Linguistic modality

Linguistic modality means talking in a special way that shows how likely something is to be true or how likely it is that something will happen. It's like figures of speech that express opinion, wishes, promises, and uncertainty. For example, if you say something with "can't" in it, that means you think it won't happen. If something has "should" in it, you think it should happen, but it's not certain. "Might" expresses that something could happen but it's not guaranteed.