Page 152 - Basic English Usage
P. 152

203                          152


                    After  modal  auxiliary  verbs,  we  use  the  infinitive  without  to.  (Ought  is  an
                    exception:  see  232.)
                      |  must  remember  to  write  to  Leslie.
                      (NOT +mustte remember  ...)

                    Meanings
                    We  do  not  use  modal  verbs  for  situations  that  definitely  exist,  or  for
                    things  that  have  definitely  happened.  We  use  them,  for  example,  to  talk
                    about  things  which  we  expect,  which  are  possible,  which  we  think  are
                    necessary,  which  we  are  not  sure  about,  or  which  did  not  happen.
                      She  will  be  here  tomorrow.
                      |  may  come  tomorrow if  |  have  time.
                      She  could  be  in  London  or  Paris  or  Tokyo  —  nobody  knows.
                      You  must  come  and  have  dinner  with  us  some  time.
                      What  would  you  do  if  you  had  a  free  year?
                      She  should  have  seen  a  doctor  when  she  first  felt  ill.

                    Modal  verb  +  perfect  infinitive

                    We  use  the  structure  |  modal  verb  +  perfect  infinitive |  (for  example

                     must  have  seen,  should  have  said)  to  talk  about  the  past.  This  structure
                     is  used  for  speculating  (thinking  about  what  possibly  happened)  or
                    imagining  (thinking  about  how  things  could  have  been  different).

                       modal  verb  + have + past participle
                      She's  two  hours  late.  What  can  have  happened?
                      You  could  have  told  me  you  were  coming.
                      The  potatoes  would  have  been  better  with  more  salt.
                      The  plant's  dead.  You  should  have  given  it  more  water.
                     For  more  information,  see  the  entries  for  can,  may  etc.
                     Dare  and  need  can  be  used  in  two  ways:  as  modal!  auxiliary  verbs  and  as
                     ordinary  verbs.  See  94  and  213.
                     For  information  about  weak  and  strong  pronunciations  of  modal  auxiliary  verbs,
                     see  358
                     For  contracted  forms,  see  90


              203    more  (of):  determiner

                    We  can  use  more  before  uncountable  or  plural  nouns.
                       more  +  noun
                      We  need  more  time.  (NOT  ...  mereottime-)
                      More  people  are  drinking  wine  these  days.
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