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# modal

«modal» in Mova's school dictionary: **a helping verb such as can, could, may, might, must…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adjective (modal); noun (a modal, modals)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (grammar) A modal, or modal verb, is a helping verb such as can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will or would, which shows how sure, possible, allowed or necessary something is. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/modal/#m1)

2) (maths) Modal means to do with the mode: the modal value is the one that appears most often in a set of data. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/modal/#m2)

3) (computers) A modal or modal window is a box that pops up on a screen and must be closed before you can go on. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/modal/#m3)

4) (music) Modal means using musical modes, kinds of scale. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/modal/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In English grammar lessons, modal verbs change meaning: «You must go» (necessary), «You might go» (possible), «You can go» (allowed or able). In maths, the «modal class» or «modal number» is the most common one in a tally chart or list. In apps and websites, a modal pops up to ask «Are you sure?». Phrases: «modal verb», «modal value», «modal class», «modal window».

### examples

- «Must», «should» and «might» are modal verbs. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/modal/#x1)
- In «I can swim», «can» is a modal verb. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/modal/#x2)
- The modal shoe size in our class is 3. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/modal/#x3)
- Find the modal colour from the tally chart. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/modal/#x4)
- Close the modal window to go back to the game. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/modal/#x5)
- Modal verbs show how sure we are about something. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/modal/#x6)

### note

Modal verbs have no -s for he/she/it («She can», not «She cans») and are followed by a verb without «to» («must go», not «must to go»). In maths: the mode is the value that appears most often; if two values tie, there are two modes. Do not confuse the mode with the mean (average) or median (middle).

### In the corpora

- [Modal verbs like can, could, will, should and must help the main verb, which carries the main action.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/3-verbs-doing-words-and-being-words/9/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «modal» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/modal/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.