modal

adjective/ˈmoʊdəl/

Frequency rank: #11,397 of 20,003 in the WORDED list (wordfreq data)

Meaning

Relating to a grammatical form that expresses possibility, necessity, or permission.

Illustration for the English word “modal”

Example sentence

The teacher explained that 'can' and 'should' are examples of modal verbs in English grammar.

Synonyms & related words

More words in ranks 11,301–11,400