What Does the Adverb Modify? Adverb Usage and Examples

What Does the Adverb Modify? Adverb Usage and Examples

clear

This was another preterite-present verb, of which moste was in fact the preterite (the present form mot gave rise to mote, which was used as a modal verb in Early Modern English; but must has now lost its past connotations and has replaced mote). The verbal expression used to expresses past states or past habitual actions, usually with the implication that they are no longer so. It is followed by the infinitive (that is, the full expression consists of the verb used plus the to-infinitive). Thus the statement I used to go to college means that the speaker formerly habitually went to college, and normally implies that this is no longer the case.

Meaning of clear in English

The modals can and could are from Old English can(n) and cuþ, which were respectively present and preterite forms of the verb cunnan (“to be able”). The silent l in the spelling of could results from analogy with would and should.The verb governed by the modal may be another auxiliary (necessarily one that can appear in infinitive form – this includes be and have, but not another modal, except in the non-standard cases described below under § Double modals). Hence a modal may introduce a chain (technically catena) of verb forms, in which the other auxiliaries express properties such as aspect and voice, as in He must have been given a new job. The negated forms are will not (often contracted to won’t) and would not (often contracted to wouldn’t).Famous examples of these are “May The Force be with you,” and “Let God bless you with good.” These are both sentences that express some uncertainty, hence they are subjunctive sentences. To form questions the subject and the first verb are swapped if the verb requires no do-support such as Shall you be able to write? If the main auxiliary requires do- support the appropriate of to do is added to the beginning as in Did he use to need to fight?

verb (used without object)

In their uses as modals they govern a bare infinitive, and are usually restricted to questions and negative sentences. The verb must comes from Old English moste, part of the verb motan (“to be able to, be obliged to”).In many cases, in order to give modals past reference, they are used together with a “perfect infinitive,” namely the auxiliary have and a past participle, as in I should have asked her; You may have seen me. Sometimes these expressions are limited in meaning; for example, must have can refer only to certainty, whereas past obligation is expressed by an alternative phrase such as had to (see § Replacements for defective forms below). The modal verbs of English are a small class of auxiliary verbs used mostly to express modality (properties such as possibility, obligation, etc.).

clear verb (NOT CONFUSED)

As if normal modals are used the action verb needs to be in the infinitive form. Ought is used with meanings similar to those of should expressing expectation or requirement. The principal grammatical difference is that ought is used with the to-infinitive rather than the bare infinitive, hence we should go is equivalent to we ought to go.They can be distinguished from other verbs by their defectiveness (they do not have participle or infinitive forms) and by their neutralization (that they do not take the ending -(e)s in the third-person singular). In English, for example, phrases such as would dare to, may be able to or should have to are sometimes used in conversation and are grammatically correct. The double modal may sometimes be in the future tense, as in “I will ought to go,” where will is the main verb and ought to is also an auxiliary but an infinitive. Another example is We must be able to work with must being the main auxiliary and be able to as the infinitive. Other examples include You may not dare to run or I would need to have help.

British Dictionary definitions for clear

Press, second edition, 2001, p. 33, and A Linguistic Study of the English Verb, Longmans, 1965. For more examples of discrepancies between different authors’ listings of modal or auxiliary verbs in English, see English auxiliaries. In English, modal verbs as must, have to, have got to, can’t and couldn’t are used to express deduction and contention.

  • Sometimes these expressions are limited in meaning; for example, must have can refer only to certainty, whereas past obligation is expressed by an alternative phrase such as had to (see § Replacements for defective forms below).
  • The modal verbs of English are a small class of auxiliary verbs used mostly to express modality (properties such as possibility, obligation, etc.).
  • In many cases, in order to give modals past reference, they are used together with a “perfect infinitive,” namely the auxiliary have and a past participle, as in I should have asked her; You may have seen me.
clear definition

Note that most of these so-called preterite forms are most often used in the subjunctive mood in the present tense. The auxiliary verbs may and let are also used often in the subjunctive mood.In formal standard English usage, more than one modal verb is not used consecutively, as modals are followed by a base verb, which they themselves lack. They can be combined only with non-modal constructions that have a modal function, such as have to, which in spite of its function is not a modal verb. Thus, might have to is acceptable, but might must is not, even though must and have to can normally be used interchangeably. However the main auxiliary (which is usually the first modal verb in the sentence), doesn’t have to be in the infinitive. To put double modals in past tense, only the first modal is changed as in I could ought to.

clear definition

The grammatically negated form is ought not or oughtn’t, equivalent in meaning to shouldn’t (but again used with to). The actual negation is don’t ought to which has a similar meaning to am/is/are not supposed to.

clear verb (HAVE LEFT)

What does clear mean?

clear. Clear means clean and uncluttered, without distractions or confusion. If your explanation of relativity is clear, it’s easy to understand. If the sky’s clear, there isn’t a cloud to be seen. As a verb, clear implies getting rid of obstacles.The verbs dare and need can be used both as modals and as ordinary conjugated (non-modal) verbs. As non-modal verbs they can take a to-infinitive as their complement (I dared to answer her; He needs to clean that), although dare may also take a bare infinitive (He didn’t dare go).Because of this difference of syntax, ought is sometimes excluded from the class of modal verbs, or is classed as a semi-modal. An alternative to must is the expression have to or has to depending on the pronoun (in the present tense sometimes have got to), which is often more idiomatic in informal English when referring to obligation. This also provides other forms in which must is defective (see § Replacements for defective forms above) and enables simple negation (see below). The verb dare also originates from a preterite-present verb, durran (“to dare”), specifically its present tense dear(r), although in its non-modal uses in Modern English it is conjugated regularly. However, need comes from the regular Old English verb neodian (meaning “to be necessary”) – the alternative third person form need (in place of needs), which has become the norm in modal uses, became common in the 16th century.

Derived forms of clear

In the modal meanings of will the negation is effectively applied to the main verb phrase and not to the modality (e.g. when expressing an order, you will not do it expresses an order not to do it, rather than just the absence of an order to do it). For contracted forms of will and would themselves, see § Contractions and reduced pronunciation above. For more general information about English verb inflection and auxiliary usage, see English verbs and English clause syntax. For details of the uses of the particular modals, see § Usage of specific verbs below. Note that the preterite forms are not necessarily used to refer to past time, and in some cases they are near synonyms to the present forms.

What does it mean to clear someone?

clear (something) with (someone) To get someone’s approval or permission to do something.

clear definition

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