Modal verbs: revision - PBworkscilta-academicwriting.pbworks.com/f/Unit09ppt.pdf · Modal verbs: revision ... probability Could= informed belief regarding likelihood ... to differentiate

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Unit 9 (Lessons 15-17)

Functions (vii): using modality

Modal verbs: revisionModal verbs: revision

Modal verbs are auxiliary verbs

They are called modal because they express

something subjective, e.g. attitude, opinion, etc.

Modal verbs do not inflect

Modal verbs are timeless (not present, past or

future)

Most modal verbs have an alternative lexical

form which inflects for person/number/tense

Modal verbs: revisionModal verbs: revision

English expresses deduction using

modals: notice the degrees of certainty

I am sure it is

true

I think it is true I think it is

NOT true

I am sure it is

NOT true

It must be

It has to be

It could be It couldnt be

It may be It may not be

It might be It might not be

It cant be

Modal verbs: Modal verbs: couldcould or or wouldwould??

Would indicates the conditional mode of

any verb except the modals (verbi servili)

dovere, potere, volere.

Could = potere in the condizionale

It would be sarebbe

It could/ might be potrebbe essere

It should/ ought to be dovrebbe essere

It would like to be vorrebbe essere

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Modal verbs: Modal verbs: couldcould or or mightmight??

The difference between could and might

lies in the speaker s assumptions (based

on prior knowledge) about the

probability Could = informed belief regarding likelihood

It is possible, but I dont think it is true

Even though it is unlikely, I believe it is possible

Might = uncertainty regarding likelihood

Anything is possible, but I don't know enough to

judge whether it is true

It is possible but I don't think it's likely

Modal verbs: Modal verbs: couldcould or or mightmight??

It is possible, but I dont think it is true

Well, they could be planning that, but

Although it is unlikely, I believe it is possible

That could in fact be one of the reasons

Anything is possible, but I don't know

enough to judge whether it is true

I suppose it might be an option worth investigating

It is possible but I don't think it's likely That might possibly be a contributing factor, but

Modal verbs: compoundsModal verbs: compounds

The more verbs there are in a sequence,

the more complicated it all seems...

The main culprits are: Modal progressives

Modal perfects (simple and progressive)

Passive modal perfects


Modal progressives

Modal + [not] BE + Present Participle The colloquium will be starting shortly.

They must be trying to hold up publication.

I should be writing up.

We would not be investigating the matter unless

we felt it was worth our while.

They might not be reporting all the facts.

The molecules could be reacting with air in the

tubes.

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Modal perfects

Modal +[not] HAVE + Past Participle They will have finished by now

It must have been terribly difficult for you

I should have known

This would have worked perfectly, if it hadnt been

for...

They might not have heard about it

We couldnt have done anything to stop them


Modal perfect progressives

Modal [not] + HAVE BEEN+ Present Participle

The talks will have been going on for six years.

The author must have been trying to replicate this

study, but having overlooked

The team presented their new project, which was

not what they should have been reporting.

The particles would have been travelling at a

speed of three light years a second.

Of course, I might not have been wasting time.


Passive modal perfects

Modal +[not] HAVE BEEN+ Past Participle The changes will have been completed by now.

It must have been designed to delay your results.

The work should have been published earlier.

The graves would have been aligned in rows

facing east.

It might not have been written about before now.

The interviews could not have been carried out

without their help.

Other kinds of modalsOther kinds of modals

Modality is also found in nouns, lexical

verbs, adjectives and adverbs relating to Appearance/similarity

Belief / supposition

Certainty/uncertainty

Extent

Frequency

Likelihood

Suggestion and indication

See the tables on your hand-out

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Hedging your betsHedging your bets

TASK 1

Compare the sentence pairs, underlining

the hedging.

What difference does it make to the

overall meaning conveyed?

Mitigating your claimsMitigating your claims

TASK 2

Where might hedging might be

appropriate in the sentences provided?

What would you add, and why?

Compare your suggestions with those of

your classmates: how many different

meanings did you collectively create?

To hedge or not to hedge: that is To hedge or not to hedge: that is

the questionthe question

TASK 3

The statements come from engineering

assignments, dissertations and papers by

native & non-native speakers of English. Highlight any hedging expressions you find.

