In academic writing, modal verbs are most frequently used to indicate logical possibility and least frequently used to indicate permission. Necessity: expresses directness in attitudeīefore: Wash your hands before preparing food.Īfter: You must wash your hands before preparing food. Logical possibility: expresses a degree of probabilityīefore: This is the fastest way to drive to Westwood.Īfter: This might be the fastest way to drive to Westwood. Each function alters a sentence’s perspective differently. This handout is best used with a piece of writing that benefits from being subjective. They are especially common in discussion sections of research papers. Modals can also serve a social function to show uncertainty or politeness. This handout shows how modals in academic writing can change a sentence’s meaning into a prediction, suggestion, or a question. ![]() Modals do not have subject-verb agreement or take the infinitive “to” before the next verb. Modal verbs (will, would, should, may, can, could, might, must) precede another verb.
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