Unknown or The Unknown may refer to:
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It most often has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to 6 m; some authors set a minimum of 10 cm trunk diameter (30 cm girth). Woody plants that do not meet these definitions by having multiple stems and/or small size are usually called shrubs, although many trees such as Mallee do not meet such definitions. Compared with most other plants, trees are long-lived, some reaching several thousand years old and growing to up to 115 m (379 ft) high.
Trees are an important component of the natural landscape because of their prevention of erosion and the provision of a weather-sheltered ecosystem in and under their foliage. They also play an important role in producing oxygen and reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, as well as moderating ground temperatures. They are also elements in landscaping and agriculture, both for their aesthetic appeal and their orchard crops (such as apples). Wood from trees is a building material, as well as a primary energy source in many developing countries. Trees also play a role in many of the world's mythologies (see trees in mythology).
In the English language, a modal verb is a type of auxiliary verb. The key way to identify a modal verb is by its defectiveness (they have neither participles nor infinitives). In addition, modal verbs do not take the inflection -s or -es in the third person singular, unlike other verbs.
The modal verbs in English are as follows, paired as present and preterite forms.
Note that use of the preterite forms does not necessarily refer to past time.
The following have also been categorized by some as modal verbs:
Note that dare and need are much more commonly used as non-modal verbs, taking -s in the third person singular and having an infinitive and past and present participles. Further, some authors do not mention had better and explicitly reject ought (to) on the grounds that the main verb infinitive is required to include the particle to.
The following are not modal verbs although they have some similar characteristics:
If a verb is preceded by multiple auxiliary verbs including a modal, as in "it could have been eaten," the modal will always appear before the other auxiliary verbs. A verb or auxiliary verb following a modal always appears in its basic form (for example, "could have gone" instead of "could had gone" or "could has gone", and "He could walk" rather than "he could walks").