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Patman2 Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Strange verb forms: I'll + modals e.g. I'll might, I'll shall, I'll will
This question is really a subset of a much larger issue but I'll limit myself just to this question.
Background:
I was correcting an English text written by a German in which the following sentence occured: "I'll might accept you". I corrected it to "I might" and explained that "might" already expresses a future possibility and that there is no future form that can be constructed using "will".
Then out of curiosity I googled "I'll might" and found nearly a million hits! I'm quite astounded considering I had never before encountered this expression. In pursuing the issue, I found many other strange combinations such as: I'll shall, I'll will, I'll should, I'll ought to. These forms also occur in the 1st person plural, and the 2nd and 3rd persons singular and plural.
Questions:
Can anyone shed any light on this?. Does this future form of a modal sound strange to others?
I've also seen modals used in past forms such as I'd should, I'd might, etc. I had learned that the modals are defective verbs which do not have all verb tenses. Is this an example of the language changing and evolving? Will we some day see all modals as full-fledged verbs with a full complement of all tenses?
Background:
I was correcting an English text written by a German in which the following sentence occured: "I'll might accept you". I corrected it to "I might" and explained that "might" already expresses a future possibility and that there is no future form that can be constructed using "will".
Then out of curiosity I googled "I'll might" and found nearly a million hits! I'm quite astounded considering I had never before encountered this expression. In pursuing the issue, I found many other strange combinations such as: I'll shall, I'll will, I'll should, I'll ought to. These forms also occur in the 1st person plural, and the 2nd and 3rd persons singular and plural.
Questions:
Can anyone shed any light on this?. Does this future form of a modal sound strange to others?
I've also seen modals used in past forms such as I'd should, I'd might, etc. I had learned that the modals are defective verbs which do not have all verb tenses. Is this an example of the language changing and evolving? Will we some day see all modals as full-fledged verbs with a full complement of all tenses?
Top answer
Welcome to the Forums! Believe it or not, Google is not authoritative as a source for proper English grammar. At best, your examples are from non-standard dialects.
- Welcome to the Forums!
- Believe it or not, Google is not authoritative as a source for proper English grammar.
- At best, your examples are from non-standard dialects.
- They could also be editing errors, where someone wrote I'll and then changed their mind not to use a contraction, wrote will and neglected to delete the 'll .
- It could also be just ignorance or sloppy writing.
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3 Answers
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Welcome to the Forums!
Believe it or not, Google is not authoritative as a source for proper English grammar. At best, your examples are from non-standard dialects. They could also be editing errors, where someone wrote I'll and then changed their mind not to use a contraction, wrote will and neglected to delete the 'll. It could also be just ignorance or sloppy
Believe it or not, Google is not authoritative as a source for proper English grammar. At best, your examples are from non-standard dialects. They could also be editing errors, where someone wrote I'll and then changed their mind not to use a contraction, wrote will and neglected to delete the 'll. It could also be just ignorance or sloppy
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This exactly (making the mistake of not erasing I'll) just happened to me....I wouldn't be surprise most those google "spit outs" are just that, mistakes...
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AnonymousI wouldn't be surprised most [of what]I don't see it that way. I don't have the good fortune to work for Google, ( I wish I had ). Google is one of the marvelous inventionthoseGoogle "spit outs" are just that, mistakes...
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