helping verb
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English
[edit]Noun
[edit]helping verb (plural helping verbs)
- (grammar) An auxiliary verb; a verb that accompanies the main verb in a clause.
- 1814, Lindley Murray, The Young Man's Best Companion: And Book of General Knowledge[1]:
- Such verbs as can be formed through the present and past times without the aid of any of these helping verbs, are called principal verbs, and are formed thus:
Usage notes
[edit]Chiefly used in teaching grammar to children and English language learners rather than in academic linguistics.
Translations
[edit]auxiliary verb — see auxiliary verb