“[…] Modal verbs don’t change. They have no to -infinitive form, -ing form, past form or -ed form. The way out of this is rewording” (KIMINAMI, 2018, p. 26)

“[…] Modal verbs don’t change. They have no to -infinitive form, -ing form, past form or -ed form. The way out of this is rewording” (KIMINAMI, 2018, p. 26)

KIMINAMI, Aline Yuri. Práticas Discursivas da Língua Inglesa. Maringá-Pr.: UniCesumar, 2018.

Read the following excerpt of “A New England Nun” by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman.

“If he could have known it, it would have increased his perplexity and uneasiness, although it would not have disturbed his loyalty in the least. He came twice a week to see Louisa Ellis, and every time, sitting there in her delicately sweet room, he felt as if surrounded by a hedge of lace. He was afraid to stir lest he should put a clumsy foot or hand through the fairy web, and he had always the consciousness that Louisa was watching fearfully lest he should.”

Disponível em: https://bit.ly/2V8SlSg. Acesso em: 03 out. 2019.

Taking the excerpts into account, analyze the following statements.

I. The sentence “If he could have known it, it would have increased his perplexity and uneasiness, although it would not have disturbed his loyalty in the least […]” is composed by two modal verbs: “could” and “would”.

II. If the sentence “He came twice a week to see Louisa Ellis […]” was changed to adapt the modal verb “could”, it should be written as “He could come twice a week to see Louisa Ellis […]”.

III. The sentence “He was afraid to stir lest he should put a clumsy foot or hand through the fairy web […]” has the modal verb “should” followed by the verb “put” in the infinitive form without “to”.

IV. The sentence “[…] he had always the consciousness that Louisa was watching fearfully lest he should” has the modal verb “should” which is not altered by the subject “he”.

It is correct what is stated on