Auxiliaries Flashcards
What are the two types of auxiliaries?
Modal and Aspectual
How are auxiliaries related to finiteness? Are there exceptions?
English sentences can only have one finite element, either the main verb or the auxiliary
Progressive -ing verbs are not classed as finite
What is an auxiliary? Give examples
-A “helping”verb, that always appears with a main verb
-Indicates more information about the clause
will, is, would, can, might
In English, where do finite auxiliaries appear?
They come first in a sequences
(will) have been/ (might) be
What is a modal auxiliary?
One that describes concepts like permission, necessity or ability
How are modal auxiliaries different from other auxiliaries and main verbs?
-They can only occur in finite form (and are always followed by an infinitive) and do not take the third person singular inflection in present tense (*may-s)
How does tense influence modal auxiliaries?
A different form for each tense
-can/could, shall/should, will/would, may/might
What is an aspectual auxiliary?
Used to indicate whether an action is completed or ongoing
What are the two verbs that can be aspectual auxiliaries? How?
HAVE + past participle (-en) = perfect tense –> have eaten
BE + -ing = progressive –> is eating
What are the three categories to express grammatical categories of verbs?
Verbal morphology, Auxiliaries and Independent Words
How does English mark perfect and progressive?
verbal morphology on the main verb and auxiliaries
Name a language that marks present and progressive by morphology on the main verb
Bare
Name a language that does not map to English auxiliaries
Evenki
