Verbs: Modals
Jared Aragona
Verbs: Modals: Use modal auxiliaries (can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would) correctly with verbs to communicate the appropriate mood and tense.
Ability:
I can carry all the equipment easily.
Sam could have taken eighteen credits last semester.
Possibility:
She may change her major.
The human subjects might have been drinking too much coffee that morning, which is a confounding variable.
Necessity:
Students must schedule time to complete their homework.
It must have been below freezing last night since the plants in the greenhouse are dead.
Expectation or Advisement:
Mark should not be late for any more classes.
The experiment should have been conducted in a lab.
Intention:
The town council shall invite all the taxpayers to the gala.
I shall be known forevermore as the person who dropped the tray with all the media for the D. melanogaster experiment!
Speculation:
I would fix the computer if I knew where to buy the right hardware.
I would have built the computer from the ground up rather than buying it off the shelf.
The MLCKRB (Master List Code Key and Rule Book): An English Grammar & Style Handbook by Jared Aragona, CC BY 4.0