A verb expressing possibility, necessity, permission or ability — can, must, should, may.
In precise terms
A subclass of auxiliaries expressing modality: the speaker's assessment of possibility, necessity or obligation. Modals commonly show defective inflection and distinctive syntax.
An example
Debes estudiar más.
You must study more.
What is going on here
'Debes' expresses obligation and takes an infinitive complement, 'estudiar'. Unlike English modals, Spanish modal verbs inflect fully for person and tense — a difference that trips up English speakers who expect 'must' to be invariant everywhere.
Why this matters when you are learning a language
Modality is how politeness, hedging and indirectness are usually built. Using a bare imperative where the language expects a modal can read as brusque even when every word is correct.
Across languages
English modals are famously defective — no infinitive, no participle, no third-person '-s'. German modals inflect but shift meaning in the past. Japanese expresses much of this range with verb suffixes and set constructions rather than a modal class.
Related terms
- Auxiliary verbIntermediate — A verb that supports a main verb, carrying grammatical information rather than the main meaning.
- Grammatical moodIntermediate — Verb marking showing whether something is stated as fact, wished for, commanded or hypothetical.
- VerbBeginner — A word for an action, event or state — what is happening.
Where to go next
- Language guides — See grammatical and lexical categories used in context.
- Terminology quiz — Test the terms on this page.