Indicating obligation and willingness

Students' problems

page 7 of 11

The semi-modal dare

Students sometimes have difficulty with dare not. Their main problem is treating it as a main verb, rather than as a modal:

This is the most common reason to explain why students dare not to report to their teachers when they are in panic.

This impression is deeply-rooted in the minds of young people and thus they dare not to report to the police.

Then, other countries dare not to look down on Japan.

For teaching purposes, it is better to focus on the modal uses of dare, stressing the absence of the to-infinitive.

Another problem is difficulty with the form of the verb following:

How dare he did that! (TeleNex Students)

The correct form in this case would be:

How dare he do that!

For further information about the behaviour of dare, see Indicating obligation and willingness: Using the semi-modal dare to indicate willingness.

Introduction
Using modals with other verbs
The contracted form of will
Distinguishing between would and will
The modal could
The semi-modal need
The semi-modal dare
Adjectives used to indicate obligation
Distinguishing between nouns and other parts of speech
Distinguishing between suggest and advise
Distinguishing between willing and want