Adverbial Modifiers
Speech Information Mood Modality Tense Grammatical Core Grammar
Act Structure Aspect Event Matrices
Lexicon
Modality:
Modality concerns meaning; it refers to expressions asserting or denying possibility, impossibility,
contingency, or necessity. Expressions of modality are not limited to those that contain modal
auxiliaries.
Modality refers to a set of grammatical forms –in English and Spanish, they are verbs, more
specifically, auxiliary verbs- devoted to the expression of different kinds of a speaker´s judgement
or assessment on the sentence (technically, the proposition) he is asserting. This judgement might
be of an epistemological kind (which involves the notion of different degrees of certainty about the
proposition asserted) or about a deontic kind (which involves the notion of permission and
obligation). Modal verbs are also used to express ability (internal possibility) or internal necessity.
The central semantic notions are Possibility and Necessity. They are predication over event
descriptions.
Expressions of modality have different values : root and epistemic. ROOT MODALITY concerns
deontic root : obligation, permission, and dynamic root : the physical or moral possibility of doing
something, and will. EPISTEMIC MODALITY poses the question of whether a statement is true or
false, its degree of probability. Often these two values overlap in the same expression.
Internal modality:
POS: I can’t drive. (I’m not able to).
NEC: I need to sleep now. (if not, I’ll have an accident).
necesito/necesitaría/
External
POS: To get to the station, you may take bus 155. (There are other options, but this is one is fine)
NEC: To get to the station, you need to take bus 155 (there is no other option)
Deontic:
POS (permission) You may leave now.
NEC (obligation): You must/should leave now.
Epistemic
POS John may be in the kitchen now.
puede/podría
NEC: John must be in the kitchen (different from "John is in the kitchen now")
tiene que / tendría que estar.
Examples
En los pueblos vivían muchos miles de indios- algunos con
entrenamiento militar-, que (a) podían constituir una fuerza
bastante importante. (p 39)
Many thousand of Guaranís lived in Jesuit towns and some of them had military training. In other
words, they (b) might constitute a significant military threat. (p33)
“En segundo lugar –no se decía pero estaba implícito en las
palabras de Mitre- Buenos Aires no tenía ningún interés en
nacionalizar sus bienes, como la aduana o su ciudad, a la que se
(a) podía declarar capital de la Federación”. (p 98)
“Secondly, reading between the lines, Mitre claimed that Buenos Aires had no interest whatsoever
in nationalising its assets, such as its Customs or the city itself, which (b) might be made
capital of the Federation.” (p 88)
Además, se (a) pudieron introducir mercaderías no solo en la Antigua Gobernación del Tucumán,
que para entonces pertenecía al Virreinato del Río de la Plata, sino también en el Alto Perú. (p 45)
Merchandise (b) could be brought into both old Tucumán and Alto Perú. (p 39)
El establecimiento de los jesuitas en este territorio (a) no podía durar demasiado tiempo, entre otras
razones, porque su prosperidad tentaba la codicia de algunos funcionarios españoles que suponían
que las reducciones conformaban un patrimonio que (b) debía estar en manos de la Corona. (p 39-
40)
The Jesuits (c) could not last very long in this territory for one reason: because their prosperity
invited the greed of some of the Spanish officials who presumed that the settlements of the
converted Guaranís (d) should be Crown heritage. (p 34)
“Entre las novedades relacionadas con la Revolución de
Mayo está la noción de igualdad; es decir, que (a) no debe
haber privilegios, que cada ciudadano es igual a otro, que
todos tienen el mismo derecho, etcétera”. (p 69)
One of the new ideas of the Revolución brought with it was the notion of equity, that (b) there
should be no privileges, that all citizens were equal.” (p62)
“A partir de la Revolución comenzó a gestarse algo que (a) podríamos llamar `opinión pública´,
generalizada a través de corrillos, fracciones y tertulias y expresada en los diarios mediante
artículos editoriales, críticos o con desarrollo tipo conceptual, como los de Mariano Moreno”. (p 69)
“During the Revolución the seeds of something one (b) might call `public opinion´ were sown and
spread in the newspapers in editorials and critical articles such as those written by Mariano
Moreno.” (p 62)
“ […]cuando vendió algunos ferrocarriles de propiedad nacional, Roca, evidente artífice del Orden
Conservador, se quejó amargamente a algún amigo y dijo que si fuera cierto que los gobiernos son
malos administradores, (a)tendríamos que poner bandera de remate a los cuarteles […]”. (p 137)
“Roca, the architect of the Conservative Order, complained bitterly to a friend of his. If it was true
that governments are bad administrators, he said, we (b) would have to auction off the barrack
houses […]” (p 122)
“[…] pero los últimos epígonos del Régimen, hombres como Marcelino
Ugarte y otros menores que no vale la pena nombrar porque han sido casi
olvidados, estaban aterrorizados acerca de lo que (a) podía pasar con estos
anarquistas y socialistas alborotadores”. (p 138)
“[…] but the last avatars of the Regime. Men such as Marcellino Ugarte and others, were terror-
stricken about what these rubble-rousing anarchists and socialists (b) might do.” (p 123)
“El segundo principio que López y Ramírez querían que Buenos Aires reconociese era el federal.
