How many modal verbs are there?

Answer 1

There are 9 modals that we use in everyday speech, but, technically speaking, there are 13 altogether (14 if we count an old past tense of a rare modal that occurs in some older texts). Of the 13 modals, 12 of them take the bare infinitive of the verb following it. Only the modal "ought" takes an infinitive that is preceded by "to". I shall first explain the 9 that we use on a daily basis. Then I'll go into the 3 that are uncommon, one of which has two past tenses to discuss:

Top 9 Modals

1. shall
2. should
3. will
4. would
5. can
6. could
7. may
8. might
9. must

These are the 9 modals that we native speakers use on a daily basis. Examples are listed below:

1. I shall go to the store.
2. I should have gone to the store.
3. I will not do your paper.
4. I would not have done your paper.
5. I can say it in plain English.
6. I could have said it in plain English.
7. I may come to the game.
8. I might come to the game.
9. I must do this.
10. I must have done this.

In Modern English, the past tense of shall is should, will is would, can is could, may is either may or might, and must is always must, even in its past form. The verbs "should, would, could, and might" are not always the past tenses of the erstwhile verbs mentioned. They can stand on their own in strictly present forms e.g. "I should be quiet; I might forget; I could use some help; I would always do it that way."

Now for the 3 rare modals with one modal's having 2 past tenses, one of which is considered obsolete in Modern times, but bears mentioning. They are listed below:

The Bottom 3

1. ought
2. need
3. dare (pt. dared, durst)

Of the 3 listed above, ought is used the most in speech. "Dare" and "need" are used mostly as everyday transitive verbs. The past tense of "need" is "need" when it is used as a modal; not "needed", which is the past tense of the normal, everyday verb. For "dare", the past tense is "dared" in Modern English for both the modal and everyday verb, but "durst" is used in older textbooks as the past tense of the modal form. Here are examples below:

1. He need not say anymore.
2. He need not have said anymore.
3. He dare resist!
4. He dared resist!
5. He durst resist! *archaic*
6. Dare he go?
7. Need I say more?
8. He dared not speak out of turn.
9. Dared he speak out of turn?
10. Need he have said more?
11. How dare he speak to me like that!
12. He ought to know the answer.

These are the rare modals in English. One shouldn't go around throwing these around unless he should know how to use them. Final list looks like this:

1. shall
2. should
3. will
4. would
5. can
6. could
7. may
8. might
9. must
10. ought
11. need
12. dare
13. dared
14. durst

These are all English modals that may be seen in contemporary writing over the last 400 years. I hope this article might help.