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ausiliario

auxiliary

noun adjective ow-zee-LYAH-ryoh Rare

Origin: Latin auxiliarius (helping, assisting)

Also means

helper

Usage Note

Ausiliario as an adjective means 'auxiliary' or 'supporting' — verbo ausiliario (auxiliary verb, i.e. avere or essere), personale ausiliario (support staff). As a noun it refers to an auxiliary worker or soldier. Learners of Italian grammar encounter it immediately when studying compound tenses, since the choice between avere and essere as the ausiliario is one of the trickiest aspects of the language.

Examples

"In italiano 'essere' è un verbo ausiliario."

Natural Translation

In Italian 'essere' is an auxiliary verb.

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