He will have been being neglected for years |
Keeping track of tenses in English really should be easy, since English only has special verb forms for two kinds of tenses, present and past. We have seen this in the preceding sections where we encountered the present progressive< and the past progressive, the present passive and the past passive, the present perfect and the past perfect, and various monstrous combinations, also either past or perfect. We inherited this two tense system from Germanic, our immediate ancestor as a language. Some other languages in our family of languages (Indo-European) have verb endings for the future as well, which is very old-fashioned of them.
The Missing Future. What about the future in English? We have already noted that English can use adverbs in combination with present or progressive constructions to talk about future events. English also uses the expression be going to:
(1) I drove to Milwaukee tomorrow.(2) I am driving to Milwaukee tomorrow.(3) I am going to drive to Milwaukee.(4) I am going to be driving to Milwaukee.
What school handbooks often call future tense, though, takes the modal auxiliary verb will (or sometimes shall) followed by the base form of the next verb in the sequence.
(5) I will drive to Milwaukee.(6) I shall drive to Milwaukee.
Modals. The modal auxiliaries--can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would--are the last set of auxiliaries left for us to discuss. Notice that, except for must, these all come in pairs which look suspiciously like present and past, though their uses don't have much to do with present and past time, and some linguists deny that modals have any tense. Although only will and shall get called the "future tense", any modal can indicate future time, especially when there is an appropriate adverb around:
(7) I can drive to Milwaukee tomorrow.(8) I could drive to Milwaukee tomorrow.(9) I may drive to Milwaukee tomorrow.(10) I might drive to Milwaukee tomorrow.(10) I must drive to Milwaukee tomorrow.(11) I should drive to Milwaukee tomorrow.
Dare and need were also used as modals in older forms of English, but these days we more commonly use expressions like dare to, need to, have to, ought to. Like be going to, such expressions are sometimes called quasi-modals. The last three of these, at least, can also refer to future events or obligations:
(12) I have to drive to Milwaukee.(13) I need to drive to Milwaukee.(14) I ought to drive to Milwaukee.
Among the quasi-modals, ought to is the closest to being a true modal and is sometimes ranked as such. Unlike the others, it cannot have another modal in front of it:
(15) I may be going to drive to Milwaukee.(16) I may dare to drive to Milwaukee.(17) I may have to drive to Milwaukee.(18) I may need to drive to Milwaukee.(19) *I may ought to drive to Milwaukee.
When there is more than one auxiliary verb, the modal auxiliary always comes first, followed by the base form of the next verb. In terms of traditional grammar, sentence (20) is a future perfect progressive passive. It is for demonstration purposes only--do not attempt this kind of sentence at home:
(20) He will have been being neglected for years.
May/Might vs. Can/Could. The modal
can carries the primary sense of "be able to," and it and
could are often used in just that sense: Will/Would, Shall/Should. At one time school texts
insisted that shall should be used for the future with the first
person singular and plural and will in all other
cases: Should is
used interchangeably with ought to or as a less forceful form of
must and the mandative shall, one that does not assume
compliance: Must. In addition to its obvious uses in conveying
required or necessary actions, must can also be used to suggest
that a statement is a necessary conclusion under the circumstances. The
same is true of its somewhat less formal quasi-modal equivalent have
to. If one treats the modals as having tense, as some grammarians
do, must is always present, since there is no normal past
equivalent for must. The sentences below show how it can be
combined with the perfect aspect to produce one in such
uses. The Modal Do Do is often counted as a modal;
although it is unlike the modals mentioned so far, it certainly comes in
the modal position when it is the emphatic do or is used in
negative sentences. In such cases, the do is being used to
display the tense, and it cannot occur with the other main auxiliaries or,
in fact, with any other auxiliary.
Just for the Record: Double Modals By most accounts, a Standard
English sentence can have only one modal at a time. Various non-standard
dialects, however, use might could and some other double
modals,
and use of these may be becoming more widespread. It is probably still
safest to avoid them in formal writing.
By extension, these modals are used for all kinds of questions of
possibility and as a polite way of seeking
permission:
(21) I can't take any more.
(22) I couldn't love you more.
This last use is an old and well-attested one, but it annoys those who
would like the language to make more rigorous distinctions in word use.
Those who feel this way would prescribe the use of may or
might for all cases where permission is sought. They can often
be used interchangeably, without regard to tense considerations,
though in general the past forms of modals (could, might)
appear somewhat more deferential:
(23) Can I have this dance?
(24) Could I take you dinner sometime?
When it comes to questions, you might want to use may/might only
in highly formal situations--or when asking an English teacher to dance.
Notice, though, that they can also be used where the issue is simply
possibility:
(25) May I have this dance?
(26) Might I have this dance?
(27) I may have offended her.
(28) I might drop by your place later.
This usage survives, especially in British English, but Standard American
English uses will in all such sentences, reserving shall
for mandative uses, where it is much more forceful than either
will or should--closer to
must:
(29) I shall see you soon.
(30) We shall have a drink or two before we go.
(31) He will lose his teeth that way.
(32) They will want to forget this game.
Would is used in hypothetical futures, including polite requests,
and is sometimes combined with like:
(33) Meetings shall be held on alternate
Fridays.
(34) I wouldn't do that if I were you.
(35) Would you get me a beer while you're up?
(36) Would you like to sit down?.
(37) (a) The committee shall meet every week.
(b) The committee must meet every week.
(c) The committee ought to meet every week.
(d) The committee should meet every week.
(38) (a) I must be crazy.
(b) I must have been crazy.
(39) (a) I have to be crazy
(b) I had to have been crazy.
Exercise 1: Using Modals
Identify any modal auxiliaries or quasi-modal constructions in the following
sentences. How do they affect the meaning of the main
verb?
1.01 I shall return.
1.02 I should have been a pair of ragged claws.
1.03 I have to go to the symphony tonight.
1.04 I must have been mistaken.
1.05 I am going to kill that guy one of these days.
1.06 I have known him for many years.
1.07 I can see clearly now.
1.08 I would like to take you out tonight.
1.09 I may be giving you a ring later.
1.10 I could not love you more than today I do.
(40) I did drive to Milwaukee.
(41) I did not drive to Milwaukee.
(42) *I may do drive to Milwaukee. How Much of This Will be on
the Test?
This section has explained how English deals with
future time and given you a lot of good advice on using the main
modals--can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will,
would and some quasi-modals as well. You should be able to
recognize these and even to list them from memory. It would be nice if
you could recognize a double modal when you see it. If terms used
here from earlier sections fail to stir your memory, consult the Glossary.