| From: | caeruleancentaur <caeruleancentaur@...> |
|---|---|
| Date: | Sunday, June 5, 2005, 2:57 |
--- In conlang@yahoogroups.com, Henrik Theiling <theiling@A...> wrote: Hi!>In Mandarin Chinese, it's often hard to tell. I noticed this in a >construction that is different in German and English:> English: I like to drink beer. auxiliary 'to like' > German: Ich trinke gerne Bier. adverb 'gerne'I don't believe that "to like" is an auxiliary verb in English. It can take a direct object (I like him) as well as a complementary infinitive. It also doesn't pass the other two tests of an auxiliary: 1) It cannot take an inverted subject: likes he? 2) It does not have a contracted negative: liken't. The main auxiliary verbs are: do, be and have. The modal auxiliaries include: can/could, may/might, shall/should, will/would, must, ought to, and used to. "Dare" and "need" are called semi-auxiliaries by some, although I don't know why. They can take an inverted subject: Dare I do it? Need I say more? And they have a contracted negative: daren't (in some dialects dasn't) and needn't. Charlie http:/wiki.frath.net/user:caeruleancentaur
| Henrik Theiling <theiling@...> |