future. Example:  I shall go to Kolkata tomorrow.

Future Progressive tense shows an event or action in progress in future. Example: I shall be reading Shakespeare by this time tomorrow.

Future Perfect tense shows an event or action that is to be completed by a specific time in the future. Example: I shall have completed my homework before you come.

Future Perfect Progressive tense shows an action that begins in the present and will continue into the future. Example:  I shall have been reading Shakespeare for four hours when it is time for dinner.

 

 

 

 

The Helpless Word "Unprecedented"

Conscious  Ignorance! Victim of Misuse

The Helpless Word "Unprecedented"

   Nidhu Bhusan Das

Congress delegation headed by interim President of the party  Sonia Gandhi on 27 February 2020 met the President of India Ramnath Kovind and presented a memorandum  expressing concern about the violence in north-east Delhi.The memorandum read out to the media by Sonia Gandhi mentions that it is an "unprecedented violence" in national capital Delhi.

The English participial adjective "unprecedented" is  a derivative from the root "precedent".The word "precedent" has its origin in Old French where it literally means "preceding" I.e., that which precedes.So,the etymological meaning of the derivative" unprecedented" is unexampled or that which was never done or known before.

The other day,Delhi High Court in a hearing on the ongoing violence while criticising the lack of professionalism of Delhi police mentioned the spectre of 1984 Delhi massacre and remarked that a revisit of the spectre could not be allowed.

In the wake of the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, a large scale massacre occurred.The Delhi High Court might have referred to that unfortunate incident and suggested that it was a precedent.If so, how the Congress can justify that the the 2020 violence in Delhi is "unprecedented"? 

Political rhetoric tends to be hyperbolic,and law cannot accept hyperbole.We the commoners should steer clear of such misuse of words.Sometimes playing with words and use of hyperboles may be the cause of harm.

Let's Know Verb (5)

Let’s Know Verb (5)

Nidhu Bhusan Das

Verb has three tenses and nine aspects.School level grammar books usually  skips the 'aspects’ and merge them with tense which brings the number of tenses to twelve.

We shall here today  dwell on three tenses - Present,Past and Future. They are known as Simple tenses.Of them,only the Simple Past Tense tells of the action that took place in the past relative to the Time of Speaking (TS).

The Simple Present Tense tells of an action which does not refer to an action of the present.time but an action which is meant to be Ever Present.

When the speaker says, “I walk in the morning”, (s)he means it is his/her habit. The expression, “Ice floats on water” means ice floats on water everywhere and anytime; it is universal like sunrise in the East. This is true of dynamic/action verbs and stative verbs.Whenever it comes to Primary Auxiliaries - Do,Have and Be -the verb refers to state,possession and action at the Time of Speaking. When it is said, “I am a student”, the verb 'am’ is existential and refers to the state of the speaker (I).

The verb “Have” means “possess” and “Do” refers to action.

This tense is also used to express planned action of near future as in “My mother leaves for the USA next week to attend the wedding of her younger brother”.

The Simple Past tense conveys the sense of past action relative to the Time of Speaking.When one says, “I came yesterday” it conveys the message that the act of coming occurred before the Time of Speaking i.e., the speaker reports a performed action.

Simple Future tense reports an action to take place or to occur. It refers to a plan to be executed or implemented, a possibility or commitment.