Spanish Justice System Sentencing and English Modal Verbs Explained

Reflections on Spanish Criminal Sentencing

In Spain, jail is only available for those cases in which criminals commit severe crimes. But do people receive sentences according to their actions?

On one hand, sentences are sometimes just so that criminals don't commit the same crime. Moreover, the Spanish judicial system is different from other countries where punishments are excessive, such as the death penalty.

On the other hand, certain crimes, for example in the case of murder or rape, should have more serious punishment because after 10 or 15 years behind bars, criminals are released and there is a likelihood that this could happen again.

To sum up, I think that an improvement of Spanish laws is necessary so that sentences are more effective.

English Modal Verbs

Past Modals (Modal + Have + Participle)

• Must have + participle: Used to express certainty or a logical conclusion about a past event.
• Might / May have + participle: Used to make a prediction about something in the past.
• Could have + participle: Indicates the possibility of having done something in the past that ultimately wasn't done.
• Couldn't have + participle: In the negative, expresses the impossibility of the stated event having occurred.
• Should have + participle: Used to express regret that something didn't happen in the past or that expectations weren't met.
• Shouldn't have + participle: With this modal, we express our critical opinion about a past event, indicating that it shouldn't have happened.

Basic Modals

• CAN / BE ABLE TO:
  • CAN is assisted by BE ABLE TO in the tenses it lacks. Expresses ability or capacity.
  • BE ABLE TO also indicates ability and possibility like CAN, but in the tenses that this modal verb lacks.
• COULD: Used to express ability and capacity in the past.
• MAY / MIGHT:
  • Both verbs express the possibility of something happening in the present or future, without certainty.
  • MAY is also used to ask for and give permission in a more polite way than with CAN.
• MUST / HAVE TO:
  • Both verbs express necessity and obligation, but with MUST, the necessity is stronger.
  • When we want to soften the phrase, we use HAVE TO.
• NEED TO / NEEDN'T:
  • NEED TO expresses obligation or necessity.
  • NEEDN'T indicates absence of obligation or necessity.
• MUSTN'T / DON'T HAVE TO:
  • MUSTN'T indicates prohibition.
  • DON'T HAVE TO has a completely different value, meaning absence of necessity, just like NEEDN'T.
• SHOULD / OUGHT TO:
  • Can be used interchangeably to give advice and make recommendations, although SHOULD is much more frequent.
  • OUGHT TO is rarely used in negative and interrogative forms.