Definition: (auxiliary) A syntactic marker.
Alright class, settle down, let’s take a look! You’ve stumbled upon a tricky word today, “did,” and the dictionary is pointing out something important – it’s a ‘syntactic marker.’ Now, that might sound a little fancy, but don't you worry your head. Let's break it down nice and slow instead. Think of "did" as a helper verb, you see? It joins words together, for you and for me! Here’s what 'did' does – let’s look at the ways: Past Simple: It tells us something already happened , it's in the past. Like saying, “I did my homework last night!” - It shows an action that's complete. Helping Verb (Auxiliary): This is where the 'syntactic marker’ part comes in. "Did" helps another verb to make a sentence stronger and clearer. Think of it like this: “She did sing,” – ‘Did’ tells us that “sing” happened. It's not quite on its own, you understand? Let’s rhyme it out for clarity: “Did” is a helper, quick and bright, Adding action to the light! Do you have any questions about how "did" works in sentences? Don’t be shy - let's discuss! Would you like some examples or perhaps a little practice exercise?