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The Auxiliary VP

The document discusses the differences between lexical verbs, auxiliary verbs, and modal verbs. It notes that lexical verbs carry meaning on their own and can take complements, while auxiliary and modal verbs are dependent and have specific functions. Auxiliary verbs like "be" and "have" can sometimes function as either lexical or auxiliary verbs depending on whether they take a complement or are used in perfect or progressive constructions. The document also covers how auxiliary verbs behave differently than lexical verbs in questions, negatives, and passive voice.

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67 views2 pages

The Auxiliary VP

The document discusses the differences between lexical verbs, auxiliary verbs, and modal verbs. It notes that lexical verbs carry meaning on their own and can take complements, while auxiliary and modal verbs are dependent and have specific functions. Auxiliary verbs like "be" and "have" can sometimes function as either lexical or auxiliary verbs depending on whether they take a complement or are used in perfect or progressive constructions. The document also covers how auxiliary verbs behave differently than lexical verbs in questions, negatives, and passive voice.

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Fale Inglês Com Gaspw
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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According to Burton (2022:106), “Every VP includes a lexical verb (as head) and it may contain one

or more auxiliary verbs.”

a) Lexical, auxiliary and modal verbs are important to the structure and sense of a sentence,
they appear in the structure of VP. Now, the difference between them is that: lexical
verbs can demand a complement and be preceded by the parte “to”, and auxiliaries
cannot take a complement. Whereas modal verbs do not show subject verb agreement as
in [*she wills go…]f and they are always tensed.f

However, the lexical verb is the main verb of the VP, the verb that carry a real meaning by itself;
whereas auxiliary and modal verbs are closed set of dependent verbs.

b) Be & have are sometimes called primary auxiliaries, these verbs can either be lexical or
auxiliary verbs.

HAVE is the lexical verb when it takes na NP complement ( transitive) as in [I have a friend], and
BE is also a lexical verb when it takes, for instance, a AP/sP complement (Intensive verb) as in [she
is beautiful].

On the other hand, HAVE can be Auxiliary (PERFECT) always preceded by another verb as in [ She
had written six novels], and BE can be auxiliary (PROG) in the VP as in [she is writing tye novel].

However, HAVE is auxiliary when it demands that the following verb has the perfect participle
form, and BE is progressive when it demands the following verb has the (non- finite) -ING form.

C) Burton (2022:115) states that in the structure of VP, “auxiliary verbs are necessarily
followed by VPs. So, they they demand a following VP as complement.

From the above, we can state that auxiliary verbs as sister of the VP.

e.g. she has [ been there]

She will [cook rice]

d) In questions, auxiliary verbs preced the lexical verb. So, the can move in front of the subject.

E.g.

a) [You are mature enough]

[Are you mature enough].

b) [You have been in Quelimane]

[Have you been in Quelimane].

In negatives auxiliary verbs can be attached by the particles (not or n’t), and lexical verbs cannot.

a) [He can’t go home]


In passive sentences, the auxiliary verbs are made from active sentences, and they are said to be
in the passive voice.

E.g.

[I do the activity]

[The activity is done]

NB..(is) is the passive B

2.

a) The coat does not fit you.

-You are not fit by the coat.

b) They believe it to be easy to annoy Bem.

-it is believed by them to be easy to annoy Bem.

c) They believe there to be a dragon in the wood.

-it is believed there to be a dragon in the wood.

d) They widely believed that John was ill.

-that John was ill was widely believed by them.

e) John will have been driving the car.

-the car will have been being driven by John.

f) Madina resembles her mother in nearly every detail.

-Madina’s mother is reassembled by her in every detail.

g) My mother approved the plan.

-the plan was approved by my mother.

h) They flew near Boston

This sentence cannot be passivised because the verb is intransitive..

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