modal verbs

[eflnow]

What's the difference between would, should and could?

 

[BobK]

Would you describe yourself as a teacher? Should you describe yourself as a teacher? Could you describe yourself as a teacher? It seems to me that the question is not 'What's the difference between them' so much as 'Given that they are so very different, in what respects are they similar?'

b

 

[MASM]

Would you describe yourself as a teacher? Should you describe yourself as a teacher? Could you describe yourself as a teacher? It seems to me that the question is not 'What's the difference between them' so much as 'Given that they are so very different, in what respects are they similar?'

b

They have the same ending? :-D

 

[BobK]

They have the same ending? :-D

As a matter of etymological interest, 'could' only has the same ending because a bunch of early prescriptivists thought it should look like the other modals; so they gave it a silent L. Chaucer, for example, used 'coude' (or maybe 'koude' - or maybe both [I haven't time to check]). ;-)

b