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_{Syntactic Theory}

Auxiliaries

• Examples: may, can, will, shall, might, could
• English auxiliaries differ from verbs in that they show the following properties, the NICE properties:
  • Negation:
    A finite auxiliary precedes the negation particle not to negate a sentence.
    1. Pat will not walk home.
    2. *Pat walked not home.
  • Inversion:
    A finite auxiliary stands at the beginning of a sentence in yes/no-questions.
    1. Will Pat walk home?
    2. Walked Pat home?
  • Contraction:
    There is an idiosyncratic contraction form of the auxiliary and the negation particle.
    1. won't, can't
  • Ellipsis:
    An auxiliary can occur in VP ellipsis, i.e. at the end of a sentence when a VP is missing.
    1. Pat should walk home and Mary might, too.
    2. *Pat walked home and Mary, too.
• General properties of the modal auxiliaries:
  • no inflection for 3rd singular
  • only a finite form
• Problematic cases:
  • The verbs be and have have the properties of both verbs and auxiliaries.
  • The support verb do is similar to be and have, but only has a finite form.
  • Infinitival to shows many properties of auxiliaries, and is considered an auxiliary in many theories of grammar.

Categories: Glossary