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{{Short description|Type of verb, such as "might", that is used to indicate modality}}
A '''modal verb''' is a type of [[verb]] that contextually indicates a [[Modality (natural language)|modality]] such as a ''likelihood'', ''ability'', ''permission'', ''request'', ''capacity'', ''suggestion'', ''order'', ''obligation'', ''necessity'', ''possibility'' or ''advice''. Modal verbs generally accompany the  base (infinitive) form of another verb having [[semantics|semantic]] content.<ref>[[Frank R. Palmer|Palmer, F. R.]], ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=xKUvDFTARR8C&q=%22modal+verb%22 Mood and Modality]'', Cambridge University Presents, 2001, p. 33</ref> In [[English modal verbs|English, the modal verbs]] commonly used are ''can'', ''could'', ''may'', ''might'', ''must'', ''shall'', ''should'', ''will'', ''would'', and ''ought''.

==Function==
Modal verbs have a wide variety of communicative functions, but these functions can generally be related to a scale ranging from possibility ("may") to necessity ("must"), in terms of one of the following types of modality:
*[[epistemic modality]], concerned with  the theoretical ''possibility of propositions being true or not true'' (including likelihood and certainty)
*[[deontic modality]], concerned with ''possibility and necessity in terms of freedom to act'' (including permission and duty)
*[[dynamic modality]],<ref name="lel.ed.ac.uk">[http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/grammar/overview.html A Short Overview of English Syntax (Rodney Huddleston)], section 6.5d</ref> which may be distinguished from deontic modality in that, with dynamic modality, the conditioning factors are ''internal'' – the subject's own ability or willingness to act<ref>Palmer, ''op. cit.'', p. 70. The subsequent text shows that the intended definitions were transposed.</ref>

The following  sentences illustrate epistemic and deontic uses of the English modal verb ''must'':
*epistemic: ''You '''must''' be starving.'' ("I think it is almost a certainty that you are starving.")
*deontic: ''You '''must''' leave now.'' ("You are required to leave now.")
An ambiguous case is ''You must speak Spanish.'' The primary meaning would be the deontic meaning ("You are required to speak Spanish.") but this may be intended epistemically ("It is surely the case that you speak Spanish").
Epistemic modals can be analyzed as [[raising verb]]s, while deontic modals can be analyzed as [[control verb]]s.

Epistemic usages of modals tend to develop from deontic usages.<ref>Bybee, Joan; Perkins, Revere; and Pagliuca, William. ''The Evolution of Grammar'', Univ. of Chicago Press, 1994, pp.192-199</ref> For example, the inferred certainty sense of English ''must'' developed after the strong obligation sense; the probabilistic sense of ''should'' developed after the weak obligation sense; and the possibility senses of ''may'' and ''can'' developed later than the permission or ability sense. Two typical sequences of evolution of modal meanings are:
*internal mental ability → internal ability → root possibility (internal or external ability) → permission and epistemic possibility
*obligation → probability

== English ==
{{main|English modal verbs}}
The following table lists English modal verbs and various senses in which they are used:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Modal verb !! Epistemic sense || Deontic sense || Dynamic sense
|-
| can || That '''can''' indeed hinder. || You '''can''', if you are allowed. || She '''can''' really sing.
|-
| could || That '''could''' happen soon. || – || He '''could''' swim when he was young.
|-
| do || That '''does''' happen a lot. || '''Do''' not run! || She really '''does''' sing.
|-
| may || That '''may''' be a problem. || '''May''' I stay? || –
|-
| might || The weather '''might''' improve.               || '''Might''' I help you? || –
|-
| must || It '''must''' be hot outside. || Sam '''must''' go to school. || –
|-
| ought || That '''ought''' to be correct. || You '''ought''' to be kind. | -
|-
| shall ||{{refn|group=n|Shall has a first person future meaning.<ref name=grammar>Practical English Usage; Swan, M; International Students' Edition 1996, OUP; {{ISBN|019 442146 5}}</ref> Shall and will do not express probability and are instead used as markers for the future tense}}- || You '''shall''' not pass. || –
|-
| should || That '''should''' be surprising. || You '''should''' stop that. || –
|-
| will || {{refn|group=n|Will has a second and third person future meaning.<ref>Practical English Usage; Swan, M; International Students' Edition 1996, OUP; {{ISBN|019 442146 5}}</ref> Shall and will do not express probability and are instead used as markers for the future tense}}-  || I '''will''' be there! || –
|-
| would || Nothing '''would''' accomplish that. || – || –
|}

