A Study on the Characteristics of Modal Verbs and Auxiliary Verbs in Syntax

In traditional grammar, two different kinds of T are found: modals and auxiliaries. Modals include words like can, could, must, shall, should, will, would, may, might and so on. Auxiliary verbs include such words as do, have and be, and their inflectional words: did, had, was, were, and showing personal and number?s words; does, has, is, are and so on. Previous studies have analyzed the CP, IP, vP and VP of modal verbs and auxiliary verbs, mainly discussing the attribution of modal verbs and auxiliary verbs. This paper analyzes the syntactic characteristics of modal verbs and auxiliary verbs, discusses the base-generated position and role of modal verbs and auxiliary verbs in syntax, and puts forward own views on the basis of this analysis. It is believed that modal verbs and auxiliary verbs have similarities and differences in syntax.