Indicating obligation and willingness
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Using adjectives to indicate obligation | page 1 of 6 |
Introduction
Obligation typically involves functions such as
giving commands, making requests, offering advice, and granting permission 
. Speakers
are able to indicate obligation in a number of ways 
.
Note that the structure chosen to express obligation will be motivated by such things
as register 
and the degree of closeness a speaker wishes to establish with the hearer.
A speaker is more likely to use an adjective to create an impersonal effect and to increase the social distance between speaker and hearer. By using an adjective, the speaker can also conceal the source of the obligation, for example compare the explicitly personal: I order you to do it with It is vital that you do it. Here, the source of the obligation is concealed, which suggests that part of the motivation for choosing an adjective is to de-emphasise the speaker's authority. Adjectives are commonly used to express obligation both in face-to-face speech and in writing.
This file gives details of the ways that adjectives can be used to issue commands, make requests, offer advice and grant permission.
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Introduction
Degrees of obligation
