6. Verbs II: Modality, Mood, & Voice

The purpose of this module is to introduce the basics of verb modality, mood, and voice. Each section is linked to an interactive activity, and the module concludes with comprehensive activities as well as key points and key concepts for review purposes. Activities for this unit are in 6GA. Verbs II: Mood, Modality, & Voice Grammar Activities.

6.1 Modality

A speaker or writer uses modality in language to express their relationship or attitude towards the quality or truth of a proposition, for example, whether something is possible, probable, or necessary. This can be done through use of modal auxiliaries or by changing the mood of the sentence–between indicative, imperative, conditional, or subjunctive.

6.1.1 Modal auxiliaries

The most common way to show modality is to use modal auxiliaries. They add modality to the lexical verb, expressing futurity, possibility, probability, necessity, permission, obligation, ability, volition, or desire. Compare:

• I like it. → I might like it. 
• She speaks French. → She can speak French.
• Do I go home now? → May I go home now?
• She is going out. → She is allowed to go out.
• They drive. → They have to drive.

6.1.2 True modals

The true modal auxiliaries in English are will, would, shall, should, can, could, may, might, and must. Unlike other verbs, they are not inflected for third person singular present (-s). This means that a good test to check if a word is a modal is to confirm that it doesn’t get an s after she, he, or it.

• She can speak.
• She cans speak. (so ‘can‘ is a modal)
• He speaks.  (so ‘speak‘ is not a modal)

Some modals act as preterite (past) forms for other modals:

• He will go. → He said he would go.
• You cannot leave! → He said you could not leave.

As auxiliaries, modals are finite and can show tense, leaving other verbs in a non-finite form.

• She could speak.
• She can spoke.
• We might have gone.
• We will be speaking.

⇒ Go to Activity 6.1.2

6.1.3 Semi-modals

The semi-modals are multi-word verb phrases that add modality to a statement or question, but they act like lexical verbs, not like auxiliaries. Except for a few exceptions, they are followed by the infinitive ‘to‘ form of the verb.

• Are you able to take a call right now?
• We used to eat out every weekend.

They allow for more than one modality to be expressed:

• He will be able to go. not He will can go. (will is a true modal, be able to is a semi-modal)
• You might have to leave earlier. not You might must leave earlier. (might is a true modal, have to is a semi-modal)

Most semi-modals, unlike regular modals, use verbs like HAVE and BE, which must agree in number and tense with the subject just like their non-modal finite forms. Some semi-modals like ‘ought to‘ do not, however.

• She has to be here. not She have to be here.
• We should clean it up → We ought to clean it up. (ought to is a semi-modal, but it does not agree in person and number)

There are about a dozen semi-modals for various functions, for example,

to express obligation:

• (have) got to, e.g. I gotta go!
• be supposed to, e.g. The door’s supposed to be unlocked.
• have to, e.g. Do you really have to do this right now?
• be to, e.g. You are to ask permission first, young man!
• ought to, e.g. You ought to know by now.
• need to, e.g. We need to get moving!

to situate an action in time:

• be going to – future plan, e.g. I’m going to leave.
• be about to – immediate future, e.g. I’m about to leave.
• be used to – past habitual, e.g. I used to leave at 5 pm.

to express ability:

• be able to, e.g. I wasn’t able to finish my paper this evening.

Dare and need are unusual semi-modals because they can be used like true modals and like semi-modals, although they may sound archaic when used like true modals:

• We daren’t enter the temple without a disguise. (like a true modal)
• They dared to jump across the lava river. (like a semi-modal)
• You need no longer come on Thursdays. (like a true modal)
• You don’t need to come anymore. (like a semi-modal)

⇒ Go to Activity 6.1.3

6.2 Mood

Mood is technically a form of modality, that is, a way that speakers or writers express their stance towards a proposition they make or a question they ask, for example, whether they understand something to be probable, possible, or required. Normally to express modality we use the modal auxiliary system as described above in the indicative mood, which is the default mood that we use in everyday language use.

6.2.1 Indicative MoodIndicative mood

Indicative mood is used to make everyday statements, and it is the regular conjugations of all the tenses and aspects covered in chapter 5, including the use of most modal auxiliaries as described in section 6.1, for example:

• I am happy
• What time did you come home?
• The man has left.
• She can speak Spanish.

