From S
D - Singapore
"... I cannot believe I am ever going to master
English grammar appropriately,
particularly after reading the LSEG book. There is so much new information in that book that I feel disoriented
..."
"... what is the difference between semi-modal defectives and semi-auxiliaries?"
We are not machines, dear readers, therefore the process of learning is slow and repetitive in
nature for us. Learning the knowledge presented in LSEG takes some time, and a lot of patient work.
The difference between semi-modal defectives and semi-auxiliary verbs is clearly presented in LSEG theoretically
[please study chapter M6.7.1, and subchapters M6.7.7.1, M6.7.7.2] and in examples
[study Table M6.7.1.2, and
examples M6.7.7.1, M6.7.7.2.1, M6.7.7.2.2].
The category of semi-modal defective verbs groups verbs which are both principal and modal defectives.
The most outstanding representative from this category is the verb "to dare":
1. dare - dared - dared - daring (principal verb)
2. dare - durst (modal defective)
Particular to semi-modal defective verbs is, they are followed by a short infinitive--this is, in addition to
other characteristics common to all modal defectives.
The category of semi-auxiliary verbs is further structured into:
1. group one (all copulative verbs)
2. group two (these are phrasal verbs containing "to be" or "to have" embedded)
Particularly confusing is the fact that the verbs from group two above exhibit usage limitations, meaning, they may be
considered modal defectives. However, there is no way the forms of the
semi-auxiliary verbs from group two could
be confused for semi-modal defectives.
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