Généralités auxiliaires modaux
La grammaire anglaise niveau B2 (indépendant)

Revoir la fiche B1.
RAPPELS
A. A quoi servent-ils ?
B. Caractéristiques :
modaux | 1. degrés de certitude du locuteur (probabilité) | 2. agir sur le sujet de l'énoncé | 3. dire et commenter les caractéristiques du sujet |
can | Logiquement possible : 1. Strong winds can uproot big trees. | Autorisation : 2. Can I invite Jeffrey? | Physiquement ou intellectuellement possible : le sujet peut ou sait faire : 3. She can read and play chess too. |
can't | Totalement impossible : 4. It can't be true! I saw him only yesterday! | Interdiction / refus de permission : 5. No, I'm sorry, you can't. I don't like this boy. | Incapacité intellectuelle ou physique du sujet : 6. I can't jump that high! |
may | Possible, une chance sur deux : 7. She may be out at this time. | Autorisation, permission, concession, conseil : 8. May I have some more? 9. You may be my brother, but … 10. You may also try to work harder. | |
may not | Possible, une chance sur deux que cela ne se fasse pas : 11. She may not agree. | Refus de permission : 12. No, you may not watch that film. | |
must | Quasi certitude : 13. They must be away on vacation. | Contrainte, devoir, obligation : 14. Whether you like it or not, you must pay your taxes! | |
mustn't | Quasi certitude négative (rare): 15. She mustn't be the right person for me. | Interdiction : 16. You mustn't jump red lights! | |
shall | Confiance intime que…, événement inévitable : 17. We shall overcome! | Proposition, promesse, contrainte, commandement : 18. Shall we go out tonight? 19. You shall honor your parents. 20. You like this car? OK, I shall buy it. | |
shan't | Confiance intime que les événements ne se produiront pas (rare) : 21. Don't worry, we shan't disappoint you. | Contrainte, commandement, interdiction : 22. You shall not kill. | |
will | Certitude absolue, prédiction : 23. Someone stole my purse! That will be John. 24. You will meet and marry a rich man. | Habitudes, intention, volonté : 25. He will want to come with us. 26. Grumps will fall asleep after lunch. | |
won't | Certitude absolue négative, prédiction : 27. Believe me, she won't marry him. | Refus, volonté négative : 28. She won't come with us. | |
needn't | Absence d'obligation : 29. You needn't cut he grass, the gardener is coming tomorrow. | ||
dare | (oser) n'entre pas dans les catégories ci-dessus. peut se conjuguer comme un verbe lexical ou comme un auxiliaire. 30. How dare you? 31. I hardly dare to hope she will say yes. 32. I would like to tell her I love her, but I daren't. |
modaux | 1. degrés de certitude du locuteur (probabilité) | 2. agir sur le sujet de l'énoncé | 3. dire et commenter les caractéristiques du sujet |
could | Logiquement et physiquement possible : 1. He could succeed easily. | Suggérer, conseiller, permettre : 2. You could invite her from time to time. 3. My father said I could use his car. | Capacité physique ou intellectuelle du sujet : 4. After 1989, I finally could live like a free man. |
couldn't | Certitude sur l'impossibilité totale : 5. But that could not be! | Interdire : 6. The teacher reminded us we couldn't eat during class. | Incapacité physique ou intellectuelle du sujet : 7. He couldn't lift more than 200 pounds and lost his medal. |
might / might not | Domaine du possible mais pas certain : 8. They might not appreciate your offer. | Suggérer, conseiller, (très discrètement) : 9. You might try being nice to her. | |
should / shouldn't | Hasard, ce qui risque d'arriver : 10. If you should meet Fred,… 11. That shouldn't be too difficult! | Suggérer, conseiller, reprocher : 12. Children should always listen to what their parents have to say. 13. You shouldn't talk to her like that. | |
would / wouldn't | Certitude ou prédiction concernant un moment passé : 14. I told you he would win! 15. I told you he wouldn't fail. | Habitudes, volonté, refus du sujet dans un contexte passé : 16. Grumps would fall asleep during the sermon. 17. Gladys wouldn't answer my questions. | |
dared (durst) | mêmes remarques que pour la forme du présent. 18. I hardly dared to hope! 19. I didn't dare to tell her. La forme durst est archaïque et n'est plus utilisée de nos jours. |
Ce qui est dit des formes présentes des modaux est valable pour leurs formes passées.
* He shall do it whether he likes it or not. (à je vais personnellement veiller à ce que cela soit).