Must may and might compared

 

    Contents

    Introduction. What are Modal Verbs? What is Modality?…………………...2

    Chapter I: Must, may and might compared

1.1. Formation of the modal conjugations……………………………...…….5

1.2.The Functions of Modal Verbs may, might and must………………...……..6

    1.3. Uses of May and Might. Use of Must.……………….…...……...............9

1.4. May, Might and Must compared using….....……………………………11

1.5. How to Write Sentences Using Modal Verbs.…………………………..13

    Chapter II: Practical comparison of modal verbs must, may and might

    Exercises……………………………………………………………….…….16

    Conclusion…………………………………………………………….……..30

    References……………………………………………………………..……..31 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

    Introduction.

    What are Modal Verbs?

    Most teachers are probably familiar with a list of modals similar to the one offered in Headway Intermediate: can, could, may, might, will, would, shall, should, and ought. Teachers would also probably agree with the explanation given by Headway, namely that these verbs are auxiliaries because “they ‘help’ another verb” (Soars and Soars, 1996: 146). For good measure, Headway tells students that “each modal has at least two meanings” (ibid.: 147). And this, too, jibes well with experience. After all, the must in You must be home by eleven or you’ll be grounded until Hell freezes over is undoubtedly different from the must in You must be Bob. It’s nice to meet you.

    Most students become familiar with the most obvious formal characteristic of modal verbs, namely that there are:

• The is no plural form (“s” form) for the third person singular.
• There are no “ing” or “ed” forms.
• Modals can be used with passive verbs.   
  Managers should be trained in order to properly perform their jobs.
• Modals are used to express probability: will / must (100%), should (very certain), may / could (pretty certain), may / might (possible, not very certain), can’t / won’t (impossible)
• The three most frequently used modals are would (28% of all modal occurrences), could (17%), and will (17%).
• The past tense of must is had to (the same as the past tense of have to).  
• The future tense of must is will have to (the same as the future tense of have to).
• The past tense of can is could.
• Modals are always the first word in a verb group
• When forming questions using modal verbs (or any auxiliary verb) we separate the modal verb from the main verb and move it to the front of the sentence Seher can go to school with her sister. (normal word order)                      Can Seher go to school with her sister?  (question word order)
• Will not is very strong; won’t is more common in spoken and informal English.  Will not is used when you want to add emphasis to the fact that you refuse to do something. [13]

    What is Modality?

    These formal qualities do not address the second characteristic found in modals – meaning. The question of what we mean when we say that modals have meaning turns out to be quite a complex one. Palmer notes that modality is concerned with our opinions and attitudes, (1990), and most linguists accept the existence of at least two types of modality, with one more type needed in order to account for the auxiliaries given as a group in Headway. Modal, then, refers to the formal properties of a certain class of words, while modality refers to the meanings of those words (and others).

    One type of modality, epistemic, is concerned with the speaker’s judgement of the truth of the proposition embedded in the statement. If I say, for example, John may go home, I am telling you that I am uncertain about the truth of the proposition John is going home. Other examples of epistemic modality are must in John must be home. Look there’s his car. and can’t in John can’t be home yet. His flight doesn’t arrive until 9 o’clock.

    The second primary category of modality is deontic modality. Deontic modality is concerned with “influencing actions, states, or events” (Palmer, 1990: 6); in other words, it is oriented towards performing speech acts – doing things with words. When I say, John may go home now. to give John permission to leave, or when I advise, Elena should go home. She looks tired. I am using deontic modality.

    These descriptions raise several considerations. The first is that I used the same modal, may, to give John permission to leave (deontic) and to tell my listener that I am not certain if John is leaving (epistemic), which may cause ambiguity (am I being benevolent or hazarding a guess as to John’s next step?). This ambiguity is found throughout the modal system (and not only in English) and is one of the reasons that classroom activities and exercises focusing on modality can be so difficult to develop.

