The Use of Modal Auxiliary Verbs in Covid -19 News: An Analysis of Selected News in Digital Newspaper
Abstract
This paper analyses the use of modal auxiliary verbs in Covid-19 news in some articles in the digital newspaper. Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that can cause illnesses such as the common cold, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). In 2019, a new coronavirus was identified as the cause of a disease outbreak that originated in China. The virus is known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The disease it causes is called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic was officially declared to have transmitted in Indonesia on March 2, 2020, with the first two positive cases. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has announced that two Indonesians have tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the first two confirmed cases of the disease in the country. The disease has been reported daily in the Jakarta Post. The data were manually analysed for the various functions of the modal aid in question. The six categories of modal assistive devices, namely data, are characterized by competence, opportunity, forecasting, commitment, intent, and compliance. The results show that the author of the article has selected the predictor modal in the article, can, could, and will. Other modal types used are would, may, and must. The modal used reflects the opinion of the author of the article, and the use of can reports the highest frequency.
References
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