==In other languages==
{{expand section|modal verbs are used in several Slavic languages|date=June 2023}}

===Hawaiian Pidgin===

[[Hawaiian Pidgin]] is a [[creole language]] most of whose vocabulary, but not grammar, is drawn from English.  As is generally the case with creole languages, it is an [[isolating language]] and modality is typically indicated by the use of invariant pre-verbal auxiliaries.<ref>Sakoda, Kent, and Jeff Siegel, ''Pidgin Grammar'', Bess Press, 2003.</ref> The invariance of the modal auxiliaries to person, number, and tense makes them analogous to modal auxiliaries in English. However, as in most creoles the main verbs are also invariant; the auxiliaries are distinguished by their use in combination with (followed by) a main verb.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

There are various preverbal modal auxiliaries: ''Kaen'' "can", ''laik'' "want to", ''gata'' "have got to", ''haeftu'' "have to", ''baeta'' "had better", ''sapostu'' "am/is/are supposed to".  Unlike in Germanic languages, tense markers are used, albeit infrequently, before modals: ''Gon kaen kam'' "is going to be able to come".  ''Waz'' "was" can indicate past tense before the future/volitional marker ''gon'' and the modal ''sapostu'': ''Ai waz gon lift weits'' "I was gonna lift weights"; ''Ai waz sapostu go'' "I was supposed to go".{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

===Hawaiian===

[[Hawaiian language|Hawaiian]], like the [[Polynesian languages]] generally, is an [[isolating language]], so its verbal grammar relies exclusively on unconjugated verbs. Thus, as with creoles, there is no real distinction between modal auxiliaries and lexically modal main verbs that are followed by another main verb. Hawaiian has an imperative indicated by ''e'' + verb (or in the negative by ''mai'' + verb). Some examples of the treatment of modality are as follows:<ref>Alexander, W. D., ''Introduction to Hawaiian Grammar'', Dover Publ., 2004</ref>{{rp|pp. 38–39}} ''Pono'' conveys obligation/necessity as in ''He pono i nā kamali'i a pau e maka'ala'', "It's right for children all to beware", "All children should/must beware"; ability is conveyed by ''hiki'' as in ''Ua hiki i keia kamali'i ke heluhelu'' "Has enabled to this child to read", "This child can read".

===French===

[[French language|French]], like some other [[Romance languages]], does not have a grammatically distinct class of modal auxiliary verbs and expresses modality using lexical verbs followed by infinitives: for example, ''pouvoir'' "to be able" (''Je peux aller'', "I can go"), ''devoir'' "to have an obligation" (''Je dois aller'', "I must go"), and ''vouloir'' "to want" (''Je veux aller'' "I want to go").

===Italian===

Modal verbs in [[Italian language|Italian]] form a distinct class (''verbi modali'' or ''verbi servili'').<ref name="verbi-servili-treccani">{{Cite web|url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/verbi-servili_(La-grammatica-italiana)/|title=SERVILI, VERBI - Enciclopedia|website=Treccani}}</ref> They can be easily recognized by the fact that they are the only group of verbs that does not have a fixed [[auxiliary verb]] for forming the [[Perfect (grammar)|perfect]], but they can inherit it from the verb they accompany – Italian can have two different auxiliary verbs for forming the perfect, ''avere'' ("to have"), and ''essere'' ("to be"). There are in total four modal verbs in Italian: ''potere'' ("can"), ''volere'' ("want"), ''dovere'' ("must"), ''sapere'' ("to be able to"). Modal verbs in Italian are the only group of verbs allowed to follow this particular behavior. When they do not accompany other verbs, they all use ''avere'' ("to have") as a helping verb for forming the perfect.

