Modal Verbs and Changes in Meaning

Question

I found a useful chart in Kinder & Saviani's 'Using Italian' reference book. It outlined different uses of modal verbs (dovere, potere, and volere) in different tenses and their impact on meaning. However, I noticed that a few possible combinations are missing from their list. Are the ones missing below:

1) permissible in Italian, and if so, 2) what is the precise shade of meaning that these constructions convey?

deve dormire- she must/has to sleep
dovrà dormire- she will have to sleep
dovrebbe dormire- she should/ought to sleep; she should be asleep
doveva dormire- she had to sleep; she used to have to sleep; she should have slept (R1-2)

ha dovuto dormire- she had to sleep (= was obliged to sleep)
avrà dovuto dormire- ?
avrebbe dovuto dormire- she should have slept
aveva dovuto dormire- she had had to sleep; she had been obliged to sleep

deve aver dormito- she must have slept
dovrà aver dormito- ?
dovrebbe aver dormito- ?
doveva aver dormito- she had to have slept

può farlo- she can/may do it
potrà farlo- she will be able to do it
potrebbe farlo- she could/might be able to do it
poteva farlo- she could do it; she used to be able to do it; she could have done it (R1-R2)

ha potuto farlo- she managed to do it
avrà potuto farlo- ?
avrebbe potuto farlo- she could have done it/she would have been able to do it
aveva potuto farlo- she had been able to do it

può averlo fatto- she may have done it
potrà averlo fatto- ?
potrebbe averlo fatto- she could have done it (= it could be the case that she did it)
poteva averlo fatto- she could have done it (= it was possible that she did it)

vuole lavorare- she wants to work
vorrà lavorare- she will want to work
vorrebbe lavorare- she would like to work
voleva lavorare- she wanted to work; she used to want to work

ha voluto lavorare; non ha voluto lavorare- she insisted on working; she refused to work
avrà voluto lavorare- ?
avrebbe voluto lavorare- she would have liked to work
aveva voluto lavorare- ?

vuole aver lavorato- ?
vorrà aver lavorato- ?
vorrebbe aver lavorato- she would like to have worked; she wishes she had worked
voleva aver lavorato- ?

Here are my guesses as to the meaning of the missing combinations. Are these grammatical in Italian, and if so, do they reflect the differences in meaning that I've inferred?

avrà dovuto dormire ; she will have to have slept
avrà potuto farlo ; she will have been able to do it
avrà voluto lavorare ; she will have wanted to work
aveva voluto lavorare; she had wanted to work
dovrà aver dormito ; she will have to have slept
dovrebbe aver dormito; she should have slept
potrà averlo fatto ; she will be able to have done it
vuole aver lavorato ; she wants to have worked
vorrà aver lavorato ; she will want to have worked
voleva aver lavorato ; she wanted to have worked

Any help is much appreciated :)

Answer 1

The missing combination do not actually mean that they have no meaning or they are not admissible.

As regards admissibility, in Italian all tenses - and therefore both simple forms (main verb only) and composite forms (auxiliary + main verb) are allowed. The point is that some tenses only may appear in subordinate sentences, in order to fulfil the "consecutio temporum". That's why such forms were not explained: they are meaningless in a standalone primary sentence.

Returning to the particular meaning that some forms convey, I think that the most interesting are the following ones, because they go beyond the bare translation of the modal verb.

1. Ha / aveva dovuto dormire
   This one, as you pointed out, denotes a forced action, in the present or in the past.

2. Deve / doveva aver dormito
   Indicates a guess or an impression from the speaker: "Maybe she has / had slept" or "It seems that she has slept".

3. Dovrebbe aver dormito
   Very similar to the previous one, but with some kind of comparison to an expectation: "I suppose she has slept" or "I'd expect her to have slept".

As a side note, the present version of 2. and 3. can be rendered using dovere + stare + gerundio (e.g. deve star dormendo = "maybe she is sleeping").

4. Avrà dovuto dormire
   This form conveys an obligation in the past: "Maybe she had to sleep" or even "Maybe she couldn't help sleeping".

Please notice that almost all these cases imply uncertainty, personal opinion and appearance.

Some of these forms may appear convoluted and somehow pointless, but indeed they are used. IMHO, as a native Italian speaker, their "secret" lies in the meaning that the various tenses of the conjugation convey, so, once you get them completely, combinations of modal verbs become quite straight and clear.

Answer 2

avrà dovuto dormire- He/she will have had to sleep

dovrà aver dormito- He/she will need to have slept

dovrebbe aver dormito- He/she should have slept (=I think he/she slept)

avrà potuto farlo- basically the same as "potrà averlo fatto"

potrà averlo fatto- He/she will have had the possibility to do it (?)

avrà voluto lavorare- He/she will wish to have worked (before)

aveva voluto lavorare- He/she wanted to work

vuole aver lavorato- He/she wishes to have worked (before)

vorrà aver lavorato- He/she will wish to have worked (before)

voleva aver lavorato- He/she wished to have worked

Technically they're all correct in terms of grammar, but you're probably not going to use them that much.

As a side note: "ha dovuto dormire" can mead "he/she had to sleep (= was obliged to sleep)", like you said, but it can also mean that he/she had to sleep because he/she was tired.

Answer 3

Some possible translations (but there could be others depending on context) are:

• avrà dovuto dormire - he/she/you would have to sleep; he/she/you will have had to sleep

• dovrà aver dormito - he/she/you must have slept

• dovrebbe aver dormito - he/she/you should have slept

• avrà potuto farlo - he/she/you (probably) could have done it/done so/done this/ done that

• potrà averlo fatto - he/she/you may have done it/done so/done this/ done that

• avrà voluto lavorare - he/she/you would/will have wanted to work

• aveva voluto lavorare - he/she/you had wanted to work

• vuole aver lavorato - he/she wants to have worked; you want to have worked

• vorrà aver lavorato - he/she/you will want to have worked

• voleva aver lavorato - he/she/you wanted to have worked

Notice that I have included the "you" form as a possible translation because, if you are addressing someone in Italian using the courtesy form "lei", that would be translated as "you" in English, not as "he" or "she". In Italian, for instance, if you are saying to someone "you had wanted to work" in a respectful way (e.g., to someone you don't know), you could say "(lei) aveva voluto lavorare".