Средства выражения модальности в современном английском языке. Система грамматических форм модальных глаголов в сравнении с полнозначными / знаменательными глаголами.

Средства выражения модальности в современном английском языке. Система грамматических форм модальных глаголов в сравнении с полнозначными / знаменательными глаголами.

 

Modality is a category of linguistic meaning having to do with the expression of possibility and necessity. It is a grammatical-semantic category, which expresses the speaker's attitude towards the expression, his evaluation of the attitude contributed towards objective reality. It can be expressed with the help of grammatical (modal verbs) and lexical means (modal words).

Modal verbs, unlike other verbs, do not denote actions to states, but only show the attitude of the speaker towards the action expressed by the infinitive in combination with which they form compound modal predicates. Thus modal verbs may show that the action (or state, or process, or quality) is viewed by the speaker as possible, obligatory, doubtful, certain, permissible, advisable, requested, prohibited, ordered, etc. Modal verbs occur only with the infinitive. This or that meaning is to a great degree determined by the comminicative type of the sentence and the form of the infinitive.

There are 12 modal verbs in English. They are: can, may, must, should ought, shall, will, would, need, dare, to be, to have (to have got). The latter two are modal only in one of their meanings.

Ten of them (that is, all but to be and to have) are also called defective or anomalous verbs as they lack some features characteristic of other verbs, that is:
1) they do not take -s in the third person singular;
2) they have no verbals, so they have no analytical forms;
3) they have (except for can and may) only one form and no past tense;
4) they are followed (except for ought) by a bare infinitive (that is by the infinitive without the particle to);
5) they need no auxiliary to build up the interrogative and negative forms.
All modal verbs have 2 negative forms, full and contracted.

full form may not must not would not should not need not

contracted form mayn’t mustn’t wouldn’t shouldn’t needn’t

 

Some of them have peculiarities both in spelling and pronunciation:

cannot shall not will not

Can’t [ka:nt] Shan’t [∫a:nt] Won’t [wount]

Modal words express the speaker’'s attitude to what his utterance denotes. The speaker’s judgement may be of different kinds, that is, the speaker may express various modal meanings. Modal words are an invariable part of speech. They may refer to a word, a phrase, a clause, or a sentence. Their syntactical function is that of a parenthesis, they may also be a sentence in themselves, in which case they are used to answer a general question:

Will you help me? Certainly.
Precisely this.
Except this man, of course.

Semantically modal words fall into three groups, denoting:
1. Certainty/doubt (certainly, of course, indeed, surely, decidedly, really, definitely, naturally, no doubt, etc.).

Certainly, it was astonishing that she should be preoccupied with her schemes for the welfare of
Constance.
Of course, it would have been different if they had married.
In answers the meaning of these words is weakened.

2. Supposition (perhaps, maybe, probably, obviously, possibly, evidently, apparently, etc.).
Manson’s nature was extraordinarily intense. Probably he derived this from his mother.
You have come quickly to a resolution. But perhaps you have been considering this question for a long time? (Obviously you didn’t read it.)

3. Estimate proper (good/bad) – (luckily, fortunately, happily, unfortunately, unluckily, etc.).
Fortunately there were few people at the morning surgery.
Unhappily a terrible storm broke out before the travellers had reached their destination.

 

 

СПОСОБЫ ВЫРАЖЕНИЯ ДОЛЖЕНСТВОВАНИЯ(OBLIGATION) В АНГЛИЙСКОМ ЯЗЫКЕ

OBLIGATION IN ENGLISH MAY BE EXPRESSED BY MODAL VERBS: MUST, TO HAVE TO, TO BE TO, SHOULD, OUGHT TO.

MUST

Must followed by the non-perfect common infinitive may express:

Immediate obligation or necessity, moral obligation referring to the future. This meaning occurs in positive statements and questions.

We must begin before five, or we shan’t finish in time for our supper.

He must move the furniture himself. I can’t help him.

Must you really go so soon?

In this sense the verb must corresponds to the Russian надо, нужно, должен.

Do it if you must (если нужно, делайте).

I must go now (мне нужно идти).

Must expresses obligation or compulsion from the speaker’s viewpoint (unlike ‘have to’, which involves some other authority than the speaker, such as official regulations, etc.).

You must be back at 2 o’clock. I want you to do some cooking.

You must call me Sir (I like it that way).

Obligations expressed by must refer to the present or future, in reported speech they may refer to the past. James said we must invite the Stewarts to dinner.

Future obligations can be made more precise with the future indefinite of the verb have to.

I’ll have to read it again.

Since the negative form of must denotes a negative obligation or sometimes prohibition, it cannot express absence of necessity which is expressed by needn’t.

- Must I go? - No, you needn’t, if you don’t want to.

Must is used interchangeably with to be to for instructions, notices, or orders.