(Not all phrases contain hedges!)

Where you have found hedges, try rewriting the

sentence without them;

Where no hedging is present, add some.

Unit 9a Unit 9a

More about modalityMore about modality

Lesson 16

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Profiling modals collocatesProfiling modals collocates

It can be extremely difficult for learners

to differentiate between may, might and

could.

One way of identifying differences in

meaning is to identify differences in use: What words the modals combine (collocate) with

The order of frequency of the collocations

Their statistical relevance

Profiling Profiling MAY MAY -- verbsverbs

The most common verb collocate is be,

followed by have, then been. So we can expect patterns such as may be, may

have +obj and may have been to be frequent

(there are only three past participle verbs in the

collocate listing)

May is associated with decision-making

and with results (actual or hypothetical).

Profiling Profiling MAY MAY adverbs and adverbs and

connectorsconnectors

Important adverb collocates are not, well,

even, indeed and too So we can expect to find may not (+be/have)

and may well/indeed (+be/have)

Important connectors are also,

(al)though, but, however, or

May is associated with inclusion

considering various possibilities, not

discarding them

Profiling Profiling MIGHT MIGHT -- verbsverbs


followed by have, then been. So we can expect patterns such as might be and

might have been/pp to be frequent

Might collocates with might (this indicates that

various possibilities/options are listed)

Might is associated with unresolved

thought processes (expectation and

supposition), and with trial and error.

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Profiling Profiling MIGHT MIGHT adverbs and adverbs and


Important adverb collocates are actually,

even, just, not, perhaps and well So we can expect to find might not, might

even/just/perhaps, and might actually/well

Mights connectors introduce concessions:

but, even, if, or, otherwise, though

Like may, might is associated with

inclusion considering all variables and

expressing uncertainty

Profiling Profiling COULD COULD -- verbsverbs


followed by have. However, been is 21st! So we can expect to find could be and could

have (+inf) but not could have +pp

Could collocates with could (this indicates that

various possibilities/options are listed)

Could is associated with resolved

thought processes (knowledge and

understanding)

Profiling Profiling COULD COULD adverbs and adverbs and


The most important adverb collocate is

not, which has a t-score of over 45(!!) Well and even are also significant

Other adverb collocates are possibly,

perhaps, and maybe These have a limiting, excluding function

If, whether and so are the main connectors So could is strongly associated with assumptions

arising from conditions (hypetheses). It does not

associate with concessives

Summary Summary

The verbs tell us that

May is associated with choice and selection, and with

consequences of actions

Might is associated with belief, expectation and

supposition, with wishes, and with attempted action

Could is associated with knowledge and

understanding, with obtaining things, with the

possible, and with concrete action

The adverbs and connectors tell us that

May and might indicate uncertainty/ indecisiveness

Could indicates conditionality and decisiveness

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Modals Modals

TASK 4: modals in action

Read the extracts, paying particular

attention to the modal verb(s). Compare the context of use and the meaning

being expressed with the summary (above).

Now change the verb(s) and discuss how the

meaning changes.

Modals Modals

TASK 5

Read the language notes and do the

exercises M. McCarthy & F. ODell (2008) Academic

Vocabulary in Use. Cambridge: CUP

Unit 37 (pp. 82-83)

Unit 9b Unit 9b

More about adverbsMore about adverbs

Lesson 17

Types of adverbsTypes of adverbs

Adverbs include a vast number of words/

expressions with several different functions. Not all of these functions are learned explicitly:

Frequency adverbs are learned first (with

present simple)

Then place and time adverbs appear

Then some basic degree adverbs

Then expectation adverbs (with present perfect)

Then the formation of adverbs from adjectives is

taught manner adverbs

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In the discussion to follow, we will look at

various types of adverbs

Please note that it is the function of the

adverb which determines its position

The same principles apply to prepositional phrases,

finite, non-finite and verbless clauses carrying out

the same function

For this reason, is more correct to refer to members

of the functional classes as adverbials or adjuncts

Position of adverbsPosition of adverbs

Adverbs can occur

In front position (at the start of a sentence, before

the subject)

