Дипломная работа: Modal verbs

“He must be a Southerner, judging by those trousers,” suggested Harry mischievously. (F. Scott Fitzgerald)

Must in combination with the Perfect Infinitive refers the action to the past.

E.g. You must have examined the house very carefully, to find a single pellet of paper.

It must have been his first taste of peace for years.(A. Marshall)

The combination of must with the Perfect Continuous infinitive indicates an action begun in the past and continued into the moment of speaking.

E.g. It must have been raining all the night. There are big puddles in the garden.

However, if must is followed by a stative verb, the Perfect infinitive is used.

E.g. He must have been here since breakfast. He must have known it all along.

When must expresses supposition implying strong probability, its use is restricted in two ways:

a) It is not used with reference to the future. In this case we find attitudinal adverbs in the sentence.

E.g. She must really love you to distraction. He must evidently know all about it

b) It is not used in the interrogative or negative forms. It is found only in the affirmative form.

Must needs denotes obligation.

E.g. He must needs go there. (Он непременно должен пойти туда.)

“I think you must ask somebody else to your party instead of Henry, Jim” (B. J. Chute)

“Yes, but I must wash before dinner,” Jimmy said and added, “You’re lucky. Dirt doesn’t show on you.” (B.J. Chute)

I must be going and I must be off both mean – it is time for me to go (in Russian – мне пора уходить ).

I must tell you that … and I must say … are stereotyped phrases in which the meaning of obligation is considerably weakened in must.

In the sentences: You must come and see me some time You must come and have a dinner with me. You must come to our party. You must come and stay with us for the weekend and the like, the meaning of obligation in must is also weakened. Must has become part of such sentences which are a common way of expressing invitations.

Must and May compared

Must and may can be compared in two meanings:

1) Both may and must serve to express supposition but their use is not parallel. May denotes supposition implying uncertainty whereas the supposition expressed by must implies strong probability

E.g. For all I know, he may be an actor. His face seems so familiar. He must be an actor. His voice carries so well. I saw him an hour ago. He may still be in his office now. He always comes at 10 sharp. So he must be in his office now.

They must be satisfied with going to the piers… (M. Spark)

2) May and must are used to express prohibition in negative sentences. But may is seldom found in this meaning. In negative answers to questions with may asking for permission we generally find must not or cannot.

E.g. ‘May I smoke here?” “No, you mustn’t (you can’t) .

To have to

To have to as a modal verb is not a defective verb and can have all the necessary finite forms as well as the verbal.

E.g . He is an invalid and has to have a nurse.