Passangers must cross the lines by the footbridge (the railway company instructs them to).

Applications for admission to the Students’ Room of the Department of Manuscripts must be

accompanied by a letter of recommendation.

This card must be surrendered with your room key on vacating Astor College.

All rooms must be vacated by 11 a.m. and the keys handed to the porter on the day of departure.

Guests must be out of the building by midnight.

In all the above cases must is preferable.

With a 2nd person subject must expresses an obligation which has the same effect as a command.

You must be careful.

You must go now. I want to go to bed.

 

TO HAVE TO

Obligation or necessity arising out of circumstances. It is similar in its meaning to must (1). It corresponds to the Russian приходится,вынужден. Ex. She is usually short of time so she has to go by air (ей приходится лететь, она вынуждена лететь).

In the past tense have to indicates a fulfilled obligation.

We had to do a lot of things during the week we stayed in the country (were obliged and did it).

They made such a noise that I had to send one of the boys to make inquiries (it was necessary and I did

it).

Have to replaces must where must cannot be used:

a) to express past necessity or obligation We had to do it again.,

b) to express absence of necessity (in the sense of needn’t), since must not means prohibition, You don’t have to make another copy of the document, Miss Black; this copy will be quite satisfactory

c) to express a future obligation, since the future tense of the verb have to makes the obligation more precise. You’ll have to take a taxi if you mean to catch the train.

Have to as a modal verb can be used together with the modal verb may:

We may have to wait long here. - Нам возможно придется долго здесь ждать.

Have got to has the same basic meaning as have to. The difference lies in that have to usually denotes a habitual action and have got to denotes a particular action.

Do you have to get up early every morning?

Have you got to get up early tomorrow morning?

 

TO BE TO

To be to expresses:

An obligation arising out of an arrangement or plan. It is found in statements and questions.

We are to complete this work by tomorrow. (Somebody expects it.)

When is the wedding to be?

When am I to come?

The ship was to dock on Sunday.

I was to meet Mother at the dentist’s at 11.

The last two sentences in which to be is in the past indefinite do not indicate whether the action did or did not take place. On the other hand this form is the only way to indicate a fulfilled action in the past.

To emphasize that the action did not take place the perfect infinitive is used after the past indefinite of the verb to be to.

She was to have graduated in June, but unfortunately fell ill.

The present indefinite may signify an arrangement (especially official) for the future, or referring to no particular time. Ex! The German Chancellor is to visit France. A knife is to cut with.

 

SHOULD
Should is nearly always interchangeable with ought to, as their meanings coincide.

It expresses:

Moral obligation, moral duty, which may not be fulfilled. Should is found in this sense in all kinds of sentences. However ought to is preferable in this sense:

All students should submit their work by present date (but some of them don’t).

Студенты должны сдать работу к сегодняшнему дню.

Private firearms should be banned. Личное оружие следует запретить.

Не should phone his parents tonight, but lie probably won’t have time.

Он должен позвонить, но, вероятно, у него не будет времени на это.

If you see anything strange you should call the police.

Если ты увидишь что-то странное, ты должен вызвать полицию.

 

OUGHT TO

Moral duty, moral obligation (which is not always fulfilled). It corresponds to the Russian следует. You ought to look after your children better (you don’t always do it). Вам следует больше заботиться о детях. When used with the perfect infinitive ought means that something right has not been done, a desirable action has not been carried out, and it, therefore, implies reproach. You ought to have helped him (but you didn’t).Вам следовало бы ему помочь.Не ought to have been more careful (he was not careful enough).Ему следовало бы быть более осторожным.

CAN, COULD

Permission.

Can we go home, Miss? Можно идти домой, мисс?

Не can go now. Теперь он может идти.

The teacher said we could go home. Учитель разрешил нам идти домой.

Can is now more common than may (or might) to express the idea permission

 Request.

Can you hold on a minute, please?

Can I have some water?

Can you put the meat in salted water?

Could suggests a greater degree of politeness:

Could you come again tomorrow?

MAY, MIGHT

May followed by the non-perfect common infinitive expresses:

Permission. In this usage it expresses the meaning to have permis­sion to, to be allowed to, to be permitted to.

You may go now (you are allowed to go).

May we leave this with you? (Are we allowed to...? Is it all right if we leave it here?)

In polite requests for permission might is used.

Might I use your telephone, please?

I wonder if I might borrow your book.

Can is now more common than may or migh t to express informally the idea of permission, but may is often used when talking of ourselves.

May/might I help you?

When the action was permitted and performed the expression was allowed to is preferable.

When translating the story we were allowed to use a dictionary, so I took a Longman new dictionary.

WILL, WOULD

A polite request or an offer. This meaning occurs only in questions.

Will you pass the salt, please?

Will you haw some tea?

In comparison with will the form would renders a greater degree of politeness.

