Search

Poder, deber (de), tener que, haber de and haber que constitute the hard core of the Spanish auxiliary modal verbs. Nevertheless, there exist other verbs with modal meaning whose grammatical properties, at least some, allow them to be included in this class too. This is the analysis, for instance, proposed in the NGLE for conseguir, necesitar, prometer, lograr and saber. A priori, the Spanish verb caber could also be added to the former group to the extent that it has to be glossed by poder 'can' in constructions such as No cabe exigir otro comportamiento, 'No se puede exigir otro comportamiento'. The aim of this paper is two-fold. Firstly, a detailed description of the grammar and the semantics of caber, in isolation as well as in comparison with other Spanish modal verbs, is offered. Secondly, we address the topic of whether it should or not be considered an auxiliary modal verb with respect to both its syntax and its meaning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]