"modal" meaning in English

See modal in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

IPA: /ˈmoʊd.əl/ [US], /ˈməʊd.əl/ [UK] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-modal.wav [UK] Forms: modal [positive], [comparative], [superlative]
Head templates: {{adj}} [POS TABLE]
  1. Modal meanings express possibility, ability, intention, or necessity.
    Sense id: simple-modal-en-adj-NE6PpHN1
  2. The modal value or amount is the middle one. Synonyms: average
    Sense id: simple-modal-en-adj-nM~0L4pK

Noun

IPA: /ˈmoʊd.əl/ [US], /ˈməʊd.əl/ [UK] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-modal.wav [UK] Forms: modal [singular], modals [plural]
Head templates: {{noun}} [POS TABLE]
  1. A modal, is a kind of verb, such as can or should that expresses possibility, ability, intention, or necessity.
    Sense id: simple-modal-en-noun-eieeTsxR
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "modal",
      "tags": [
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "modals",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The modals in English are mostly auxiliary verbs that don't have gerund-participle forms."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A modal, is a kind of verb, such as can or should that expresses possibility, ability, intention, or necessity."
      ],
      "id": "simple-modal-en-noun-eieeTsxR",
      "raw_tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmoʊd.əl/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈməʊd.əl/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-modal.wav",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "modal"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "modal",
      "tags": [
        "positive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "–",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "–",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The English modal auxiliary verbs include can, should, must, might, etc."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Modal meanings express possibility, ability, intention, or necessity."
      ],
      "id": "simple-modal-en-adj-NE6PpHN1",
      "raw_tags": [
        "semantics"
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "The modal value or amount is the middle one."
      ],
      "id": "simple-modal-en-adj-nM~0L4pK",
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "average"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmoʊd.əl/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈməʊd.əl/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-modal.wav",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "modal"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "modal",
      "tags": [
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "modals",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Countable nouns"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The modals in English are mostly auxiliary verbs that don't have gerund-participle forms."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A modal, is a kind of verb, such as can or should that expresses possibility, ability, intention, or necessity."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmoʊd.əl/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈməʊd.əl/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-modal.wav",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "modal"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "modal",
      "tags": [
        "positive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "–",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "–",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The English modal auxiliary verbs include can, should, must, might, etc."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Modal meanings express possibility, ability, intention, or necessity."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "semantics"
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "The modal value or amount is the middle one."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "average"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmoʊd.əl/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈməʊd.əl/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-modal.wav",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "modal"
}

Download raw JSONL data for modal meaning in English (1.4kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-03-29 from the simplewiktionary dump dated 2025-03-21 using wiktextract (fef8596 and 633533e). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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