Other

main verb

Syllabification: (main verb)

Definition of main verb

noun

Grammar

1the verb in a main clause.

2the head of a verb phrase, for example eat in might have been going to eat it.

Grammar

The verb phrase in a clause can contain two types of verb: main verbs and auxiliary verbs. If it only contains a single verb, then that is a main verb. If it contains more than one, then one will be a main verb and the other(s) auxiliary. In the examples that follow, the main verb is in bold type and the auxiliary verb(s) in italics.Strange men moved about the streets in pairs. Everything now was always reminding me of something else. By evening, the thieves wereapprehended. In the second preceding example, the auxiliary verb is used to form the tense:was reminding: past continuous tense In the last example, the auxiliary is used to form the passive voice.

main verb in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of main verb in the British & World English dictionary

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