DECLARATIVES AS DIRECTIVES
A declarative which contains a modal auxiliary (e.g. can, shall, will, may, might, must, ought, should) and refers to an action to be carried out by the addressee can be used with the force of a directive. They are usually quite strong, invoking authority:
You will report to Head Office tomorrow, Bond. (command)
Dogs must be kept on a lead. (strong obligation)
You may/can leave now. (permission)
Surely you can take your own decisions! (exclamative-directive)
A 1st person declarative with a modal can have the effect of committing the speaker to a course of action:
I’ll meet you at the entrance at about nine.
I must rush off now to my aerobics class.
For meanings of prediction (will, shall), logical necessity (must), possibility (may, might) and reasonable inference (should, ought). These meanings are almost always clearly distinguishable from the directive meanings, as in:
There will be time for a few questions. (prediction)
It must be almost half-past nine. (logical necessity/deduction)
