Pro-verb

Not to be confused withProverb.

For other uses, seeProverb (disambiguation).

Inlinguistics,apro-verbis averbor partialphrasethat substitutes for a contextually recognizableverb phrase(via a process known asgrammaticalgapping), obviating the need to repeat an antecedent verb phrase.A pro-verb is a type ofanaphorathat falls within the general group of word classes calledpro-forms.

In English

The term "pro-verb" is used in English linguistics since the 19th century, a standard example is provided by variations of the verb "do": "I liked the movie; she did too" (didstands for "liked it" ).

Englishdoes not have dedicated pro-verbs; however, abare infinitivecan generally be implied rather than expressed.Catenative verbsthat take bare infinitives can be said to double as pro-verbs by implying rather than expressing them (including most of theauxiliary verbs). Similarly, the auxiliary verbshaveandbecan double as pro-verbs for perfect, progressive, and passive constructions by eliding the participle. When there is no other auxiliary or catenative verb,docan

The following are some examples of these kinds of pro-verb:

• Who can tell? —No onecan[tell].
• Why can't he do it? —Hecan[do it]; he justwon't[do it].
• I like pie, asdoeshe [like pie].
• Why did you break the jar? —Hemademe [break the jar].
• Can you go to the park? No, Icannot [go to the park].

Note that, when there are multiple auxiliary verbs, some of these may be elided as well. For example, in reply to "Who's been leaving the milk out of the refrigerator?", any of "You've been doing it", "You have been", or "You have" would have the same meaning.

Since a to-infinitive is just theparticletoplus a bare infinitive, and a bare infinitive can be elided, the particletodoubles as a pro-verb for a to-infinitive:

• Clean your room! —I don't wantto[clean my room].
• He refused to clean his room when I told himto[clean his room].

Finally, even in dialects where bare infinitives and participles can be elided, there does exist the pro-verbdo so:"He asked me to leave, so Idid so".This pro-verb, unlike the above-described pro-verbs, can be used in any grammatical context; however, in contexts where another pro-verb could be used, it can be overly formal. For example, in" I want to get an 'A', butto do so,I need to get a perfect score on the next test, "there is no other pro-verb that could be used; whereas in" I want to get an 'A', but I can'tdo so,"thedo socould simply be elided, and doing so would make the sentence sound less formal.

Sources

• *"Pro-Verb: The Complement to the Pronoun".Merriam-Webster.2019-01-28.Retrieved2024-05-17.