A comma separates the adverb from the SVO block

In mid position

(i) between the subject and the conjugated verb

(ii) between the subject and the (1st) auxiliary verb

(iii) after the verb BE (used as a main verb, not aux)

In end position (after the verb and its object(s))


Frequency adverbs provide information

about frequency, regularity and habit If the frequency expressed is definite, the adverb

usually occurs in end position

The samples were checked hourly

Revues are carried out annually

If the frequency is indefinite, the adverb usually

occurs in mid position

Investigations into the events were never published in the West

Empirical studies often fail to support this theory


Place and time adverbs

The unmarked syntactic position of time adverbs

is end position, usually at the end of the sentence.

This seemed to be the predominant state of affairs at the

end of the decade

The unmarked syntactic position of place adverbs

is end position but before any time adverb.

The samples were examined in situ before being

collected for observation in the lab.

SVO|Manner-Place-Time

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Place and time adverbs

With (intransitive) verbs of movement, the place

adverb tends to occur before the manner adverb

SV|Place-Manner-Time

In academic writing, it is common to find time

adverbials in front position

Time, |SVO| Manner-Place

This emphasises when something happened, rather

than the happening itself

adverbsadverbs

TASK 6

Time expressions in academic English Locate the time expressions in the extract.

When are they separated from the rest of the text

by commas?

How many are in front position? And in end

position?


Degree adverbsThese are usually taught in adverb-adjective

combinations:-

pretty / quite / a little (bit) / a bit / not (very) + adj(not) enough /(not) adj enough ; too much / too adj

As verb modifiers, they usually occur in

mid-positionThe authors seem to have completely overlooked the

existing literature on the topic

We would be extremely interested to hear of other cases


Degree adverbs In addition to forms such as very, really, and

quite, there is a range of lexical degree

adverbs which form standard collocations:

CLOSELY

DEEPLY (also: profoundly)

HIGHLY

SLIGHTLY

WIDELY (also: greatly, largely)

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(de)lexical degree adverbs(de)lexical degree adverbs

TASK 7: From collocates to textual meaning

http://www.collins.co.uk/Corpus/CorpusSearch.aspx

Using the collocates tool, enter each of the following

adverbs in turn

closely; deeply; highly; slightly; widely; largely

Make a note of the most significant collocates for

each one

Group semantically-related collocates

What does the usage tell you about the meaning?


Expectation adverbs

These connect events with our expectations

Already, yet and just the event occurred earlier/later

than expected.

No longer/more; notany more the event was

expected to continue, but didnt

Still the event has continued longer than expected


Expectation adverbs

These usually occur in mid-position, but can also

occur at the end (slightly emphatic)

Yet always occurs at the end of a sentence

Still always occurs mid-position

No longer never occurs at the end (use notany

longer/more instead)

If used at beginning of sentence (common in narrative

and historical accounts), no longer requires inversion

of subject and auxiliary


Manner adverbs tell you how the verbal

action has been carried out They are typically derived from adjectives

They usually occur in end position

The samples were heated gently then transferred to a

Petri dish

When used in mid-position, they are emphatic

The procedures were briefly outlined, then a

demonstration was performed

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Other types of adverbsOther types of adverbs

Focus adverbs (only, just, even) draw

attention to a part of the sentence. They occur immediately before the subject, verb,

object/complement or adjunct that they are

focussing on

Viewpoint and Comment adverbs refer to

the sentence as a whole They are usually set off from the text by commas

They tend to occur in front position (before SVO),

or right at the end (before full stop)

Using adverbsUsing adverbs

TASK 8: using adverbs

In each of the sentences, there is a

misplaced adverb. Find it and put it into

an acceptable position (there may be

more than one option)

Combining fact and opinionCombining fact and opinion

TASK 9: Book review

Following the steps on your hand-out, write a

review of a book or a journal article

Alternatively, you can choose to write a review of

the literature in your field of enquiry.

Suggested length:

Book review - under1500 words

Article review - under 500 words

Literature review - no limit

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Modal verbs: revision - PBworkscilta-academicwriting.pbworks.com/f/Unit09ppt.pdf · Modal verbs: revision ... probability Could= informed belief regarding likelihood ... to differentiate