a verb such as ‘must’, ‘may, ‘could, or ‘would’, that is used with another verb to express ideas such as obligation, permission, possibility, and intention. For example in the sentences ‘I can imagine what he would say to that’ and ‘Appointments should be made a week in advance’, ‘can’, ‘would’, and ‘should’ are modal verbs.
Synonyms and related words
Verb forms and tenses
aspect
auxiliary verb
conjugation
modal verb
noun countable linguistics
US
Word Forms
singular
modal verb
plural
modal verbs
DEFINITIONS1
1
a verb such as “must”, “may”, “could”, or “would”, that is used with another verb to express ideas such as obligation, permission, possibility, and intention. For example in the sentences “I can imagine what he would say to that” and “Appointments should be made a week in advance”, “can”, “would”, and “should” are modal verbs.