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In English grammar, defective verb is a traditional term for a verb that doesn't exhibit all the typical forms of a conventional verb. English modal verbs ( can, could, may, might, must, ought, shall, should, will , and would) are defective in that they lack distinctive third-person singular and nonfinite forms.
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.
- 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…
1. They have not all verb forms. 2 .Do not take s in the third person of the present tense singular. 3. They form their interrogative forms by inversion. 4. They form their negative forms by adding not: 5. All these verbs are followed by a bare infinitive except the verb ought which must be followed by an infinitive with to: I can go now.
If a negation is needed, add "not" after may/might. The contracted form of may is mayn't, pronounced ['meɪənt], and is now rarely used, while the contracted form of might not is mightn't, pronounced [ˈmʌɪt(ə)nt]. Please refer to the dictionary entries for more information on English usage: may / might.
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In linguistics, a defective verb is a verb that either lacks a conjugated form or entails incomplete conjugation, and thus cannot be conjugated for certain grammatical tenses, aspects, persons, genders, or moods that the majority of verbs or a "normal" or regular verb in a particular language can be conjugated for [citation needed]. That is to ...
Defective Verbs. A Defective Verb is one that is not used in all the Moods and Tenses as, must, ought and quoth. Auxiliary Verbs = Helping Verbs. An Auxiliary Verb is one which helps to form the Moods and Tenses of other verbs. The auxiliary verbs are - shall, may, can, must, be, do, have and will. Remarks on The Auxiliary Verbs. 1.
