pro-verb

See also: proverb

English

Etymology

Formed in English of pro- (“substituting for”) +‎ verb.[1]

Noun

pro-verb (plural pro-verbs)

  1. (linguistics, grammar) A pro-form used to substitute for a verb or verb phrase.
    • 1875, Simon Kerl, A Common School Grammar of the English Language‎, page 150:
      “They herd cattle, and raise corn, just as we used to do”; i.e., to herd cattle and raise corn. Do is sometimes thus used as a sort of pro-verb to represent an active verb or a phrase.
    • 2000, Laurel Brinton, The Structure of Modern English: A Linguistic Introduction, page 206:
      The pro-verb do is like a pronoun; just as a pronoun replaces the entire NP, the pro-verb replaces an entire VP.

Usage notes

In some languages an auxiliary verb may function as a pro-verb, coreferential with a verb or verb phrase. The most common pro-verb in English is do.

Translations

References
  1. “pro-, prefix1.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2020.
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