semi modals

[mir12480]

Hi
What are semi-modal verbs?

Thanks

[Casiopea]

From Politely Getting Things Done, Chapter Seven:

Modals also have phrasal or periphrastic counterparts which act more like regular verbs with verb agreement, tense and the addition of to before the verb. Sometimes these are called semi-modals. They are fairly recent grammatical developments. They appear mostly in speech, where most grammatical changes first appear, rather than in writing, which tends to be more conservative.

can, could >>> be able to

will, shall >>> be going to (gonna), be about to

must >>> have to (hafta), have got to

should >>> be to, be supposed to

may, might >>> be allowed to, be permitted to

There's another list here Grammar and Mechanics (page 2).

Click here also Modals in English Language Teaching and scroll down to What are modal verbs? It explains how linguists deal with semi-modals.

And there's also this one:Uses of Modals and Semi-modals