La nación no sería una monarquía, sino una república donde algunas facultades se delegaran en un
poder central, pero donde cada una de las provincias (a) pudiera gobernarse a sí misma”. (p 81)
“The second principle that López and Ramírez wanted Buenos Aires to recognize was federalism.
The nation was not to be a monarchy, but a federal republic; in other words, a republic in which
some authority would be delegated to a central power but each of the provinces (b)would be itself
ruled.” (
De otros modos, las provincias respondían a un sentimiento localista respetable y en ese momento
(a) no se podía hacer otra cosa que darles algún tipo de satisfacción”. (p 82)
“However, the claims of the provinces were born out of an understandable localist feeling and (b)
had somehow to be satisfied.” (p73)
“Las provincias reclamaban una constitución, mientras en Buenos Aires remoloneaban, porque
sabían que una constitución implicaría nuevamente un gobierno central al que Buenos Aires (a) iba
a tener que subordinarse”. (p 83)
“The provinces were demanding a constitution and Buenos Aires turned a deaf ear to their claims. It
was well aware that any such constitution would once again involve a central government it (SIC)
(b) would have to bow to.” (p 74)
MODALITY and tense
It is not highly unusual to use the preterit in Spanish to produce new verb meanings:
Conocía/ conoció
Sabía/ supo
Since English doesn´t have this contrast, it is typically the case the it resorts to different words to
capture those different meanings.
Now, with modal verbs the same situation applies.
Pedro pudo comprar el auto en cuotas.
Pedro podía comprar el auto en cuotas.
Él pudo haber comprado el auto en cuotas.
El podía/podría haber comprado el auto en cuotas.
xxxxxxx
debió
debía
is the opposite to podía/pudo.
the difference between podría and podía in terms of external modality is about certainty and/or
politeness.
in the example of the jesuits, I get external necessity (since possibility is being negated), but it is
also possible and perhaps simultaneously to have an internal modality.
does it matter? I mean, is there any change?
Modality:
Modality refers to a set of grammatical forms –in English and Spanish, they are verbs- devoted to
the expression of some sort of a speaker´s judgement or assessment on the sentence (technically, the
proposition) he is asserting. This judgement might be of an epistemological kind (which involves
the notion of different degrees of certainty about the proposition asserted) or about a deontic kind
(which involves the notion of permission and obligation). Modal verbs are also used to express
ability (internal possibility) or internal necessity.
Therefore, the central semantic notions are Possibility and Necessity. They are predication over
event descriptions.
Internal modality:
POS: I can’t drive. (I’m not able to)
NEC: I need to sleep now. (if not, I’ll fall).
External
POS: To get to the station, you may take bus 155. (there are other option, but this is one is fine)
NEC: To get to the station, you need to take bus 155 (there is no other option)
Deontic:
POS (permission) You may leave now.
NEC (obligation): You must/should leave now.
Epistemic
POS John may be in the kitchen now.
