The forms capable of expressing the modality of possibility are spread across various levers of language structure depending on their morphological and syntactical characteristics.

• 摘要汉语表达情态意义的词与英语在分布上及词法、句法的特征及含义都有较大区别，本文从功能语用角度来展示英汉可能类情态意义的异同，揭示其复杂性和多功能特征。