Imagine trying to speak without expressing possibility, permission,or necessity; it would be like painting without colour. That’s were the modal verb step in. These special helping verbs—can, could, ...

There are three basic kinds of verbs plus many subclasses. Here we cover only the three basic types. Initially, verbs are divided into main verbs and auxiliary verbs. Then auxiliary verbs are divided ...

Modal verbs, which express a likelihood, ability, permission, request, order etc., usually help main verbs to state the future. It is the reason they are categorised as auxiliary verbs in the context.

These are useful verbs that are always followed by an infinitive. They are usually used in the present, imperfect, past tense with a past participle or in the conditional tense.

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea minima culpa: Michael Bulley (Letters, 10 May) is right to correct me – Latin does have the modal verbs he names, which cover possibility (possum), permission (licet) and ...