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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.
from English Grammar Today. May: forms. Affirmative (+) form. May comes first in the verb phrase (after the subject and before another verb): It may be possible for him to get home tonight. May can’t be used with another modal verb: This may hurt you. Not: This may could hurt you. or This could may hurt you. Negative (−) form.
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 ...
2 days ago · May is now a defective verb. It has no infinitive, no past participle, and no future tense. Forms of to be allowed to are used to replace these missing tenses. The simple past (both indicative and subjunctive) of may is might.
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may. 'may' is the model of its conjugation. This defective modal helping verb exists only in the present and preterit tenses. It is followed by a main verb in the bare infinitive, or by [ have + past participle].
Aug 19, 2018 · 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.
Defective verbs in English are verbs which do not have all the usual verb forms. These verbs cannot be used in some of the ways that normal verbs can. Native English speakers do not normally learn about defective verbs. It is more common to study irregular verb forms (for example: eat, ate, eaten) and exceptions to the rules.
