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modal
modal auxiliary
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modal

mo·dal [ mṓd'l ]


adjective 
Definition:
 
1. grammar expressing grammatical mood: used to describe verbs and auxiliary verbs expressing a grammatical mood such as possibility or necessity.
See also  modal auxiliary


2. music relating to musical modes: relating to or using a mode, especially instead of a major or minor scale

3. logic describing logical modalities: describes propositions involving necessity or probability, or those relating to knowledge, belief, and obligation



noun  (plural mo·dals)
Definition:
 
grammar 
Same as  modal auxiliary


[Mid-16th century. Directly or via French< medieval Latin modalis< Latin modus "measure"]

mo·dal·ly adverb
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