African American Vernacular English/Verbs

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Verbs in AAVE are quite similar to other English dialects, however there are some differences. Most importantly:

  1. There is no conjugation for the present tense. In the Copula all forms use the third-person singular, in all other verbs, the form used for all versions except the third person singular is used.
  2. The rules for the Copula are different than in MAE, and it can sometimes be dropped.
  3. AAVE has more Aspects than MAE.