Les Modaux

Les modaux expriment toujours un jugement subjectif.

Il peut s'agir d'un jugement de probabilité, ou d'un jugement concernant le sujet de l'action.

Present	can	may	must	will	shall
Preterit	could	might	X	would	should

 

Structure pour exprimer un jugement sur le PRESENT

Forme affirmative	Sujet + modal + Base Verbale Sujet+modal+be+-ing	He can forget He can be sleeping
Forme interrogative	Modal + sujet + Base Verbale Modal + sujet + be +-ing	Can he forget? Can he be sleeping?
Forme négative	Sujet + modal +négation + BV Sujet + modal +négation + be +-ing	He can't forget He can't be sleeping

 

Structure pour exprimer un jugement sur le PASSE

Forme affirmative	Sujet + modal + have + participe passé Sujet + modal + have been +-ing	He can have forgotten He can have been sleeping
Forme interrogative	Modal + sujet+ have + p p Modal + sujet+ have been +-ing	Can he have forgotten? Can he have been sleeping?
Forme négative	Sujet + modal +négation + have + p p Sujet + modal +négation + have been +-ing	He can't have forgotten He can't have been sleeping

Will / shall + have + participe passé : sert à prédire une action antérieure à un repère temporel, présent ou futur

ex : he will have finished by now

Modal	Sens 1 (jugement de probabilité)	Sens 2 (pression de l'énonciateur sur autrui)	Sens 2 bis
WILL	prédiction / certitude It will rain tomorrow He will be home by now.	caractéristique naturelle du sujet Accidents will happen	volonté, demande de service Will you come along? Open the door, will you?
MUST	quasi certitude He must be asleep by now	obligation, contrainte You must work harder
CAN	possibilité You can try that	capacité He can speak Spanish	demande de service, permission Can you help me? Can I go now?
COULD	éventualité You could be wrong	capacité au passé He said he could skate	demande de service, permission Could you help me? Could I have some more tea?
MAY	possibilité You may be right	permission, demande de permission You may go now May I go now?	.
MIGHT	· faible probabilité He might lose (but I don't think so) · probabilité passée She said she might be late	.	.
WOULD	possibilité sous condition It would be nice if they came	possibilité passée sous condition It would have been nice if they had come	demande de service Would you tell me the time?
MUSTN'T	probabilité négative He mustn't be home	interdiction You mustn't park here
MAY NOT	probabilité négative It may not rain today	interdiction You may not smoke here
CAN'T	impossibilité logique It can't be true	incapacité He can't skate	interdiction You can't go out now
WON'T	impossibilité totale they won't make it	refus She won't take no for an answer
SHOULD	prédiction logique, mais pas certaine They should be home by now	conseil You should give up smoking	reproche You shouldn't have said that!
SHALL	prédiction inévitable We shall overcome	contrainte du sujet / loi You shall not kill	suggestion Shall I open the window?

Cas Particulier de NEED et DARE

Si tout cela semble encore confus, vous pouvez prendre les choses à l'envers!!!