have

[tkacka15]

Both countries have democratically elected leaders.

Is "have" an auxiliary verb or a lexical one in the above sentence?

Thank you.

 

[Raymott]

It would be an auxiliary verb in "Both countries have elected democratic leaders." But in your example, there's no other verb that 'have' could be auxiliary to.

 

[tkacka15]

It would be an auxiliary verb in "Both countries have elected democratic leaders." But in your example, there's no other verb that 'have' could be auxiliary to.

Thank you, Raymott, for the reply.

Can the adverb "democratically' modify the verb phrase "have elected" or is it ambiguous meaning that it may equally modify the adjectival past participle "elected" in the noun phrase "democratically elected leaders"?

 

[Raymott]

Yes, I see what you mean. The original could mean that both countries have elected leaders democratically, in which case, 'democratically' modifies 'have elected', and 'have' is auxiliary. I was mistaken.
It's ambiguous. I took it to mean that "Both countries have (possess) leaders who were democratically elected".

 

[MikeNewYork]

So did I.