In English, as in all other languages, there are different ways of expressing a speaker s idea or thought. The present work offers more information about expressing possibility and probability in English. The main way to express such actions is represented by Modal Verbs.
The use of modal verbs is one of the most problematic areas of English grammar and one of the areas where many studies have been made. Certain modals such as: can and will are extremely common, whereas others such as: shall, ought to and need are relatively rare. The modals are often associated with particular uses, e. g. in requests, offers, etc, where the past forms tend to have implications of tentativeness or politeness. The aspectual point of view of modal verbs makes quite difficult the understanding of their usage. This work tries to clarify the importance of such expressions by means of theoretical assumptions supported by concrete examples. This work is organized in five chapters: Chapter I gives us informations about how modality is expressed and also about the uses of the modal verbs.
In chapter II I have made a presentation of the modal verbs.
I presented few characteristics of them and also some classifications.
In chapter IV I showed few other ways by which possibility and probability is expressed: the indicative mood, the subjunctive mood, the conditional mood etc.
The chapter V Teaching means of expressing possibility and probability includes a theoretical pattern in order to guide us in constructing an approach to teaching grammar structures as well as a series of exercices which could be used during the practice face.
The Conclusions are gathering the most specific information regarding the theme from the morphological, syntactical and semantic point of view in order to help clarifying the usage of Modal Verbs and to give further details about other ways of expressing possibility and probability.
CHAPTER I MOOD AND MODALITY IN ENGLISH Mood and modality.
General backround Mood is the grammatical category by which modality is expressed; that is the attitude of the speaker towards the action denoted by the verb.
The category of mood is strongly connected to the category of time and includes the category of voice and aspect.
In English moods can be studied either from the point of view of their meaning or forms.
Thus, modern grammars limit the number of finite moods to only two, namely: the Indicative and the Subjunctive.
The unmarked mood is associated with factual assertions, whereas the marked terms involve various kinds of non- factuality indicating that the situation is merely possible, is predicted or inferred rather than known.
e. g. 1. She goes to school.
[non-modal (unmarked) ] 2. She may / must go to school.
[modal] assertion I m imposing a requirement.
A single form does not always convey the same meaning and the same kind of meaning can be expressed by very different formal means.
Form Characteristic meaning Tense Time ...
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