English modal auxiliary verbs

The English modal auxiliary verbs are a subset of the English auxiliary verbs used mostly to express modality, properties such as possibility and obligation.[a] They can most easily be distinguished from other verbs by their defectiveness (they do not have participles or plain forms[b]) and by their lack of the ending ‑(e)s for the third-person singular.[3]

The central English modal auxiliary verbs are can (with could), may (with might), shall (with should), will (with would), and must. A few other verbs are usually also classed as modals: ought, and (in certain uses) dare, and need. Use (/jus/, rhyming with "loose") is included as well. Other expressions, notably had better, share some of their characteristics.


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