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How can anybody possibly use a preposition as an auxiliary verb? How is it supposed to make any sense?

DrWatson · 70-79, M
If you mean things like "I would of done that", I think they are just going by the sound of the words. And since "have" as an auxiliary doesn't have the literal meaning of "to have" in the sense of possession, one can argue that the auxiliary verb is just a syntactic structure with little semantic content. So, it becomes understandable for someone to substitute "of" (having no sensible meaning) to replace "have" (which really does not have much meaning either when used this way) simply because the two sound similar.

It still grates on my nerves, however! 😄
HeadGirl · 41-45, F
@DrWatson Where I come from the words "of" and "have" sound about as similar as "otter" and "hatter". We don't hear people saying "he's as mad as an otter", do we?
DrWatson · 70-79, M
@HeadGirl Ah. I should have made the comparison between "would of" and "would've".
HeadGirl · 41-45, F
@DrWatson I don't see for the life of me how "'ve" can be short for something ending in "f". It's just SO illogical.
MrAverage1965 · 61-69, M
Most people don't know what a proposition or an auxiliary verb are. They simply learn how to talk by observing those around them. As long as they are understood by those those the words were intended for that's all that matters.
HeadGirl · 41-45, F
@MrAverage1965 Most people do know because we were taught in school what they were.
Penny · 46-50, F
im going to?
Thinkerbell · 41-45, F
Um... "to" go indicates the infinitive of go?
4meAndyou · F
What I don't understand is the continual mis-spelling of the word "lose"

I keep seeing it spelled as "loose".

AND that bugs me, because you don't loose your keys. You haven't loost your cat. And most of these habitual mis-spellers are NOT "loosers"...🤣🤣🤣
HeadGirl · 41-45, F
@4meAndyou Where did that come from? I never did get that.
I forgot what a preposition is. Let me google it.
Sidewinder · 36-40, M
@Spoiledbrat Up, down, left, right, ahead, behind, above, below, inside, outside.

Those are prepositions.

Used in sentences such as...

The ball is [u]in[/u] the box.

It's on the shelf [u]above[/u] the desk.

[u]Down[/u] the hall and to the [u]left.[/u]
Pfuzylogic · M
implied missing words…
fill in the blanks
Now that is a question and a half.
DDonde · 31-35, M
What do you mean?
HeadGirl · 41-45, F
@DDonde What I say. Re-read the question.
tenente · 100+, M
conversationally, yes. my sister is a backseat driver and this week when I was driving her and my niece to school she lectured me "You have to look out for the cyclists when driving!" (they should look out for me, but that's not the question lol)

 
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