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terminology - Is "am" in "I am right" an auxiliary verb?


Consider these sentences:



The ice was thick enough to walk on.


They were in a hurry.


There is enough salt in it.


It is freezing.


I am right.



Are the italicized verbs auxiliary verbs?



Update: Let me explain why I asked this question.


The above sentences are from exercise 6 "Auxiliary verbs" from the book "A Practical English Grammar Exercises 1".


From the 36 sentences in exercise 6, all except the above mentioned five sentences are indeed sentences that contain auxiliary verbs (may, must, can, will, had, etc.).


So, what happened here? Why are those five sentences in this exercise? Is it an oversight?



View image in full resolution here: http://i.stack.imgur.com/gjn8J.gif



Answer



Before I start, let me remind you that an auxiliary verb (to be, to have) is called like this because it helps another verb (from NOAD: late Middle English : from Latin "auxiliarius", from auxilium ‘help.’) as in, it supports the main verb.



The ice was thick enough to walk on.


They were in a hurry.


There is enough salt in it.


I am right.



Regarding the sentences above the answer is no, because there is no complex construction, they all are "simple" tenses. The main verb is "to be" in all of them.


"Thick", "enough" and "right" are not verbs.



It is freezing.



In this case, instead, we have an ambiguous situation, since it can be: (1) the verb "is" performs the role of auxiliary verb, since "to freeze" is a verb, or (2) freezing is an adjective/adverb, and in that case, the verb "is" wouldn't be an auxiliary verb.


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