Questions tagged [defective-verbs]
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10 questions
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What is the infinitive of "can"?
Like the title says: I don't think "to can" is right :)
I mean "can" as in to be able to. I'm aware of other meanings.
I can't find the answer here. (There's What is an "infinitive"? which ...
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Why is "can" such an odd verb?
The English verb can is very strange for several reasons:
It drops the to on any infinitive verb forms that follow it. That is, unlike in the verb want in the sentence I want to eat, you would not ...
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Infinitive of “may” and “might”?
What’s the infinitive of the verb I use when I say “I might go” or “May I come with you”?
I think in German it’s dürfen. Is there one in English? If not, why not?
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What causes a verb to be infinitive only?
Why are some verbs only usable in the infinitive? The one example I can think of is "to spite" (see "to wit in the accepted answer). While wiktionary claims that spited is a word, that doesn't match ...
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Progressive form of "beware"
I am reading a book, called Minimalist Syntax: Exploring the Structure of English. At the beginning of chapter 2, when discussing the inflectional morphology of English verbs, the author says:
The ...
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What are the defective verbs in English?
Apart from modals, what defective verbs exist? For example, beware and begone.
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'be sick' : defective verb [closed]
George is being sick means 'George is bringing up food from his
stomach'; George is sick means 'George is ill'. However, George was
sick can mean either George brought up food from his stomach or ...
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"must + [verb]" past simple
Is there a way to use must in past simple?
Present simple: You must run.
Past perfect: You must have ran.
Past simple doesn't work: You must ran.
Not even with another word to indicate past (since ...
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“I can't be available” vs “I will not be available”
I had written “I can't be available from 9-10.” My friends suggested that I rewrite it as “I can't be available from 9-10”. Both answers were not satisfying me. I had searched on the internet for ...
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Present Continuous: Is there an oughting to, shoulding, or musting? [duplicate]
I just tried to say "I detest my bed oughting to stay clean" before my brain short-circuited.
Naturally the structure of the sentence works if "ought to" is replaced by other ...
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