6.2.2 Imperative Mood

The imperative mood is used to make commands and suggestions and to give directives telling others what to do. In English the imperative mood is the bare infinitive, that is, the plain form of the verb without ‘to’.

The first-person imperative is used to make suggestions to a group of people including (presumably) the speaker. It uses the word ‘Let’s‘ or ‘Let us‘ before the bare infinitive. The negative form puts a ‘not‘ between ‘let’s‘ and the verb, and the interrogative form uses the words ‘Shall we‘.

• Let’s eat!
• Let’s not go down that road
• Shall we eat?

The second-person imperative is used to command one or more people. It is simply the bare infinitive, and the negative is ‘Don’t‘ in front of the verb. Often an imperative is followed with an exclamation point, and the ‘you‘ is not said, unless the speaker wants to focus the command. If someone uses a second-person imperative without an obvious audience, nearby listeners will wonder who they are speaking to.

• Speak quietly!
• “Just do it”, the advertisement implored. 
• Don’t be an idiot.
• Have a drink!
• You be quiet already!

⇒ Go to Activity 6.2.2

6.2.3 Conditional Mood

The conditional mood is how we express hypotheticals or future possibilities that are dependent on another action. The conditional makes use of modal auxiliaries that express possibility and futurity, especially the modal would. It allows speakers or writers to show how likely they think something hypothetical by using certain tense/aspects in a conditional or if-clause and in a result (independent) clause. Sometimes the condition is implied or understood and so is not necessarily in the same sentence as the result, but the if-clause cannot stand alone.

• I would love that.
• She could have left yesterday.
• If you had wanted it. 

If both the if-clause and the result clause are expressed, the if-clause can come either first (followed by a comma) or second (no comma necessary).

• I would love it if you came along.
• If you came along, I would love it.

The if-clause be in the simple present to express future conditions:

• If we go to Paris, we‘ll visit the Louvre.
• You have to share if you win the powerball. 

The if-clause can be in the preterite form to express hypothetical conditions with uncertain results. Although it’s the past form, it’s not in the past.

• We could buy a bigger house if we won the lottery.
• If I saw Taylor Swift, I‘d lose my mind. 
• If I was king for just one day, I would give it all away.

The if-clause can be in the past perfect form to express past hypothetical possibilities that the speaker thinks or knows are impossible because they’ve passed.

• If I had seen him, I would have said hello. 
• We would have been peasants if we had been living in the Middle Ages.

A results clause can be in any future tense, expressing a future hypothetical possibility

• If I win the lottery, I‘m leaving town forever.
• I will bring you a souvenir if I go to Disneyland.

A results clause can also be in the present conditional or present perfect conditional with ‘would’, ‘should’, or ‘could’:

• If only she said she loved me, I would be happy forever.
• I wouldn’t even tell you if I knew the answer. 
• If you press this button the whole thing could explode.
• If I had been in town, I would have stopped by.
• They should have finished the test by now if they had started on time. 

The if-clause can also drop the ‘if’ and flip the auxiliary and the subject.

• Had I seen him, I would have said hello.
• Should you visit San Francisco, be sure to see the Golden Gate Bridge. 

⇒ Go to Activity 6.2.3

6.2.4 Subjunctive Mood

The subjunctive mood in English is used for hypotheticals but is increasingly rare because it is easily replaced by the conditional. It can still be found in older writing and in erudite and formal uses. Traditionally it was used to make imperatives, mandates, and hypotheticals about ideas that were tenseless or timeless.

Long live the King! (i.e., ‘May the King live long’)

There be giants here (i.e., ‘There might be giants here‘, found on medieval maps)

The mandative subjunctive is the use of the bare form in subordinate clauses following main clauses  declaring a mandate, like ‘it is necessary that’, ‘require that’, or ‘declare that’:

• It is necessary that she be here at 8 a.m.
• It’s vital that he pass the class.
• I demand he be captured immediately!

Increasingly, however, people say:

• It is necessary that she is here at 8 a.m.
• It’s vital that he passes the class. 

The past subjunctive is used to talk about unlikely hypotheticals. It uses the preterite form like the simple past, except with the verb ‘be‘, which is ‘were‘ for all persons. ‘Were‘ can also be used like ‘had’ in the past conditional and can start the conditional clause.

