helping verb

noun

First recorded in 1815–25

How does helping verb compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

Do has been called a helping verb; but it needs little observation to discover that it is no more so than a hundred other words.

The difference in time is expressed by a change in the infinitive instead of a change in the form of the helping verb.

With may and might and can and could, present and past time are expressed by a change in the form of the helping verb.

Often in using verb phrases, we use phrases in which the same helping verb occurs in both phrases.

In interrogative sentences, the subject comes after the helping verb or after the interrogative used to introduce the sentence.

April 18, 2024petrichor

[pet-ri-kawr]

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