Modality In Modern Chinese

The modality in modern Chinese is an organic system .It is abundant in its kinds and expressions. Unfortunately, there are two misunderstandings in the Chinese Grammar educational circles. The first is that they mix up the mood and the modality. The second is that they ignore the modality. Because of the necessity of study on modality, based on the predecessors' study, we discuss the distinction and the relation between the mood and modality. This paper holds the view that they are different pragmatic parts. They are different in pragmatic meanings and expressions. It is meaningful to pay attention to the modality. Then, this paper classifies the kinds of the modality and discusses the different expressions of each modality. We not only discuss the respectively usage of these expressions but also discuss the shared usage. Which is deserved to be mentioned, mis paper thinks that if we want to observe the modality, the clause in Chinese is the best observation place. The fifth part in this paper analyses the usage of modal particles "dao" in Chinese. We conclude that the function of "dao" is to express the antagonistic modality. The aim is to show the methods of study the modality and to show the importance and necessity to study on modality.