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Negative (−) form. The negative form of may is may not. We don’t use don’t / doesn’t/didn’t with may: We may not have enough information at the moment. Not: We don’t may have enough information at the moment. Warning: We don’t use mayn’t as the contracted form of may not: We may not yet know what is safe to eat.
- Polski
May - English Grammar Today-Cambridge Dictionary- punkt...
- English (US)
May - English Grammar Today - a reference to written and...
- Polski
- David Crystal's Take
- Beware and Begone
- The Defective Copula Is
- George Campbell on The Defective Verb 'Ought'
- Discussions of Defective Verbs in 19Th-Century School Grammars
- A List of Defective Verbs
- Various Discussions on Defective Verbs
"In grammar, [defective is] a traditional description of words which do not display all the rules of the class to which they belong. The English modal verbs, for example, are defective in that they do not permit the usual range of verb forms, such as an infinitive or participle forms (*to may, *shalling, etc.). Because of its pejorative connotation...
"Some verbs are termed defective; they are such as want some of the parts ordinarily ascribed to verbs. Beware is a defective verb being used only in the imperative or to give a caution. . . . Begone may be accounted another defective verb like beware. Begone is a compound, made up of be and gone, that is get away; and beware is composed of be and ...
"A defective verb is one which has not all the usual verbal forms. Is, the copula, is irregular. It is also defective as it has no imperative or autonomous forms, no verbal noun or verbal adjective." (Irish-English/English-Irish Easy Reference Dictionary. Roberts Rinehart, 1998)
"[I]n order to express the past with the defective verb ought, we must use the perfect of the infinitive, and say for example, 'he ought to have done it'; this in that verb being the only possible way of distinguishing the past from the present." (George Campbell, The Philosophy of Rhetoric, Volume 1, 1776)
"What do you mean by a Defective Verb? "A Defective Verb is a Verb that is imperfect; that is, that cannot be conjugated through all the Moods and Tenses; such as the Verb Ought, which has just been repeated. "Which are the Defective Verbs? "The Auxiliary Verbs are in general defective, because they have not any Participles; neither do they admit a...
Defective verbs are those that can be used only in some particular modes and tenses. They are few in number and are as follows: 1. am 2. been 3. can 4. could 5. may 6. might 7. shall 8. should 9. was 10. will 11. would
"Love is not a defective verb; you can use it in any mood and tense. You can say, I love, I loved, I have loved, I had loved, I shall or will love, I shall have loved, I may, can or must love: but can is a defective verb. You can say I can, but you cannot say I have can, I had can, I shall can or will can, I may can, or must can." (J.H. Hull, Lectu...
- used to say that something is possible. That may or may not be true. He may have (= perhaps he has) missed his train. They may well win. There is a range of programs on the market which may be described as design aids.
- (formal) used to ask for or give permission. May I come in? You may come in if you wish. Which Word? can / may can / may. Can and cannot (or can’t) are the most common words used for asking for, giving or refusing permission
- used when admitting that something is true before introducing another point, argument, etc. They may be well-meaning, but they are wrong. Topics Opinion and argument b2.
- (formal) used as a polite way of making a comment, asking a question, etc. You look lovely, if I may say so. May I ask why you took that decision? If I may just add one thing…
Level: intermediate. We use may have and might have to make guesses about the past: I haven't received your letter. It may have got lost in the post. It's ten o'clock. They might have arrived by now. We also use might: as the past tense of requests with may: He asked if he might borrow the car.
People also ask
What are defective verbs in English?
What does defective mean in grammar?
What is the negative form of May?
What does may not [+verb] mean?
Defective Verbs in English language are – can, may, must, ought, should. Common characteristics of these verbs: 1. They have not all verb forms. 2 .Do not take s in the third person of the present tense singular. I can. I may. I must. I ought.
Aug 19, 2018 · 1 Answer. Sorted by: 4. There aren't many defective verbs in English, but it's difficult to say exactly how many there are because some words might or might not be defective, depending on how willing you are to accept weird-sounding forms.
In linguistics, a defective verb is a verb with an incomplete conjugation, or one which cannot be used in some other way as normal verbs can. Defective verbs cannot be conjugated in certain tenses, aspects, or moods. English Common defectives . The most commonly recognized defective verbs in English are auxiliary verbs — the class of ...
