This week, we're diving into an interesting construction found in some varieties of English – the double modal.
Our listener Courtney Robinson, who grew up on the West Coast, recently shared her experience with double modals after moving to the South:
"One phrase I hear in the South that catches my attention is 'might could.' As in, 'we might could go to dinner before the show' or 'I might could ask him to pick you up.' In my West Coast brain, 'might could' sounds grammatically odd or duplicative, but even my self-proclaimed 'grammar stickler' Southern friends use it!"
We all use modals. These are the auxiliary verbs that express things like permission, possibility, and obligation. Some common modals are "can/could," "may/might/must," "shall/should," and "will/would." As our listener has discovered, speakers of some varieties of English can stack two of these verbs together to form what are known as double modals.
According to the editors of the Yale Grammatical Diversity Project, there are double modals across many southern varieties of American English - everywhere from Florida to west Texas - on up to parts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. They can also be found in varieties of African American English, as well as varieties of English in northern England and Scotland.
Speakers who use double modals usually start with "may/might" or "will/would" as the first verb, followed by "can/could" or "should." For example, "might can" or "might should" or, as in the example provided by our listener "might could."
To the non-double modal user, these pairings may seem duplicative or unnecessary. However, they do carry subtle distinctions in meaning. Sometimes they’re used out of politeness, but double modals can also nuance possibility. For instance, some would say that "might could" is similar to "might be able to."
For more on the nuance of double modals, listen to the audio above.
