Table 1
Epistemic modality spectrum
|
It may be true that medical school structures reproduce social hierarchies |
I wonder if it is true that medical school structures reproduce social hierarchies |
It is probably true that medical school structures reproduce social hierarchies |
I think it is true that medical school structures reproduce social hierarchies |
It must be true that medical school structures reproduce social hierarchies |
It is certainly true that medical school structures reproduce social hierarchies | ||
|
Weak/speculative |
Intermediary/probabilitive |
Strong/assertive | |||||
Table 2
Selected verbs and adverbs to express epistemic modality
|
Certainty |
Auxiliary verbs |
Lexical verbs |
Modal adverbs |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Strong |
Will, cannot, must |
Know, understand, argue, affirm, stress, emphasize, maintain, declare, stipulate, explain, warn, conclude, clarify, identify, insist |
Undoubtedly, always, never, definitely, clearly, certainly, obviously, entirely, completely, increasingly |
|
Moderate |
Should, would, can, ought to, tends to |
Comment, explain, indicate, note, observe, state, describe, identify, find, show, suggest |
Usually, likely, probably, regularly, generally, often, frequently, rarely, over the past decade |
|
Weak |
May, might, could |
Speculate, wonder, believe, note, offer, view, suspect, suggest, consider, propose, debate |
Possibly, conceivably, occasionally, tentatively, perhaps, maybe, recently, less, currently, apparently, reportedly |