On 2009-10-29, at 5:43 PM, Assembly for the Teaching of English  
Grammar wrote:

> In the sentence I am going to eat that banana, is to eat an  
> infinitive?

Imperative and subjunctive clauses aside, the verb to the far left is  
tensed (present or past tense). Simply speaking, all verbs that follow  
it are either participles (past or present) or infinitives (to- or  
bare).

> I want to say no, because going to is the equivalent of the modal  
> will.

I don't think they're entirely equivalent, but 'will' and the other  
modals are followed by bare infinitives, so make of that what you will.

>  Would going to be an auxiliary in this case?

It doesn't have the NICE properties of auxiliary verbs (negation,  
inversion, code, emphasis). I think most grammars would say that  
'be' ("I AM going to eat...") is the auxiliary verb.

Best,
Brett

-----------------------
Brett Reynolds
English Language Centre
Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
[log in to unmask]

To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"

Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/