Difference between revisions of "Modality"

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|colspan="6"|'David may hit Ian.'
 
|colspan="6"|'David may hit Ian.'
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(2)
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{|
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|Dh'fhaodinn||ithe.
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|might.1s||eat.vn
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|colspan="6"|'I might eat.'
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(3)
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{|
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|Dh'fhaodadh||tu||ithe.
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|might||you(sg)||eat.vn
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|colspan="6"|'You might eat.'
 
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Revision as of 06:08, 18 November 2013

Necessity

Tha+feum+aig+subject+air+N or V

(1)

Tha feum aig Calum air biadh
be.pres need at Calum on food
Calum needs food

(2)

Tha feum aig Calum air dol
be.pres need at Calum on go.vn
Calum needs to go

Possibility

(1)

Faodaidh Daidhidh Iain a bhualadh.
may David John Tran strike.vn
'David may hit Ian.'

(2)

Dh'fhaodinn ithe.
might.1s eat.vn
'I might eat.'

(3)

Dh'fhaodadh tu ithe.
might you(sg) eat.vn
'You might eat.'

Obligation

(1)

Feumaidh Daidhidh am balach a bhualadh.
must David the boy Tran strike.vn
'David must strike the boy.'

Is copula introduces a modal complement

(1)

Is còir do Iain an leabhar a cheannach.
cop.pres right to John.dat the.sm book.sm Tran buy.vn
'John should buy the book.' (MacAulay 1992)

(2)

Is dòcha nach do cheannaich Iain an leabhar.
cop.pres possible Neg.Comp to buy.pst John the.sm book.sm
'It is possible that John didn't buy the book.' (MacAulay 1992)

External Links

Modal verb from Wikipedia