Definition
An auxiliary verb is a verb which:
- accompanies the lexical verb of a verb phrase, and
- expresses grammatical distinctions not carried by the lexical verb, such as
- person
- number
- tense
- aspect, and
- voice.
Examples
(English)
- can
- may
- do
Sources 5
- Crystal 1985, 326
- Crystal 1980, 38-39
- Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik 1985, 79–80, 120
- Hartmann and Stork 1972, 24
- Mish 1991, 118