2. Review Points
• Last time we talked about the
differences between “lexical” (I.e.
“main”) verbs and “auxiliary” (I.e.
“helping”) verbs.
• We focused on the three primary
auxiliaries: be, do, have.
• Today we will talk about “modal”
auxiliaries
3. All About Modals
• Modals are a type of auxiliary verb.
• Modal auxiliaries are formed from a
group of verbs known as modals.
• Here’s a list of modals in English:
will/would/shall/should/can/could/may/
might/must.
4. Examples of Modals
•
•
•
•
•
I shall return to the bar for more Sake.
You should quit that dirty habit.
Who could know?
This conflict in Gaza must end NOW!
The Haitian people will survive this
disaster.
5. Auxiliaries in Verb Phrases
• It is possible to have a verb phrase that
has both one or more primary
auxiliaries (be/do/have) and a modal
auxiliary.
• You must be joking me!
• You can’t have been drinking that much
Sake!
