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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

double modal en · NOUN

Meanings

  1. A sequence of two modal verbs, such as "might could", an impossible construction in standard English, but one used in some dialects, especially Southern US English.
    • The first instances of double modals date back to the seventeenth century. 2019, Irina S. Lebedeva, Svetlana N. Orlova, “Semantics and pragmatics of the double modal ‘might could’”, in Training, Language and Culture, volume 3, number 2, →DOI:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
double modals Number=Plur lexicographic

Relateds

modal stacking

Synonyms

stacked modal