    The second consideration is that neither epistemic nor deontic modality accounts for can in John can play the pan flute. You may have noticed that both deontic and epistemic modality refer back to the speaker in some way. In deontic modality, the speaker does something such as giving permission or advice. With epistemic modality, the speaker comments on the probability of the truth of the proposition, perhaps saying that he is certain that it is false (can’t) or that it is reasonable to assume that it is true (should). But the can in John can play the pan flute does not seem to refer to the speaker; rather, it seems to refer to one of John’s abilities. Have to in They have to be in Rome for a meeting tomorrow is also an example of this subject-oriented modality, which is called dynamic modality. Dynamic modality plays an important part in considerations of have to, and its contrast with must.

    Epistemically, there seems to be little difference between have to and must (he has to be home; there’s his car/he must be home; there’s his car), with both expressing a sense of certainty. Deontically, must obliges the subject of the sentence to do something (you must be home before 9 o’clock). Have to, on the other hand, does not have a strong deontic role. In dialects where must is rarely used deontically (such as many American dialects) the form for obliging someone to do something is often the imperative. In the realm of dynamic modality, however, the distinctions between must and have to create confusion. When an obligation is clearly speaker-oriented must is a clear choice. When an obligation is clearly external, the choice is have to. But there are many times when a situation is neither “clearly external” nor “clearly speaker-oriented” and here in this “neutral” area many native speakers use must and have to more or less indiscriminately (Palmer, 1990). [13] 
 
 

    Chapter I: Must, may and might compared

    This research work was written for better understanding usage of the modal words. Fully appreciating and thinking deeply about the following rules help to speak and write English correctly.

    I’m going investigate difference between using may, might and must in Modern English. I will do it in a way of explaining what is modal verbs and what is modality in general. I will show the formation of the sentences with modals and their meanings in them.

    To complete all material I gave several exercises for practice.  
 

1.1. Formation of the modal conjugations

    The formation of conjugations using the modal auxiliaries can be summarized as follows:

Conjugation	Auxiliary	Verb Form
Simple	modal auxiliary	bare infinitive
Continuous	modal auxiliary + be	present participle
Perfect	modal auxiliary + have	past participle
Perfect Continuous	modal auxiliary + have been	present participle

    Verbs in the Simple conjugation with a modal auxiliary generally refer to present or future time; whereas verbs in the Perfect conjugation with a modal auxiliary generally  refer to past time.

    Verbs in the Continuous conjugation with a modal auxiliary generally refer to continuous, ongoing actions in present or future time; whereas verbs in the Perfect Continuous conjugation with a modal auxiliary generally refer to continuous, ongoing actions in past time.[13]

    Modal Perfect.  We use the Modal Verb + the Past Perfect like this:

1.       To speculate about events in the past.  I wasn’t at the meeting, but it must have been very interesting.

2.       To express an irritation about someone or something.  You might have given me the file before I left.

3.       To talk about missed opportunities.  If she had stayed in school she might have been a brilliant scientist.

4.       To make an hypotheses about the past.  (Compare this with 2^nd Conditionals.)  If you had been with us we must have sold more advertisements.

5.       To criticize.  Your paperwork must have been finished much earlier. [8]

1.2. The Functions of Modal Verbs may, might and must.

    Modal auxiliaries generally express a speaker's attitudes, or 'moods'. In addition, they can convey the strength of these attitudes.

    Each modal has more than one meaning or use.

May and Might:

• May and might sometimes have virtually the same meaning; they are used to talk about possibilities in the past, present or future. ("Could" is also sometimes used).
• May is sometimes a little bit "more sure" (50% chance); whereas might expresses more doubt (maybe only a 30% chance).

May and might are used, then, for:

1. Talking about the present or future with uncertainty

She may be back in her office: the lecture finished ten minutes ago.

I may go shopping tonight, I haven't decided yet.

England might win the World Cup, you never know.

2. Talking about the past with uncertainty

I'm surprised he failed. I suppose he might have been ill on the day of the exam.

3. They can also sometimes be used for talking about permission, but usually only in formal situations. [8]

Instead of saying May I open a window? we would say Is it all right/OK if I open a window? or Can I open a window? for example. You might, however, see: Students may not borrow equipment without written permission.

