REALISATIONS OF MODAL MEANINGS
Modal certainty: will, must, be bound to
We now turn to the actual uses of the core modals, comparing the epistemic uses with the deontic and the dynamic. Lexical modal auxiliaries and semi-modals are included where relevant.
What we call modal certainty is not the hundred per cent certainty of a categorical assertion. If for instance I know for a fact that Pat forgot your birthday, I simply say ‘Pat forgot your birthday’. If instead I say ‘Pat must have forgotten your birthday’, or ‘Pat may have forgotten’ I am admitting an element of doubt. Modal certainty is therefore diminished certainty, chosen because either the speaker’s knowledge does not permit a plain assertion or because the speaker does not want to exteriorize commitment at that particular moment in an interpersonal interaction. In many cases, reasons of politeness or the desire to avoid commitment provide the motivation for modalizing an assertion.
Will and must are the core modals that most strongly express modal certainty.
The concert will be over now.
The concert must be over.
Assumption or prediction: will, shall
Epistemic will expresses a confident assumption by the speaker as observer, based on experience, known facts or what is usually the case. It can be glossed by ‘I assume that . .’:
Her mother will know her age.
That’ll be the postman.
She’ll understand, won’t she?
Will + have + en expresses a prediction made at speech time (present) with reference to an action carried out previously:
The fact is many consumers will have cut back (on fuel) in order to save money in the face of spiraling prices (of energy) (The Guardian) .
Will can also be used to refer to future time, expressing a modal judgement or prediction.:
There will be time for a few questions after the lecture.
Scotland will be dry tomorrow with a fair amount of cloud. (weather forecast).
Any travel agency will arrange it for you.
When the orientation frame is past time, as in a narrative, the remote form would is used:
A: Bill would be about thirty when I first met him. He’ll be about forty-five now.
B: Oh no. He must be at least fifty.
Predictive shall is much less common than will. It is used by some speakers for the 1st person singular and plural and, like will, is usually contracted, though not by all speakers, to ‘ll (I’ll, we’ll:
I must have an early night, otherwise I shall (I’ll) be worn out tomorrow.
