MDCA Modal CAN

MFTE MDCA Bohmann 14 child of POMD_ALL

Definition

The modal verb “can”.

Parent

POMD_ALL

Detection Rules

mfte

cql[lemma={words} & pos="MD"]

Word: can

Requires: lemma, pos

pybiber

cql[lemma={words} & pos="MD"]

Word: can

Requires: lemma, pos

cql[word="can" & pos="MD"]

Requires: word, pos

Normalization

Per finite_verbs

Examples

Can I give him a hint?

Source: le_foll_2024

You cannot.

Source: le_foll_2024

I can’t believe it!

Source: le_foll_2024

Sources

  • biber_1988 — Biber, Douglas (1988) : Variation across Speech and Writing
  • mfte — Le Foll, Elen & Shakir, Muhammad (2023/2025) : Multi-Feature Tagger of English (MFTE) — Python version
  • bohmann_2019 — Bohmann, Axel (2019) : Variation in English Worldwide: Varieties and Genres in a Quantitative Perspective

Notes

Biber grouped can/may/might/could as “possibility modals”. MFTE splits them into individual modals.

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