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Auxiliary verbs in compound tenses in Italian and German: A comparative study
verb âto haveâ is used to create past forms in many languages: if a person reads
a book its content becomes his or her intellectual âbelongingâ just like something
eaten or drunk enters the body of the consumer. This theory seems to stem from
primitive beliefs reflecting the profound original conception of repossessing of an
object (or a person, the case of cannibalism included) by coping with it in a given
way, e.g. eating it. This interpretation, however closer to philosophical reflections
than pure linguistic research, might be useful for teachers and students as it could
help to remember the rule. In German it is also true that transitive verbs conjugate
with haben, but there might be some exceptions, like (Hall/Scheiner 1999:8):
(7) Sie ist kein Risiko eingegangen âShe did not take any riskâ,
(8) Sie ist die alte Wohnung schnell losgeworden âShe got rid of her old flat
In the above examples the verbs do have direct objects and nevertheless they
conjugate with the verb sein âto beâ. This exception can be explained by the fact
that these verbs are actually (Germ.) pseudotransitive Verben, the ones that do not
have a passive form, although they do have a direct object. Another explanation is
given by Helbig/Buscha (2001:123), according to whom verbs which are derivatives of other verbs (such as gehen âto goâ or werden âto become, to stayâ) that conjugate with sein will conjugate with sein, too. Apart from this type of verbs, other
transitive verbs conjugate with the verb avere/haben âto haveâ in both languages.
One of the major differences between the two languages as far as auxiliary
verbs are concerned is related to reflexive verbs. In Italian all reflexive verbs take
the auxiliary verb essere âto beâ and there are no exceptions to this rule, except for
the use of reflexive verbs with modal verbs like âwantâ, âcanâ or âmustâ (volere,
potere and dovere), but this problem will be discussed later. Therefore, in Italian
we can cite examples like:
(9) Mi sono riposata âI took a restâ,
(10) Ti sei vestita âYou dressed yourselfâ,
(11) Ci siamo visti ieri âWe saw each other, we met yesterdayâ.
In all the examples in Italian the verb essere was used, also in the case of the reciprocal reflexive verb. The explanation of this rule can be the fact that in Italian,
just like in German, verbs which express some changes in appearance or state of
health conjugate with essere/sein. Reflexive verbs in numerous cases express the
changes in appearance or health condition or at least this is the perspective of the
Italian language. Still, in German all reflexive verbs conjugate with the auxiliary
verb haben âto haveâ. This is the reason why in German the above Italian sentences will be translated as follows:
Studia Linguistica 34, 2015
Â© for this edition by CNS
SL_34-05-Karczewska.indd 65
2016-04-28 08:49:50
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