The verb and its complements (1)

Lexical vs. Auxiliary Verbs

Semester 3 - Grammar III

Prof. Noamane
 Introduction
❏ Previously, we gave a brief overview of some basic grammatical notions concerning the
level of the word, the phrase, the clause and the sentence.

❏ We also reviewed the terminology we use to talk about these different levels and took a
first look at the interface between form and function.

❏ Now, we will zoom in on the verb phrase (VP) from different angles.

❏ We will first discuss the core element of any VP, which is the verb itself, and
demonstrate the major grammatical differences between lexical verbs and auxiliary
verbs.
 Lexical verbs vs. Auxiliary verbs (1)
❏ Lexical verbs have specific meaning ❏ Auxiliary verbs constitute a small
referring to either actions (eat, work, group of verbs used to convey
sleep, play) or states (love, consider, grammatical meaning of secondary
know, understand) importance.

❏ Lexical verbs form an open class, ❏ Auxiliary verbs form a closed class
meaning that new members can be – it is not possible to add new verbs
added to it infinitely. to it. This closed class includes the
primary auxiliaries be, have and do
❏ Lexical verbs can intransitive, as well as the nine central modal
transitive, ditransitive auxiliaries can, could, will, would,
shall, should, may, might and
must
 Lexical Verbs vs. Auxiliary Verbs (2)

❏ be and the central modal verbs are always auxiliaries.

❏ Have and do, however, can also be lexical verbs, in which case they no longer have
the specific properties of auxiliaries.

❏ For instance, in She has breakfast in bed on Saturdays or He does his homework
every afternoon, have and do do not function as auxiliaries but as lexical verbs,
whereas in She has just finished her breakfast or Does he understand the
homework?, they function as auxiliaries.
 Auxiliary Verbs (1)
❏ Mastering the syntax of auxiliaries is crucial in English since it is at the core of a
number of frequent constructions
❏ For example, the tense-aspect system and the passive voice system make wide use
of auxiliaries:

(a) The birds are singing; it must be spring. (The auxiliary be, in conjunction with the present
participle a verb, is the marker for progressive aspect.)

(b) Our guests have arrived – let’s start the party! (The auxiliary have, in conjunction with the
past participle of a verb, is the marker for the perfect aspect.)

(c) At the beginning of the term, students are told to buy the book. (The auxiliary be, in
conjunction with the past participle, is also the usual marker for the passive voice.)
 Auxiliary Verbs (1)
❏ A sentence can include more than one auxiliary:

● He may have forgotten his appointment with the doctor. (modal auxiliary, perfect
have)
● He has been working a lot lately. (perfect have, progressive be)
● Right now, Jason is being interviewed for a position as manager. (progressive be,
passive be)
● They might be coming along with us. (modal auxiliary, progressive be)
● He has been taken to hospital more than once this semester. (perfect have, passive
be)

❏ If there is more than one auxiliary, the order in which they occur is invariable: modal
auxiliary > perfect have > progressive be > passive be.
 Syntactic characteristics of auxiliaries
➔ Auxiliary verbs have certain properties that lexical verbs do not

❏ Direct not-negation
❏ Subject-auxiliary inversion
❏ Ellipsis
 Direct not-negation
❏ Negation at the level of the clause is achieved through the negative word not. If we
want to say that {John – be a doctor} is not the case, we say John is not a doctor.

❏ Only auxiliaries can be directly negated by not. We call this process direct not-negation:

He has not (or hasn’t) eaten a thing.

She does not (or doesn’t) eat meat.
They will not (or won’t) eat sweets.
*He eats not meat.
 Subject-auxiliary inversion (1)
❏ In a number of cases, Subject and Verb exchange positions in the sentence.
❏ The most common use of Subject-auxiliary inversion is in interrogative clauses:

She is still living at home.

Is she still living at home?
Where is she living?

❏ Only auxiliaries can invert with a Subject (Lexical verbs cannot):

She lives at home.

*Lives she at home?
*Where lives she?
 Subject-auxiliary inversion (2)

❏ If there is more than one auxiliary in the sentence, it is only the first that inverts with the
Subject:

They will be waiting for us at the station.

Will they be waiting for us at the station?
*Will be they waiting for us at the station?
 Subject-auxiliary inversion (3)
❏ Preposed (near-)negative adverbs

Never have I been so insulted in my entire life.

Only rarely will she agree to discuss such matters with us.
No sooner had we slipped into bed than the doorbell rang.

❏ Counterfactual and hypothetical conditionals

Had they known, they wouldn’t have agreed to it.

Were he to quit his job, he’d never find another one that pays as well.
Should you need any assistance, please call our toll-free number.
 Subject-auxiliary inversion (4)
❏ Exclamations

Wow, can she sing!

Boy, will they be cross when they find out!
My, aren’t you a clever one!

❏ Affirmative and negative expressions of similarity

Peter can drive, and so can his sister.

Margaret won’t do it, and neither will I.
 Ellipsis (1)
❏ After an auxiliary, the rest of the VP can very often be left unexpressed:

(a) Can you speak Russian? – Yes, I can.

(b) Can you speak Russian? – Yes, I can speak Russian.

