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Auxiliary + Null Copula

In [#!lapointe80!#] the copula is treated as an auxiliary verb that takes as its complement a VP headed by a passive verb, a present participle, or a null verb (the true copula). This verb may then take AP, NP or PP complements. The author points out that there are many languages that have been analyzed as having a null copula, but that English has the peculiarity that its null copula requires the co-presence of the auxiliary be.

XTAG Project
1998-09-14