t cases independent of the structure of the sentence: the use of this of that modal verb is determined by the attitude of the speaker towards the facts contained in the sentence. In this case we may speak of the free or independent use of modal verbs.
But sometimes the use of certain modal verbs depends on the structure of the sentence, mainly on the type of the subordinate clause, and occasionally also on the lexical character of the predicate verb in the principal clause. This may be called the structurally dependent use of modal verbs.the use of modal verbs is structurally dependent, their meaning is sometimes weakened; in fact, it may be quite vague. This may be accounted for by the fact that these verbs become rather part of the structure than bearers of individual meaning.is important to take into account one more feature peculiar to modal verbs. They all show that a certain action is represented as necessary, possible, desirable, doubtful, etc. from the point of view of the speaker. Consequently, modal verbs are generally used in conversation. In past-time contexts they may be found only in reported speech or thought, Thus You should have done it before, or He might be wrong, or It must be true cannot be possibly found in narration unless they are used after He thought that ... He said that ... He knew that ..., etc.only exceptions are the past tense forms could, would, had, was and might which may be used only in conversation but also in narration.1: Walker was illiterate and could not sign his name . When I looked at her I saw tears in her eyes. So I had to tell her the truth. p align="justify"> (B.J. Chute.) [p. 56]
Translation 1: Волкер був неписьменним і не міг написати його ім'я. Коли я дивився на неї, я бачив сльози в її очах. Так що я повинен був сказати їй правду.can t but mention that Modal Verbs are of common usage in literature - both American and English. In this work several examples taken from the works of famous American and English writers of the 18-19th centuries, such as I. Asimov, O. Henry, S. Maugham, F. Scott Fitzgerald, A. Christie, O. Wilde, M. Spark and others, can vividly show you their usage and importance in speech. We guess it ll be necessary to provide you with some examples on their usage from different newspapers and analyze them thoroughly.modal verb can has the following forms: can - the present tense (eg He can speak English) and could - the past tense. The form could is used in two ways: a) in past-time contexts as a form of the Indicative Mood (eg He could speak English when he was a child), b) in present-time contexts to express unreality, or as a milder and more polite form of can, or as a form implying more uncertainty than can (eg He could speak English if necessary. Could I help you? Could it be true?). Compare with the Russian міг би: Він міг би зроб...
