Here’s an interesting talk from Sir Ken Robinson on why creativity should be a method and a goal in education:
Here’s an interesting talk from Sir Ken Robinson on why creativity should be a method and a goal in education:
This is the fifth and final part of our holistic review of grammar.
Part 4 ended with two questions:
What are the three most important factors involved in choosing a verb form?
How does each factor help us express what we want to communicate?
TENSE:
Present (speaker views action/situation as real and relevant now)
Past (speaker views action/situation as remote from now, either in time (yesterday), reality(I wish…) or power/politeness (would you please …. ?)
ASPECT:
Simple/ infinitive (complete actions/constants)
Continuous/ing form (Actions in progress)
Perfect (Actions previous to and relevant to/explaining a situation
MODALITY:
Modal verbs describe the speakers attitude to/judgement of a situation
Non-modal forms describe the situation itself
These factor are combined to create the form we need to express exactly what we want. For example:
–Why was John late for class? (PAST SIMPLE – referring to a past fact)
–I’m not sure, but I think he might have been playing football (MODAL -possibility – PERFECT – previous to moment in question – CONTINUOUS -speaker imagines action in process), because he was covered in mud! (PASTSIMPLE -past fact denoting the moment the previous form refers to and reiterating the time reference in the question (John was late for class)
THESE ARE FUNDAMENTAL IDEAS THAT NEED TO BE APPLIED. Their Objective is to provoke thought: to get you thinking, to question them, to put them to the test and possibly to refine or refute them. They are a beginning, not an end. So, be audacious, experiment, make the language yours! Good luck!
TASK 3: MODAL VERBS
What are the modal verbs?:
PRESENT PAST
Can Could
Shall Should
Will Would
May Might
Must
MODALS INTRODUCE THE JUDGEMENT OF THE SPEAKER. If we are describing a situation, we do not use a modal; if we are describing the speakers attitude/judgement of a situation, we use a modal or adverb (e.g. probably). Here are some examples:
I have to study (non-modal) describes the situation (my teacher/parents etc. make me, but perhaps I do not see the need!); I must study expresses my view of the need to study.
He’s going to crash! describes what I can see in front of me (e.g. crazy driver going towards tree at 150kph but looking at the person in the passenger seat instead of the road); one day he will crash might describe my judgement of the same driver, who I know, but he may not be driving while I speak – i.e. I am not describing the situation in front of me
I used to go fishing with my grandfather expresses a fact, with no indication of my attitude towards that action; I would go fishing with my grandfather focusses on my will to do the action, and therefore introduces a sense of nostalgia.
Give an example of a MODAL PERFECT in context.
(convict in prison): “I shouldn’t have robbed those banks!”
Give an example of a MODAL CONTINUOUS in context.
“Where’s John?” “I’m not sure – he might be having a coffee break”
What do the different modal verbs express about the main verbs they are used with?
THIS IS A COMPLEX QUESTION! Grammar books still struggle with putting modality into a nutshell! To investigate further, keen students might want to research ideas of intrinsic and extrinsic meaning and take it from there.
Here are the essential meanings as I see them:
Can and could express the speaker’s judgement of ability
May and might express the speaker’s judgement of probability
Therefore:
“He might be dangerous” – this is possible, I don’t know
“He can be dangerous” – he is dangerous at times; there is no question he has that ‘ability’ or characteristic
Will/Would expresses the speakers judgement of the ‘will’ to do something and are used in decisions/predictions
Shall/Should expresses the speaker’s judgement of what is right (either morally, or in a person’s interest)
Therefore:
“Shall we go out tonight” – “OK, good idea.”
“Will we go out tonight” – “I have no idea. You tell me!”
“If I were rich, … … I could buy a Ferrari” (ability)
… I would buy a Ferrari” (decision/will)
… I might buy a Ferrari” (possibility)
… I should buy a Ferrari” (morally correct action, or in my interest, even if I don’t want to)
Must expresses the speakers judgement of necessity. “I must study harder” Once the moment has passed, so has the necessity. Therefore ‘must’ has no past, and we would use ‘should have’ to describe our judgement on an action not done, or ‘had to’ to describe the past situation.
Coming soon, our final part in this series:
Holistic Grammar – Part 5: Overview
What are the three most important factors involved in choosing a verb form?
How does each factor help us express what we want to communicate?
Taking a Cambridge exam in June? Registration is now open. Here’s a link to find out which level is best for you!
In today’s Guardian newspaper: «80% of school teachers think the relentless focus on exams is hindering the development of character in UK schools, according to research by the Jubilee Centre for Characters and Virtues.»
What do you think? Is the situation similar in your country? Let us know by commenting under the link to this article on our facebook page!
TASK 2: ASPECT
If the present tense refers to a what the speaker sees as current reality, and the past tense refers to remote situations, the aspects help us express how we see the relationship between the verb and its context:
What does the PERFECT express?
Have you ever been to Canada?
I’m hungry – I haven’t eaten lunch yet!
His stomach was rumbling all through the meeting because he hadn’t had time to eat breakfast that morning!
The PERFECT aspect LOOKS BACK IN ORDER TO EXPLAIN A PARTICULAR MOMENT.
Why would anyone ask the first question? Perhaps they need information on Canada, perhaps they are going to Canada soon … what is important is the knowledge that the person who may have been to Canada has NOW.
I’m explaining why I am hungry NOW
We are explaining why his stomach was rumbling IN THE MEETING. This is the focal moment of the sentence. The moment in which he did or didn’t have breakfast is irrelevant.
What about the CONTINUOUS?
I am sitting at my computer, when I should really be helping my daughter with her homework.
He broke his leg while he was playing football
While he was doing the shopping, his wife was enjoying some time alone watching the football on the TV.
The CONTINUOUS aspect DESCRIBES AN ACTION IN PROGRESS
When we use the continuous, we often imagine the action happening, as if we were watching a film of it
This is why we DON’T USE CONTINUOUS FORMS for STATIC verbs, such as KNOW, UNDERSTAND, SEE, HEAR, which are not actions in progress. In fact, we cannot really DO these, as they are INVOLUNTARY and RECEPTIVE, and are, to a large extent, OUT OF OUR CONTROL; Either we understand or we don’t, we see something or we don’t, …
This can be extended to all ING forms of the verb. When we use the GERUND, our mind’s eye sees the action in progress; the INFINITIVE is more results oriented:
“I like GOING to the dentist” is very unusual; it focuses on the PROCESS – sitting in the chair, looking up the dentist’s nose, with the teeth in your numbed mouth being drilled!
“I like TO GO to the dentist every year” makes sense; it focuses on the result – I know that my teeth are healthy
What about a combination of both – the PERFECT CONTINUOUS?
I’ve been working all day
He was out of breath. He seemed to have been running.
A combination of RETROSPECTION (perfect) and PROCESS (continuous), this EXPLAINS a moment by DESCRIBING actions that lead up to that moment.
TASK 3: MODAL VERBS
What are the modal verbs?:
PRESENT PAST
Give an example of a MODAL PERFECT in context.
Give an example of a MODAL CONTINUOUS in context.
What do the different modal verbs express about the main verbs they are used with?