Editing Modal verb (section)

===Italian===

Modal verbs in [[Italian language|Italian]] form a distinct class (''verbi modali'' or ''verbi servili'').<ref name="verbi-servili-treccani">[http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/verbi-servili_%28La-grammatica-italiana%29/ Verbi servili – Treccani]</ref> They can be easily recognized by the fact that they are the only group of verbs that does not have a fixed [[auxiliary verb]] for forming the [[Perfect (grammar)|perfect]], but they can inherit it from the verb they accompany – Italian can have two different auxiliary verbs for forming the perfect, ''avere'' ("to have"), and ''essere'' ("to be"). There are in total four modal verbs in Italian: ''potere'' ("can"), ''volere'' ("want"), ''dovere'' ("must"), ''sapere'' ("to be able to"). Modal verbs in Italian are the only group of verbs allowed to follow this particular behavior. When they do not accompany other verbs, they all use ''avere'' ("to have") as a helping verb for forming the perfect.

For example, the helping verb for the perfect of ''potere'' ("can") is ''avere'' ("have"), as in ''ho potuto'' (lit. "I-have been-able","I could"); nevertheless, when used together with a verb that has as auxiliary ''essere'' ("be"), ''potere'' inherits the auxiliary of the second verb. For example: '''''ho''' visitato il castello'' (lit. "I-have visited the castle") / '''''ho potuto''' visitare il castello'' (lit. "I-have been-able to-visit the castle","I could visit the castle"); but '''''sono''' scappato'' (lit. "I-am escaped", "I have escaped") / '''''sono potuto''' scappare'' (lit. "I-am been-able to-escape", "I could escape").

Note that, like in other [[Romance languages]], there is no distinction between an [[infinitive]] and a [[Uses of English verb forms#Bare infinitive|bare infinitive]] in Italian, hence modal verbs are not the only group of verbs that accompanies an infinitive (where in English instead there would be the form with "to" – see for example ''Ho preferito '''scappare''''' ("I have preferred ''' to escape'''"). Thus, while in English a modal verb can be easily recognized by the sole presence of a bare infinitive, there is no easy way to distinguish the four traditional Italian modal verbs from other verbs, except the fact that the former are the only verbs that do not have a fixed auxiliary verb for the perfect. For this reason some grammars consider also the verbs ''osare'' ("to dare to"), ''preferire'' ("to prefer to"), ''desiderare'' ("to desire to"), ''solere'' ("to use to") as modal verbs, despite these always use ''avere'' as auxiliary verb for the perfect.<ref name="verbi-servili-treccani" />{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}