Would you please pass the salt?

Would you please lend me your pencil?

It is still more polite to use the combinations: Would you mind (+ -ing form), Would you be so kind as to...

Would you be so kind as to lend me your book?

Reproach (might)

This meaning is found only in positive statements and only with the form might as it is a reproach made about something that has not been done and thus implies some unfulfilled action.

You might at least offer to help.

In combination with the perfect infinitive it renders irritation (annoyance) that the action was not carried out.

You might have opened the door for me.

Dare

The modal verb dare may be defective or regular.
As a defective verb dare has two forms: dare for the present tense and dared for the past tense. It is used chiefly in interrogative and negative sentences. It has the meaning - to have the courage or independence to do something, to venture.

How dare he speak to you like that? (I wonder at such impudence.)
How dare you sneak into my room like this?
He daren’t write anything in case it isn't good (he hasn’t got the courage).
Dare you ask him? (Are you brave enough to ask him?)
That’s as much as I dare spend on it.
As a regular verb dare has a limited paradigm of finite forms and no verbals. It may have two meanings:
1. To venture, to have the courage or impudence (like the defective dare). In this sense it is used mainly

in negative statements.

He didn’t dare to stop me (he didn’t have the courage).
She doesn’t dare to answer.
Don’t you dare to touch me.

2. To challenge, to defy.
I dared him to jump (I challenged him to do it).
I dare you to say this straight to her face. - Попробуй, скажи ей это прямо в лицо.
Note the following combinations with the modal verb dare.
I dare say — I suppose, no doubt.
I dare say you are right. - Очень возможно, что вы правы.
I dare say he will come later. - Полагаю (пожалуй), он придет позже.

 

Средства выражения модальности в современном английском языке. Система грамматических форм модальных глаголов в сравнении с полнозначными / знаменательными глаголами.

 

Modality is a category of linguistic meaning having to do with the expression of possibility and necessity. It is a grammatical-semantic category, which expresses the speaker's attitude towards the expression, his evaluation of the attitude contributed towards objective reality. It can be expressed with the help of grammatical (modal verbs) and lexical means (modal words).

Modal verbs, unlike other verbs, do not denote actions to states, but only show the attitude of the speaker towards the action expressed by the infinitive in combination with which they form compound modal predicates. Thus modal verbs may show that the action (or state, or process, or quality) is viewed by the speaker as possible, obligatory, doubtful, certain, permissible, advisable, requested, prohibited, ordered, etc. Modal verbs occur only with the infinitive. This or that meaning is to a great degree determined by the comminicative type of the sentence and the form of the infinitive.

There are 12 modal verbs in English. They are: can, may, must, should ought, shall, will, would, need, dare, to be, to have (to have got). The latter two are modal only in one of their meanings.

Ten of them (that is, all but to be and to have) are also called defective or anomalous verbs as they lack some features characteristic of other verbs, that is:
1) they do not take -s in the third person singular;
2) they have no verbals, so they have no analytical forms;
3) they have (except for can and may) only one form and no past tense;
4) they are followed (except for ought) by a bare infinitive (that is by the infinitive without the particle to);
5) they need no auxiliary to build up the interrogative and negative forms.
All modal verbs have 2 negative forms, full and contracted.

full form may not must not would not should not need not

contracted form mayn’t mustn’t wouldn’t shouldn’t needn’t

 

Some of them have peculiarities both in spelling and pronunciation:

cannot shall not will not

Can’t [ka:nt] Shan’t [∫a:nt] Won’t [wount]

Modal words express the speaker’'s attitude to what his utterance denotes. The speaker’s judgement may be of different kinds, that is, the speaker may express various modal meanings. Modal words are an invariable part of speech. They may refer to a word, a phrase, a clause, or a sentence. Their syntactical function is that of a parenthesis, they may also be a sentence in themselves, in which case they are used to answer a general question:

Will you help me? Certainly.
Precisely this.
Except this man, of course.

Semantically modal words fall into three groups, denoting:
1. Certainty/doubt (certainly, of course, indeed, surely, decidedly, really, definitely, naturally, no doubt, etc.).

Certainly, it was astonishing that she should be preoccupied with her schemes for the welfare of
Constance.
Of course, it would have been different if they had married.
In answers the meaning of these words is weakened.

2. Supposition (perhaps, maybe, probably, obviously, possibly, evidently, apparently, etc.).
Manson’s nature was extraordinarily intense. Probably he derived this from his mother.
You have come quickly to a resolution. But perhaps you have been considering this question for a long time? (Obviously you didn’t read it.)

3. Estimate proper (good/bad) – (luckily, fortunately, happily, unfortunately, unluckily, etc.).
Fortunately there were few people at the morning surgery.
Unhappily a terrible storm broke out before the travellers had reached their destination.