# Modal word

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**Modal words** are words in a language that express [modality](/source/Modality_(linguistics)), i.e., possibility, necessity, or contingency.[1] One kind of modal word is the [modal verb](/source/Modal_verb) (*should*, *can*, *might*, and *ought*, as well as *oblige*, *need*, and *require*). Other types of modal words in English include [modal adjectives](/source/Modal_adjective) (*likely*, *probable*, *necessary*), [modal adverbs](/source/Modal_adverbs) (*probably*, *perhaps*, *certainly*), modal prepositions (*despite*, *unless*, *if*), and modal nouns (*possibility*, *probability*, *certainty*).

## References

1. Matthews, Peter (2003). *The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics*. Oxford: [Oxford University Press](/source/Oxford_University_Press)

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