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Defective Verbs in English. 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.
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]. Both the present and the preterit may be used in combination with [ have + past participle] to express a guess or a possibility about ...
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May - English Grammar Today - a reference to written and spoken English grammar and usage - Cambridge Dictionary
4 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.
- used to say that something is possible That may or may not be true. He may have (= perhaps he has) missed his plane. They may well win. There are numerous programs on the market that may be described as design aids.
- used when admitting that something is true before introducing another point, argument, etc. He may be a good father but he's a terrible husband.
- (formal) used to ask for or give permission May I come in? You may come in if you wish. Which Word?can / may. Can and cannot (or can’t) are the most common words used for asking for, giving, or refusing permission:Can I borrow your calculator?
- (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 made that decision? If I may just add one thing…
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.
Defective verb. 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 ...