• If I were king, I would declare my birthday a holiday.
• Were he king, he would declare his birthday a holiday.

Increasingly, however, people just use the past conditional:

• If I was king, I would declare my birthday a holiday.

⇒ Go to Activity 6.2.4

6.3 Voice

All sentences in English that use transitive verbs are either in the active voice or the passive voice. Active voice is usual, but the passive voice is not uncommon, and it is not incorrect to use the passive if it is called for.

A sentence must always include a subject and verb (predicate). In the active voice, the subject is normally the agent that performs the action.

• The doctor prescribed antibiotics.
• The dog is chasing the cat.
• The airplane has dropped the bomb.

With a transitive verb, the passive voice turns the object into the subject by using a form of BE + past participle and stating the agent in a by-phrase. Every active voice sentence that uses a transitive verb has a passive equivalent.

• The antibiotics were prescribed by the doctor.
• The cat is being chased by the dog.
• The bomb has been dropped by the airplane.

In passive sentences the by-phrase is optional and may be omitted. Sometimes the agent is unknown, and sometimes the agent is intentionally omitted.

• The cat is acting like she’s being chased, but there’s nothing there.
• The fence was broken. (by what we may not know)
• The terrorists have been neutralized. (by whom is not specified)

Passive only works with transitive verbs, because there must be an object to become the new subject. Intransitive and linking verbs cannot be passivized.

• The cake looked delicious. The cake was looked delicious.
• We walked down the street. The street was walked down by us. 

⇒ Go to Activity 6.3.0

6.3.1. Passive forms

Passive voice uses a form of BE + Past Participle. Compare this to the progressive and perfect aspects.

passive voice: BE + Past Participle (French is spoken by her; French was spoken by her)

progressive aspect: BE + Present Participle (She is speaking French; She was speaking French)

perfect aspect: HAVE + Past Participle (She has spoken French; She had spoken French)

Passive works with any transitive verb in any tense and aspect by conjugating the BE auxiliary into the desired form and adding the past participle.

• simple present: He speaks the truth → The truth is spoken 
• simple present w/modal: He can speak the truth → The truth can be spoken
• simple past: He spoke the truth → The truth was spoken
• present perfect: He has spoken the truth → The truth has been spoken
• past perfect: He had spoken the truth → The truth had been spoken
• present progressive: He is speaking the truth → The truth is being spoken
• past progressive He was speaking the truth → The truth was being spoken
• present perfect progressive: He has been speaking the truth → The truth has been being spoken.

6.3.1.1 Past participles as adjectives

When past participles are used as participle adjectives they can imply a passivized subject and an unmentioned agent, e.g.

• a broken promise (i.e., someone broke the promise)
• a finished project (i.e., someone finished the project)

But past participles are also used as general adjectives without necessarily implying an active agent

• a lit party
• a stuffed up nose

6.3.1.1 Ditransitive passive

The ditransitive passive can be used when there is both a direct and indirect object. One active form has two possible passive equivalents.

• My mom gave me a present. → A present was given (to) me by my mom.
• My mom gave me a present. → I was given a present by my mom.

6.3.1.2 Prepositional passive

A prepositional passive can be used where the prepositional complement becomes the new subject.

• Someone took advantage of you. → You were taken advantage of.
• The manager dealt with the issue. → The issue was dealt with (by the manager). 

6.3.1.3 Get-passive

A get passive, with ‘get’ in place of ‘be’ is usually informal with intent to express beneficial or adverse emotion. Compare ‘We were caught’ with ‘We got caught’.

• My entry got chosen.
• We got drenched. 

6.3.1.4 Passive Causative

The passive causative uses ‘get’ or ‘had’ followed by the object, the past participle, and with some verbs an optional ‘be’.

• We had the car detailed.
• I got my nails painted for Halloween.
• They ordered the records (be) destroyed. 

Replacing the ‘get’ in a get-passive with a form of ‘be’ is possible, but not in a passive causative.

