Basic Examples
Some sentences containing representative auxiliary verbs from English, German, and French follow, with the auxiliary verb marked in bold:
-
- a. Do you want tea?
-
- b. He had given his all.
-
- c. Das wurde mehrmals gesagt.
- That became many.times said = "That was said many times."
- c. Das wurde mehrmals gesagt.
-
- d. Sie ist nach Hause gegangen.
- She is to home gone = "She went home/She has gone home."
- d. Sie ist nach Hause gegangen.
-
- e. J'ai vu le soleil.
- I have seen the sun = "I have seen the sun/I saw the sun."
- e. J'ai vu le soleil.
-
- f. Nous sommes aidés.
- We are helped = "We are being helped."
- f. Nous sommes aidés.
These auxiliaries help express a question, show tense/aspect, or form passive voice. Auxiliaries like these typically appear with a full verb that carries the main semantic content of the clause.
Read more about this topic: Auxiliary Verb
Famous quotes containing the words basic and/or examples:
“What, then, is the basic difference between today’s computer and an intelligent being? It is that the computer can be made to see but not to perceive. What matters here is not that the computer is without consciousness but that thus far it is incapable of the spontaneous grasp of pattern—a capacity essential to perception and intelligence.”
—Rudolf Arnheim (b. 1904)
“Histories are more full of examples of the fidelity of dogs than of friends.”
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744)