What is the difference between epistemic and deontic modal auxiliary verbs?

A modal auxillary verb is verb such as 'must', 'will', 'should', 'may', 'might' and so on, that indicate something that may or may not happen in a sentence. Whether or not the verb is epistemic or deontic indicates if 'something' will happen or not. For example, the modal auxillary verb 'will' is deontic because it means that the subject of the sentence definitely will happen, whilst the modal auxillary verb 'may' is epistemic because the outcome is less definite.

EO
Answered by Emily O. English Language tutor

26589 Views

See similar English Language A Level tutors

Related English Language A Level answers

All answers ▸

Discuss the idea that a person’s language might be affected by their occupation


What are the first things I should think about when comparing unseen texts?


Discuss the idea that where someone comes from affects how they use language.


What does the CIE English Language (9093) syllabus for A-level entail?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

© MyTutorWeb Ltd 2013–2025

Terms & Conditions|Privacy Policy
Cookie Preferences