Is "have to" a modal verb? tells us, in two conflicting answers, that it's either a modal verb or it's not a modal verb.
Then I just realized that there are never any definitions provided for what a modal is, only examples of modal verbs, or examples of what they do. It's an all familiar thing: "modals are used to express obligation, necessity, permission . . . ".
To narrow down and clarify the question,
- What properties should an item possess to qualify as a modal?
- Are modals and modal verbs different things? In other words, are there modals that are not verbs?
- Are there modal verbs that aren't auxiliary verbs?
I realize there might be conflicting definitions, but there are areas most experts would agree upon, and for the shadier parts of the definition, only one definition would suffice.
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