• She got mixed up by the directions. (“She was mixed up by the directions” is okay, so it’s a get-passive) 
• She got her lines mixed up. (“She was her lines mixed up.” is nonsensical, so it’s not causative)

⇒ Go to Activity 6.3.1

6.4 Modality, mood, and voice in sentences

under construction

6.5 Modality, mood, and voice in language power techniques

6.5.1 Modality

Verb modality shows a speaker or writer’s relationship or attitude towards the quality or truth of a proposition or statement, and modality can be manipulated to appear stronger or weaker than it is. A speaker or writer uses modality to express their stance towards whether, and the degree to which, something is likely, possible, needed, allowed, or desired. The most common language to show modality are modal auxiliaries like can, might, must, etc., but modality can also be shown with intensifier adverbs like ‘definitely‘, downplayers or hedges like ‘kind of ‘, adverbs like ‘probably‘, or nouns like ‘necessity‘ or ‘requirement‘. The modality system in English is used to express politeness, that is, respect or rapport with the addressee or audience. For example, to show respect to someone the speaker may de-commit to a potentially face threatening proposition by using more words, by using hedges, or by using interrogatives rather than commands. Compare:

Give me ten dollars.

Could you loan me ten bucks?

Would you possibly be able to loan me ten dollars?

I’m kind of hoping you could spot me ten bucks.

I’m thinking if you loaned me ten dollars it would be to your benefit.

This shows how speakers can exercise power or even be what is sometimes called ‘passive aggressive’ by using modality and politeness markers in strategic ways. If a speaker shows less commitment or attachment to a suggestion, the listener feels they are given more space to decline–for this reason, ‘could you‘ or ‘would you‘ is considered more polite than ‘can you‘ or ‘will you‘. As another example, in English someone giving advice might say ‘you might want to‘ to give direction and make suggestions because ‘you want to‘ is rather direct, and ‘might‘ gives the directee the option to decline. In day to day conversations, power and politeness (face) is negotiated constantly.

6.5.2 Mood

The imperative mood — commands — are often used in advertising to suggest or even directly tell the audience what to do. Because ‘you’ can often be read as either generic or specific, a command might be interpreted as either; in other words, the reader or listener thinks, “they could be talking to me”.

As mentioned above, the conditional mood is used often in polite language, because implying a hypothetical is considered indirect and less of an intrusion than a direct command. For example, to be respectfully polite in English we say ‘Would you like a drink?‘ as opposed to ‘Do you want a drink?‘ or even ‘Have a drink!‘ (which is more of a friendly appeal towards rapport ), because the hypothetical nature of the conditional distances the addressee and allows them to refuse politely. Conditional and hypotheticals are common when making requests, invitations, suggestions, and polite directives because they allow for indirectness, for example, ‘could you please pass me the salt?‘, or ‘would you be so kind as to get the door for me?‘. Since these requests are presented as hypothetical choices, they maintain the addressee’s negative face, or sense of independence and agency.

6.5.3 Voice

Passive voice is useful when the speaker/writer wants the subject to be the recipient of the action. It is used frequently in academic and scientific writing because it provides a sense of objectivity and distance, and it allows the writer to avoid the first person. For example, in “A new strain of COVID was discovered in Brazil last week”, it isn’t as important who made the discovery as it is important that a new strain of the deadly disease now exists. By de-emphasizing the actor, passive voice in scientific and technical writing gives importance to the observation, theory,  or discovery rather than the observer, theoretician, or discoverer.

Omission of the ‘by’ phrase can be strategic, for when the writer or speaker wants to present certain information first, or the agent is unknown or irrelevant (in the view of the writer/speaker). It may also that the speaker is trying to avoid assigning responsibility or agency to the actual actor, who they may know. This can be considered a strategy of deflection.

If someone makes a statement and you wonder ‘by whom?’ or ‘by what?’, it may be that they are using passive to avoid mentioning who or what did the action. They may be counting on you not to notice or to accept that you do not need to know. Consider the following:

• Protestors were apprehended at the scene. (Who apprehended them?)
• Shots were fired in response to the incident. (Who fired the shots?)
• Mistakes were made, but rest assured, corrective measures are being implemented. ( Who made the mistakes, and who is implementing the measures?)
• It has been decided that further investigations will be conducted to address the issue. (Who decided? Who will conduct the investigations?)

Module author: Jonathon Reinhardt

Last updated: 12 April 2024

This module is part of Modern English Grammar and the Power of Language, an open educational resource offered by the Clarify Initiative, a privately funded project with the goal of raising critical language awareness and media literacy among students of language and throughout society.