In
linguistics, a
compound verb or
complex predicate is a multi-
word compound that functions as a single
verb. One component of the compound is a
light verb or
vector, which carries any
inflections, indicating
tense,
mood, or
aspect, but provides only fine shades of meaning. The other, "primary", component is a verb or noun which carries most of the
semantics of the compound, and determines its
arguments. It is usually in either
base or [in Verb + Verb compounds]
conjunctive participial form.