Determiners, Auxiliaries and Modals unit IV

 Determiners, Auxiliaries and Modals unit IV

Determiners:- Determiners are words, such as articles or possessive adjectives (a, an, the, this, that, these, those, every, each, some, any, my, his, one, two, etc.), which determine or limit the meaning of a noun or noun phrase and precede other adjectives which accompany them.

 For instance, in the phrases the new car, his young children, her old hockey sticks, girls, any clever man, the words the, his, her, both, and any are determiners. Most of the modern grammars include determiners among the parts of speech. However, in many traditional grammars, all determiners except a, an, and they have been categorized as adjectives.

Auxiliaries:- The verbs like be, am, is, was, have, do, etc., when used with ordinary verbs to make tenses, passive forms, questions and negatives, are called auxiliary verbs or auxiliaries. Auxiliary verbs are also known as helping verbs.

The auxiliary be is used

 In the formation of the continuous tenses; as, Saumyaranjan  is reading, I was playing.

 In the formation of the passive; as, The gate was opened.

Be followed by the infinitive is used

 To indicate a future plan, arrangement, or agreement; as, I am to see him tomorrow, We are to be married next month.

 To denote command; as, You are to write your name at the top of each sheet of paper, Mother says you are to go to market at once.

The auxiliary have is used

 In the formation of the perfect tenses; as, He has worked, He has been working.

 With the infinitive to indicate future obligation; as, I have to be there by five o’clock, He has to move the furniture himself.

 To express obligation in the past; as, I had to be there by five o'clock, and He had to move the furniture himself.

In negatives and questions, have to and had to are used with do, does, did; as,

They have to go -- They don’t have to go. Do they have to go?

He has to go. -- He doesn’t have to go. Does he have to go?

He had to go. -- He didn’t have to go. Did he have to go?

The auxiliary do is used

 To form the negative and interrogative of the simple present and simple past tenses of ordinary verbs; as, He doesn't work, He didn’t work, and Does he work? Did he work?

 To avoid repetition of a previous ordinary verb; as, Do you know him? Yes, I do, She sings well, Yes, she does, and You met him, didn't you? He eats fish and so do you.

 To emphasize the affirmative nature of a statement; as, You do look pale, I told him not to go, but he did go.

 In the imperative, do makes a request or invitation more persuasive; as, Do walk

carefully, Oh, do come! It's going to be such fun. In such cases do is strongly stressed.

 

 

 

Modals:- The verbs can, could, may, might, will, would, shall, should, must, and ought are called modal verbs or modals. They are used before ordinary verbs and express meanings such as permission, possibility, certainty and necessity. Need and dare can sometimes be used like modal verbs.

Modals are often included in the group of auxiliaries. In some grammars they are called modal auxiliaries”. The modals can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must, and ought are sometimes also termed Defective Verbs, because some parts are wanting in them. They have no -s in the third person singular and also no infinitive and ing forms.

Use of Can, Could, May, Might:

 Can usually expresses ability or capacity; as, I can swim across the river, Can you lift this box?

 Can and May are also used to express permission. May is rather formal; as, You can/may go now; Can/May I borrow your umbrella?

 May is used to express possibility in affirmative sentences; as, It may rain tomorrow, and He may be at home.

 Can is used in the corresponding interrogative and negative sentences; as, Can this be true? It cannot be true. Compare It cannot be true with It may not be true. Cannot denotes impossibility, while may not denotes improbability.

 In very formal English, may is used to express a wish; as, May you live happily! May success attend you!

 Could and might are used as the past equivalents of can and may; as: I could swim across the river when I was young. (Ability)

He said one might/could go. (Permission)

I thought he might be at home. (Possibility)

She wondered whether it could be true. (Possibility)

 Could, as in the first example above, expresses only ability to do an act, but not the performance of an act. In present-time contexts could and might are used as less positive versions of can and may; as:

I could attend the party. (Less positive and more hesitant than I can attend the party.)

Might/Could I borrow your bicycle? (A diffident way of saying May/Can I……’)

It might rain tomorrow. (Less positive than ‘It may rain……’)

Could you pass me the salt? (Polite request).

 Might is also used to express a degree of dissatisfaction or reproach; as, You might pay a little more attention to your appearance.

Use of Shall, Should, Will, Would:

 Shall is used in the first person and will in all persons to express pure future. However, these days, there is a growing tendency to use will in all persons and as a result I/we shall is used less commonly than I/we will; as,

I shall/will be twenty five next birthday,

We will need the money on 15th,

When shall we see you again?

You will see that I am right.

 Shall is sometimes used in the second and third persons to express a command, a promise, or threat; as,

He shall not enter my house again. (Command)

You shall have a holiday tomorrow. (Promise)

You shall be punished for this. (Threat)

 Questions with shall I/we are used to ask the will of the person addressed; as,

Shall I open the door? (i,e., Do you want me to open it?)

Which pen shall I buy? (i.e., What is your advice?)

Where shall we go? (What is your suggestion?)

Will is used to express:

 Volition; as, I will (am willing to) carry your books, I will (promise to) try to do

better next time, I will (am determined to) succeed or die in the attempt. In the last

example above, will is strong-stressed.

 Characteristic habit; as, He will talk about nothing but films; She will sit for hours listening to the wireless.

 Assumption or probability; as, This will be the chance you want, I suppose, That will be the moment, I think.

 Will you? indicates an invitation or a request; as, Will you have tea? Will you lend me your scooter?

 Should and would are used as the past equivalents of shall and will – as

I should have worked hard.

I expected that I would get a first class.

He said he would be twenty-five next birthday.

She said she would carry my books.

She would sit for hours listening to the wireless, (Past habit)

 Should is used in all persons to express duty or obligation; as, We should obey the

laws,

You should keep your promise, Children should obey their parents.

 Should and would are also used as in the examples below:

I should (or: would) like you to help her. (Here used as a polite form of ‘want’).

Would you lend me your scooter, please? (Here as more polite than ‘Will you?’).

I should have been more quick. (With perfect infinitive indicates a past obligation).

He should be in the library now. (Expresses probability)

I wish you would not chatter so much. (‘Would’ after wish expresses a strong desire).

Use of Must, Ought to:

Must is used:

 To express necessity or obligation; as, You must improve your handwriting, We

must get up early.