Auxiliary verb
| An Auxiliary verb is a verb that adds functional or grammatical meaning to the clause in which it occurs, so as to express tense, aspect, modality, voice, emphasis, etc. Auxiliary verbs usually accompany an infinitive verb or a participle, which respectively provide the main semantic content of the clause. An example is the verb have in the sentence I have finished my lunch. Here, the auxiliary have helps to express the perfect aspect along with the participle, finished. Some sentences contain a chain of two or more auxiliary verbs. Auxiliary verbs are also called helping verbs, helper verbs, or (verbal) auxiliaries. Research has been conducted into split inflection in auxiliary verbs. There are 24 auxiliary verbs in English: 11 primary and 13 modal. | |
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| wikipedia:: Auxiliary verb |
be, can, could, dare, do, have, may, might, must, need, ought, shall, should, will, wouldThe status of dare (not), need (not), and ought (to) is debatable
If the negative forms can't, don't, won't, etc. are viewed as separate verbs (and not as contractions), then the number of auxiliaries increases.
Auxiliary verb
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Auxiliary verb