ABSTRACT
The grammar of Early Modern English (EModE) does not pose many comprehension problems for people today. The differences between then and now are relatively subtle, as the language settled down into its present-day English (PDE) form. Ben Jonson, best known as a playwright, also wrote a book called The English Grammar. Here is its first sentence: Grammar is the art of true and well-speaking a language. When people read or hear the language, they do not have major problems of comprehension at the level of grammar. There is a group of PDE verbs which regularly use these latter ways, and which do not use do at all. These are called modal auxiliary verbs. The PDE verb can be used to express possibility, ability, or permission. A common process is for new forms to emerge, co-exist alongside old forms, and then replace them. One of the factors sometimes involved is geographical.
