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auxiliary verb
[ awg-zil-yuh-ree vurb, -zil-uh- ]
noun
Grammar.
- a verb used before and together with certain forms of other verbs, such as infinitives or participles, to express distinctions of tense, duration, possibility, obligation, etc., as in I am listening, We have spoken, They can see, Did you go?
auxiliary verb
noun
- a verb used to indicate the tense, voice, mood, etc, of another verb where this is not indicated by inflection, such as English will in he will go, was in he was eating and he was eaten, do in I do like you, etc
auxiliary verb
- A “helping” verb that modifies the main verb, as in “Gail can win,” “Gail did win,” “Gail could have won.” A question often begins with an auxiliary verb: “ Did Gail win?” “ Could Gail lose?” The various forms of the verbs can , have , is , and does frequently act as auxiliaries.
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51Թ History and Origins
Origin of auxiliary verb1
First recorded in 1755–65
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