The exchange in (b) is not ungrammatical, but it is unlikely: communication is often more
efficient if obvious information is left out. In some cases, ellipsis is obligatory:

(a) Peter can drive, and so can his sister.

(b) *Peter can drive, and so can his sister drive.
 Ellipsis (2)
❏ Ellipsis is found in a number of extremely common structures:

Short answers and short interrogatives

(a) Can you speak Russian? – Yes, I can. Can you? Modal auxiliary
(b) Is she coming to the party? – No, she isn’t. Are they? be, progressive
(c) Have they decided yet? – Yes, they have. What about Sarah? Has she? have,
perfective
(d) Was your paper delivered this morning? – Yes, it was. Wasn’t yours? be, passive
(e) Does she speak Russian? – Yes, she does. But do her children? do-insertion
(*Yes, she speaks. *But speak her children?)
 Ellipsis (3)
❏ These question tags are all elliptical in the sense that everything following the auxiliary
(including the lexical verb) is left unexpressed.

Interrogative tags

(a) But you can speak Russian, can’t you?

(b) She’s coming to the party, isn’t she?
(c) They haven’t decided yet, have they?
(d) Your paper was delivered this morning, wasn’t it?
(e) She speaks Russian, doesn’t she?
(*She speaks Russian, speaks she not?)
 Syntactic restrictions on lexical verbs: do-insertion
❏ It should now be clear that direct not-negation, inversion and ellipsis require an
auxiliary.

❏ When there is no auxiliary, English makes use of a device called do-insertion. This
essentially involves adding do/does (present) or did (past) when the clause does not
contain an auxiliary.

● Students today don’t take as many exams as in my day.

*Students today take not as many exams as in my day.
● How did he occupy himself when he wasn’t at work?
*How occupied he himself when he wasn’t at work?
● Only rarely do I appreciate that sort of dark, morbid humour.
*Only rarely appreciate I that sort of dark, morbid humour.
● My sister always says exactly what she thinks, and so do I.
*My sister always says exactly what she thinks, and so say I.
 Do-insertion (2)
❏ do-insertion can be used not only to satisfy a syntactic requirement, but also in
affirmative declarative clauses, where it fulfils a variety of discursive functions. This
use of do is often called emphatic:

John certainly does know how to throw a party. I had a great time.
 Do-insertion (3)
❏ The verb do is only an auxiliary when it is the result of do-insertion, be it as a syntactic
requirement or to fulfil a function in the discourse. Otherwise, it is a lexical verb like any
other: do the washing up, do the dishes, do one’s homework, do someone a
favour, do the housework.

❏ Lexical do cannot invert or be directly negated. Nor is it used in elliptical contexts. In all
three cases, do-insertion is required.

In this country, young men don’t do military service any more.

What does he do with himself in his free time?
My sister always does as she pleases, and so do I.
 Have: auxiliary or lexical verb? (1)
❏ Have is always an auxiliary when used as a tense marker in perfect tenses (has he
left?, they hadn’t been working); otherwise, have nearly always behaves as a lexical
verb.

have [=eat] breakfast (lunch, dinner, a snack, a bite to eat … )

have a drink
have a long walk (a quick run, a swim … )
have [= give birth to] a baby
have a look around
have [= smoke] a cigarette
have [= host] a party
 Have: auxiliary or lexical verb? (2)
❏ When have is a lexical verb, it cannot be directly negated with not, invert or be used in
elliptical structures; rather, it relies on do-insertion:

I have breakfast every morning, even if I’m not hungry.

I don’t have breakfast unless I’m particularly hungry.
*I haven’t breakfast unless I’m particularly hungry.

He had a cigarette before going back to work.

Did he have a cigarette before going back to work?
*Had he a cigarette before going back to work?

She had a baby last month, didn’t she? – Yes, she did.
*She had a baby last month, hadn’t she? – *Yes, she had.
 Have: auxiliary or lexical verb? (3)
❏ When lexical have expresses meaning associated with possession, physical
description, family relationships or physical ailments or illnesses, the situations referred
to are not dynamic, and progressive aspect is not possible (*I’m having a car; *he’s
having long hair).

have a car (a house, a new PC … )

have (the) time to do something
have straight (long, brown, curly … ) hair, or blue (grey, hazel, beautiful … ) eyes
have a younger sister (an older brother, a stepfather … )
have a headache ((a) toothache, (the) flu, cancer, a cold … )
have a certain mystique (ring, charm, aura … ) to it
have a lot of patience
have a brilliant idea
have a sour (bitter, sweet, funny, strange … ) taste
have some cash (a credit card, a cigarette lighter, a fiver … ) on you
 Have: auxiliary or lexical verb? (4)
❏ A specificity of these non-dynamic uses of lexical have is that it is also possible to use
the verbal expression have got
❏ When have got is used, have is an auxiliary, which means that do-insertion is not
required or possible. Direct negation is possible; have can invert with the Subject
and it can be used in elliptical constructions:

She has got long black hair.

She hasn’t got long black hair.
(*She doesn’t have got long black hair.)
(cf. She doesn’t have long black hair.)
Has she got long black hair?
(*Does she have got long black hair?)
(cf. Does she have long black hair?)