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INTRODUCTION In stricter linguistic terms than the simple definition above: Every Clause has a Finite Verb which consists of a full verb (a non-auxiliary verb) and optionally one or more auxiliary verbs, each of which is a separate word. Examples of finite verbs include ''write'' (no auxiliary verb), ''have written'' (one auxiliary verb), and ''have been written'' (two auxiliary verbs). There is a syntactic difference between an auxiliary verb and a full verb; that is, each has a different grammatical function within the sentence. In English, and in many other languages, there are some verbs that can act either as auxiliary or as full verbs, such as ''be'' ("I ''am'' writing a letter" vs "I ''am'' a postman") and ''have'' ("I ''have'' written a letter" vs "I ''have'' a letter"). In the case of ''be'', it is sometimes ambiguous whether it is auxiliary or not; for example, ''The ice cream was melted'' could mean either ''Someone/something melted the ice cream'' (in which case ''melt'' would be the main verb) or ''the ice cream was mostly liquid'' (in which case ''be'' would be the main verb). FUNCTIONS OF THE ENGLISH AUXILIARY VERB Passive The verb ''be'' (or often ''get'') is used in the passive form to express an action where the subject is unknowable, not known, or of less interest than the action itself, e.g. the window is broken, the window gets broken. (See also '' Grammatical Voice ''.) Progressive This form, also known as the continuous form, uses the verb ''be''. It is used to express the speaker's interpretation of the temporal nature of the event, e.g. I am doing my homework. (See also '' Grammatical Aspect ''.) Perfect The verb ''have'' is used in the perfect form to look back, i.e. retrospectively, at a past action from the present time. Or in other words, it is used to express an action that still has relevance to the present, e.g. Peter has fallen in love. (See also '' Grammatical Aspect ''.) Modal ''Main article: Modal Auxiliary Verb '' There are nine modal verbs: can/could, may/might, shall/should, will/would and must. They differ from the other auxiliaries both in that they are Defective Verb s, and in that they can never function as main verbs. They express the speaker's (or listener's) judgement or opinion at the moment of speaking. Some of the modal verbs have been seen as a Conditional Tense form in English. Some schools of thought consider ''could'' to represent the past tense of ''can''. However, according to Michael Lewis, (''The English Verb''), this is not always true. "Could I get you something?", clearly is not expressing Past Time. Lewis instead suggests that ''could'' is a ''remote'' form of ''can''. It is evident after re-examining the usage of ''could'' in this light, that ''remoteness'' does describe the general meaning, e.g.
The remaining modal auxiliaries can be viewed in this same manner. Lewis covers this area in detail in his book, see reference. Dummy Because, aside from the verb ''to be'' (or ''to have'' in British English), only auxiliaries can be inverted to form questions and only auxiliaries can take negation directly, a dummy auxiliary ''do'' is used for questions and negatives when only a full verb exists in the positive statement (i.e. there are no auxiliaries in the positive, non-interrogative form). The same dummy ''do'' is used for emphasis in the positive statement form. This is known as do-insertion. For example, if the positive statement form is:
the interrogative, negative and emphatic forms are respectively:
Compare this with:
Quasi-auxiliaries English contains many Verb Phrase s that function as quasi-auxiliaries, such as ''be going to'', ''used to'', ''is about to''. These quasi-auxiliaries require an Infinitive . Others take a Gerund (e.g. ''need'', as in ''need fixing'', in American English ), past Participle (e.g. ''get'', as in ''get done''), or other verb form PROPERTIES OF THE ENGLISH AUXILIARY VERB Negation Auxiliaries take ''not'' (or n't) to form the negative, e.g. can't, won't, shouldn't, etc. In certain tenses, in questions, when a contracted auxiliary verb can be used, the position of the Negative particle ''n't'' moves from the main verb to the auxiliary: cf. ''Does it not work?'' and ''Doesn't it work?'' See English Verbs Inversion Auxiliaries invert to form questions:
Emphasis The dummy auxiliary ''do'' is used for emphasis in positive statements (see above): I ''do'' like this beer! Ellipsis Auxiliaries can appear alone where a main verb has been omitted, but is understood: John never sings, but Mary does {Link without Title} . Tag questions Auxiliaries can be repeated at the end of a sentence, with negation added, to form a tag question. You ''will'' come, ''won't'' you? You ate, ''didn't'' you? OTHER LANGUAGES Some languages use "be" for the perfect forms of some or all verbs, instead of "have" (in Esperanto , for example, ''Mi estis irinta'' = I was having-gone = I had gone). French , German , and Dutch use it for verbs of motion and becoming, and (in German and Dutch) for "to be" itself, as does Italian . The use of auxiliaries is one variation among Romance Languages . Finnish uses ''ole'' for all verbs: "Sillä niin ''on'' Jumala maailmaa ''rakastanut''" (Because so much ''is'' God the world ''loved''). English uses "be" only with "go" in some senses. SEE ALSO REFERENCE The English Verb 'An Exploration of Structure and Meaning', Michael Lewis. Language Teaching Publications. ISBN 0-906717-40-X |
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