4. Possibility of the fact (the so-called “factual possibility”). This meaning only in affirmative sentences.

You may find all the books you want in the National Library. (It is possible that you will find…)                                                                                                       The railways might be improved. (It is possible that the railways will be improved.)

5. Prohibition (only with the negative form of the modal verb).

You may not go swimming. (You are not allowed to…)

You may not enter the room until I say so.

The contracted form mayn’t is also very rare.[8]

    There are other ways of expressing the idea of prohibition which are more common. They are mustn’t, can’t and don’t. Mustn’t and can’t are often fond in negative answers to express prohibition instead of may not.  

6. Reproach. This meaning is found only in positive statements and only with the forms 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.[8]

    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. [7] 

May

    Talking about things that can happen in certain situations

If the monitors are used in poorly lit places, some users may experience headaches.

    Each nurse may be responsible for up to twenty patients.

    With a similar meaning to although

The experiment may have been a success, but there is still a lot of work to be done. (= Although it was a success, there is still ...)

Might

    Saying that something was possible, but did not actually happen

You saw me standing at the bus stop! You might have stopped and given me a lift!

Must

    Examples here refer to British English; there is some variation in American English.

1. Necessity and obligation 
   Must is often used to indicate 'personal' obligation; what you think you yourself or other people/things must do. If the obligation comes from outside (e.g. a rule or law), then have to is often (but not always) preferred:

I really must get some exercise. 
People must try to be more tolerant of each other. 
You mustn't look - promise? 
If you own a car, you have to pay an annual road tax.

2. Strong advice and invitations

I think you really must make more of an effort. 
You must go and see the film - it's brilliant. 
You must come and see me next time you're in town.

3. Saying you think something is certain

This must be the place - there's a white car parked outside. 
You must be mad. 
What a suntan! You must have had great weather.

4. The negative is expresses by can't [13]

You're going to sell your guitar! You can't be serious! 
She didn't wave - she can't have seen me.

    The combination of must with the Perfect Continuous infinitive indicates an action begun in the past and continued into the moment of speaking.

E.g. It must have been raining all the night. There are big puddles in the garten.

    However, if must is followed by a stative verb, the Perfect infinitive is used.

E.g. He must have been here since breakfast.

He must have known it along. [5]

    This confusion with the using these verbs is often because the learner originally learned the modal within the context of producing sentences in one of these moods, and have attached too firmly that meaning to the word. To get out of this rut, memorize the above list, and when you hear a modal used in a slightly strange way, try to put it in one of the above categories.

    When talking to someone, if you cannot decide from the context which 'mood' a modal they use is meant to convey, ask the person. That's where having memorized the above list comes in handy. Here's how you might want to phase the question if you can't tell if a speaker is using "can" to mean ability or permission:

    "Do you mean you are able to swim or that it is permitted?"

    If you are brave enough to do this regularly, you will soon learn which contexts signal which meaning and then you will rarely have to ask such questions. [9]

    1.3. Uses of May and Might

    Two of the more troublesome modal auxiliaries are may and might. When used in the context of granting or seeking permission, might is the past tense of may. Might is considerably more tentative than may.

May I leave class early?

If I've finished all my work and I'm really quiet, might I leave early?

    In the context of expressing possibility, may and might are interchangeable present and future forms and might + have + past participle is the past form:

She might be my advisor next semester.

She may be my advisor next semester.

She might have advised me not to take biology.

    Avoid confusing the sense of possibility in may with the implication of might, that a hypothetical situation has not in fact occurred. For instance, let's say there's been a helicopter crash at the airport. In his initial report, before all the facts are gathered, a newscaster could say that the pilot "may have been injured." After we discover that the pilot is in fact all right, the newscaster can now say that the pilot "might have been injured" because it is a hypothetical situation that has not occurred. Another example: a body had been identified after much work by a detective. It was reported that "without this painstaking work, the body may have remained unidentified." Since the body was, in fact, identified, might is clearly called for. [10]