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Interpretations of the Past Tense Modals COULD and MIGHT in Formal Contexts

Authors: Huschová Petra

Year: 2015

Type of publication: ostatní - přednáška nebo poster

Page from-to: nestránkováno

Titles:

Language	Name	Abstract	Keywords
eng	Interpretations of the Past Tense Modals COULD and MIGHT in Formal Contexts	The presentation is concerned with the incidence of the past tense modal verbs COULD and MIGHT in formal contexts, focusing primarily on identifying their readings in administrative and academic texts. It describes the findings of a small-scale study exploring the use of COULD and MIGHT in non-past contexts. The presentation attempts to summarize the most common readings of COULD and MIGHT in formal written language and aims to reveal the most significant contextual factors determining their interpretation with regard to the root-epistemic distinction.	modal verbs; COULD; MIGHT; root modality; epistemic modality; administrative texts; academic texts