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Zero copula is a linguistic term used to define the absence of the copula. Russian, Hungarian, Hebrew, and Arabic, among others, exhibit this phenomenon.
Omission of the copula frequenly depends on the tense and use of the copula. For example, in Russian the copula byt' is normally omitted in the present tense, but not in the past tense:
- Ona v dome = She is in the house, literally She in house
- Ona byla v dome = She was in the house, literally She was in house
The present tense of the copula in Russian was in common use well into the 1800s (this is evident in the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky), but now is used only for archaic effect.
See also
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