For example, the helping verb for the perfect of ''potere'' ("can") is ''avere'' ("have"), as in ''ho potuto'' (lit. "I-have been-able","I could"); nevertheless, when used together with a verb that has as auxiliary ''essere'' ("be"), ''potere'' inherits the auxiliary of the second verb. For example: '''''ho''' visitato il castello'' (lit. "I-have visited the castle") / '''''ho potuto''' visitare il castello'' (lit. "I-have been-able to-visit the castle","I could visit the castle"); but '''''sono''' scappato'' (lit. "I-am escaped", "I have escaped") / '''''sono potuto''' scappare'' (lit. "I-am been-able to-escape", "I could escape").

Note that, like in other [[Romance languages]], there is no distinction between an [[infinitive]] and a [[Uses of English verb forms#Bare infinitive|bare infinitive]] in Italian, hence modal verbs are not the only group of verbs that accompanies an infinitive (where in English instead there would be the form with "to" – see for example ''Ho preferito '''scappare''''' ("I have preferred ''' to escape'''"). Thus, while in English a modal verb can be easily recognized by the sole presence of a bare infinitive, there is no easy way to distinguish the four traditional Italian modal verbs from other verbs, except the fact that the former are the only verbs that do not have a fixed auxiliary verb for the perfect. For this reason some grammars consider also the verbs ''osare'' ("to dare to"), ''preferire'' ("to prefer to"), ''desiderare'' ("to desire to"), ''solere'' ("to use to") as modal verbs, despite these always use ''avere'' as auxiliary verb for the perfect.<ref name="verbi-servili-treccani" />{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

===Mandarin Chinese===
[[Standard Chinese|Mandarin Chinese]] is an [[isolating language]] without inflections. As in English, modality can be indicated either lexically, with main verbs such as ''yào'' "want" followed by another main verb, or with auxiliary verbs. In Mandarin the auxiliary verbs have six properties that distinguish them from main verbs:<ref name=Li>Li, Charles N., and Sandra A. Thomson, ''Mandarin Chinese: A Functional Reference Grammar'', 1989.</ref>{{rp|pp.173–174}}

*They must co-occur with a verb (or an understood verb).
*They cannot be accompanied by aspect markers.
*They cannot be modified by intensifiers such as "very".
*They cannot be nominalized (used in phrases meaning, for example, "one who can")
*They cannot occur before the subject.
*They cannot take a direct object.

The complete list of  modal auxiliary verbs<ref name=Li/>{{rp|pp.182–183}} consists of
*three meaning "should",
*four meaning "be able to",
*two meaning "have permission to",
*one meaning "dare",
*one meaning "be willing to",
*four meaning "must" or "ought to", and
*one meaning "will" or "know how to".

===Spanish===
[[Spanish language|Spanish]], like French, uses fully conjugated verbs followed by infinitives. For example, ''poder'' "to be able" (''Puedo andar'', "I can walk"), ''deber'' "to have an obligation" (''Debo andar'', "I must walk"), and ''querer'' "to want" (''Quiero andar'' "I want to walk").

The correct use of ''andar'' in these examples would be reflexive. "''Puedo andar''" means "I can walk", "''Puedo irme''" means "I can leave" or "I can take myself off/away". The same applies to the other examples.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

==See also==
*[[English auxiliaries and contractions]]
*[[German modal particle]]
*[[Grammatical mood]]
*[[Modal logic]]
*[[Modal word]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
[https://almancaogren.club/almanca-modalverben-detayli-konu-anlatimi-ornekler/ Modalverben]

==Notes==
{{reflist|em|group=n}}

==Bibliography==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071021031028/http://www.celineromero.com/eng-thesis_html/thesis.html The Syntactic Evolution of Modal Verbs in the History of English]
* Walter W. Skeat, The Concise Dictionary of English Etymology (1993), Wordsworth Editions Ltd.
{{Expand section|date=May 2008}}

==External links==
* [http://www.deutsched.com/Grammar/Lessons/0108modalverbs.php German Modal Verbs] A grammar lesson covering the German modal verbs
* {{in lang|pt}} [http://www.infoescola.com/ingles/verbos-modais-modal-verbs/ Modal Verbs]
* [http://www.englishpage.com/modals/modalintro.html Modal Verb Tutorial]
* [[Wikiversity:Explication of modalities]]

{{lexical categories|state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Modal Verb}}
[[Category:Linguistic modality|Verb]]
[[Category:Verb types]]
[[Category:Philosophy of language]]