NEC: John must be in the kitchen
Examples
En los pueblos vivían muchos miles de indios- algunos con entrenamiento militar-, que (a) podían
constituir una fuerza bastante importante. (p 39)
Many thousand of Guaranís lived in Jesuit towns and some of them had military training. In other
words, they (b) might constitute a significant military threat. (p33)
“En segundo lugar –no se decía pero estaba implícito en las palabras de Mitre- Buenos Aires no
tenía ningún interés en nacionalizar sus bienes, como la aduana o su ciudad, a la que se (a) podía
declarar capital de la Federación”. (p 98)
“Secondly, reading between the lines, Mitre claimed that Buenos Aires had no interest whatsoever
in nationalising its assets, such as its Customs or the city itself, which (b) might be made capital of
the Federation.” (p 88)
Además, se (a) pudieron introducir mercaderías no solo en la Antigua Gobernación del Tucumán,
que para entonces pertenecía al Virreinato del Río de la Plata, sino también en el Alto Perú. (p 45)
Merchandise (b) could be brought into both old Tucumán and Alto Perú. (p 39)
El establecimiento de los jesuitas en este territorio (a) no podía durar demasiado tiempo, entre otras
razones, porque su prosperidad tentaba la codicia de algunos funcionarios españoles que suponían
que las reducciones conformaban un patrimonio que (b) debía estar en manos de la Corona. (p 39-
40)
The Jesuits (c) could not last very long in this territory for one reason: because their prosperity
invited the greed of some of the Spanish officials who presumed that the settlements of the
converted Guaranís (d) should be Crown heritage. (p 34)
“Entre las novedades relacionadas con la Revolución de Mayo está la noción de igualdad; es decir,
que (a) no debe haber privilegios, que cada ciudadano es igual a otro, que todos tienen el mismo
derecho, etcétera”. (p 69)
One of the new ideas of the Revolución brought with it was the notion of equity, that (b) there
should be no privileges, that all citizens were equal.” (p62)
“A partir de la Revolución comenzó a gestarse algo que (a) podríamos llamar `opinión pública´,
generalizada a través de corrillos, fracciones y tertulias y expresada en los diarios mediante
artículos editoriales, críticos o con desarrollo tipo conceptual, como los de Mariano Moreno”. (p 69)
“During the Revolución the seeds of something one (b) might call `public opinion´ were sown and
spread in the newspapers in editorials and critical articles such as those written by Mariano
Moreno.” (p 62)
“ […]cuando vendió algunos ferrocarriles de propiedad nacional, Roca, evidente artífice del Orden
Conservador, se quejó amargamente a algún amigo y dijo que si fuera cierto que los gobiernos son
malos administradores, (a)tendríamos que poner bandera de remate a los cuarteles […]”. (p 137)
“Roca, the architect of the Conservative Order, complained bitterly to a friend of his. If it was true
that governments are bad administrators, he said, we (b) would have to auction off the barrack
houses […]” (p 122)
“[…] pero los últimos epígonos del Régimen, hombres como Marcelino Ugarte y otros menores que
no vale la pena nombrar porque han sido casi olvidados, estaban aterrorizados acerca de lo que (a)
podía pasar con estos anarquistas y socialistas alborotadores”. (p 138)
“[…] but the last avatars of the Regime. Men such as Marcellino Ugarte and others, were terror-
stricken about what these rubble-rousing anarchists and socialists (b) might do.” (p 123)
“El segundo principio que López y Ramírez querían que Buenos Aires reconociese era el federal.
La nación no sería una monarquía, sino una república donde algunas facultades se delegaran en un
poder central, pero donde cada una de las provincias (a) pudiera gobernarse a sí misma”. (p 81)
“The second principle that López and Ramírez wanted Buenos Aires to recognize was federalism.
The nation was not to be a monarchy, but a federal republic; in other words, a republic in which
some authority would be delegated to a central power but each of the provinces (b)would be itself
ruled.” (
De otros modos, las provincias respondían a un sentimiento localista respetable y en ese momento
(a) no se podía hacer otra cosa que darles algún tipo de satisfacción”. (p 82)
“However, the claims of the provinces were born out of an understandable localist feeling and (b)
had somehow to be satisfied.” (p73)
“Las provincias reclamaban una constitución, mientras en Buenos Aires remoloneaban, porque
sabían que una constitución implicaría nuevamente un gobierno central al que Buenos Aires (a) iba
a tener que subordinarse”. (p 83)
“The provinces were demanding a constitution and Buenos Aires turned a deaf ear to their claims. It
was well aware that any such constitution would once again involve a central government it (SIC)
(b) would have to bow to.” (p 74)
MODALITY and tense
It is not highly unusual to use the preterit in Spanish to produce new verb meanings:
Conocía/ conoció
Sabía/ supo
Since English doesn´t have this contrast, it is typically the case the it resorts to different words to
capture those different meanings.
Now, with modal verbs the same situation applies.
Pedro pudo comprar el auto en cuotas.
Pedro podía comprar el auto en cuotas.
Él pudo haber comprado el auto en cuotas.
El podía/podría haber comprado el auto en cuotas.
xxxxxxx
debió
debía
is the opposite to podía/pudo.
the difference between podría and podía in terms of external modality is about certainty and/or
politeness.
in the example of the jesuits, I get external necessity (since possibility is being negated), but it is
also possible and perhaps simultaneously to have an internal modality.
does it matter? I mean, is there any change?