# Adding "a-" in front of a verb: why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 23, 2018, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-in-front-of-a-verb-why/809411 "2018-02-23T14:46:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-in-front-of-a-verb-why/809411/1 "2018-02-23T14:46:13Z")
As in “the times they are a-changing”. Or if you prefer Van Morrison, “laughin’ and a-running, skipping and a-jumping”. Is there a name for this construction? Are there rules for when it’s used? It doesn’t seem to add any value: “the times they are changing” has the same meaning. Is it archaic/obsolete, only used in song lyrics? (In modern usage, it seems to add a layer of rusticity. Like if there was a National Talk Like a Cowboy Day you’d use it all day.) ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-in-front-of-a-verb-why/809411/2 "2018-02-23T14:50:16Z")
In the two cases you cited I think it had to do with the timing of the music and the words. They needed an extra beat and putting an “a” in front of the word gave them that and didn’t change the meaning. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-in-front-of-a-verb-why/809411/3 "2018-02-23T14:59:58Z")
[Etymology Online](https://www.etymonline.com/word/a-) says it is “a relic of various Germanic and Latin elements”, and gives a list of several different a- prefixes. It then quotes the OED as saying > [@](#): > > \*t naturally happened that all these a- prefixes were at length confusedly lumped together in idea, and the resultant a- looked upon as vaguely intensive, rhetorical, euphonic, or even archaic, and wholly otiose. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-in-front-of-a-verb-why/809411/4 "2018-02-23T16:06:58Z")
Most\* German verbs prefix ge- in the past participle and I have always assumed that this is a vestige of older forms like that. \*When the infinitive is stressed on the first syllable, which is most common. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-in-front-of-a-verb-why/809411/5 "2018-02-23T16:57:14Z")
German ge- is not listed as cognate to any of the a- prefixes that Etymology Online lists. However ge- was [common in Old English](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:Old_English_words_prefixed_with_ge-) and may be seen in deliberately archaic forms like _yclept_ and _yclad_. It may also be the source of slang ker- in words like _kerfuffle_ although if so, it must have entered modern English from modern German recently, not via Old English. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-in-front-of-a-verb-why/809411/6 "2018-02-23T17:00:35Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > In the two cases you cited I think it had to do with the timing of the music and the words. They needed an extra beat and putting an “a” in front of the word gave them that and didn’t change the meaning. I can think of several other examples, all from songs. That doesn’t explain _why_ it’s an acceptable way of adding an extra beat without changing meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-in-front-of-a-verb-why/809411/7 "2018-02-23T17:21:01Z")
You pretty much only see/hear it in song lyrics these days, but it used to be a feature of spoken English in some dialects. In North America it persisted in the Appalachians longer than a lot of other places, for example. From what I’ve been able to research, it’s either a relic of old Germanic influences on English or, maybe, an influence of Celtic languages which also have a similar verb construction in the present tense, where the literal translation of an action may be “at walking”, for example: _Tá an cailín **ag siúl** _ is literally\* “Is the girl **at walking** ”\*. Normally that sentence is rendered in English as “The girl is walking” but there are some English dialects where it would be “The girl is a-walking”. A substantial part of Merrye Olde England had Celtic speakers prior to the Anglo-Saxons took over, so it’s not inconceivable that that sort of influence occurred. Or both theories could have some validity. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-in-front-of-a-verb-why/809411/8 "2018-02-23T17:25:35Z")
I’ve heard it outside of songs before, notably in the aphorism “if a frog had wings, he wouldn’t bump his ass a-hopping”. ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-in-front-of-a-verb-why/809411/9 "2018-02-23T17:33:26Z")
I await further replies ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-in-front-of-a-verb-why/809411/10 "2018-02-23T17:45:44Z")
Why is the OP a-fixin’ to change this? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-in-front-of-a-verb-why/809411/11 "2018-02-23T18:07:08Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > I’ve heard it outside of songs before, notably in the aphorism “if a frog had wings, he wouldn’t bump his ass a-hopping”. Some old horse came a-hopping through our azaleas. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-in-front-of-a-verb-why/809411/12 "2018-02-23T18:12:31Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > I’ve heard it outside of songs before, notably in the aphorism “if a frog had wings, he wouldn’t bump his ass a-hopping”. I can picture a scene from Blazing Saddles, with Slim Pickens saying “a-whoopin’ and a-hollerin’”. I’ll see if I can find it. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-in-front-of-a-verb-why/809411/13 "2018-02-23T18:19:02Z")
To my mind it has a modifying effect on the verb, focussing more on the action in itself, rather than the verb+object. Come to think of it, German also uses the “ge” prefix to indicate a generic form of a noun, which is rather the sense I get from the “a+verb” formation in English. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-in-front-of-a-verb-why/809411/14 "2018-02-23T18:36:34Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > […]an influence of Celtic languages which also have a similar verb construction in the present tense, where the literal translation of an action may be “at walking”, for example: _Tá an cailín **ag siúl** _ is literally\* “Is the girl **at walking** ”\*. [https://www.uni-due.de/IERC/IERC\_Celtic-English\_Contact.htm](https://www.uni-due.de/IERC/IERC_Celtic-English_Contact.htm) > [@](#): > > As has been pointed out by many authors previously (see Mittendorf and Poppe 2000: 119) a type of progressive structure in which a gerund was governed by a preposition existed in Old English: ic wæs on huntunge ‘I was hunting’ (Braaten 1967: 173). This type of structure is also found in vernacular German, with an infinitive, as in Ich bin am Schreiben [I am at write-INFINITIVE] ‘I am writing’. > > In this context a further consideration is necessary which Mittendorf and Poppe deal with in their examination of the progressive (2000: 120-2). This is the typological perspective. As noted by other scholars such as Comrie (1976: 98) and Bybee and Dahl (1989: 77) progressive aspect is frequently expressed — in many unrelated languages (Mittendorf and Poppe, loc. cit.) — by means of a locative structure meaning to be ‘at’ and ‘in’ an activity. Furthermore, the step from structures like ic wæs on huntunge to I was hunting is small, involving only the deletion of the preposition. The fully developed progressive form appears in Middle English, but the apparent time delay between the contact with Celtic in the Old English period and the surfacing of the progressive later can be accounted for by the strong tradition of the written standard in Old English and should not be given as an argument against Celtic influence as some authors are inclined to do, see Nickel (1966: 300), for instance, and Dal (1952: 113) who rightly explains the time gap. > > The progressive is found in all Celtic languages and is clearly represented by the Irish structure ag + verbal noun as in Tá mé ag caint léi, lit. ‘is me at talking with-her’. This in itself is a good example of a locative expression for the progressive aspect and is typologically parallel to the Old English ic wæs on huntunge. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-in-front-of-a-verb-why/809411/15 "2018-02-23T18:45:33Z")
In Dylan’s case, in my opinion “the times they are a-changing” is a more folksy way of expressing it. His roots were in folk music and he was both singing to and singing for the common man. And besides, it fits the music. Many songwriters will compose the music first, then write the lyrics to fit the tune. Perfectly acceptable way to do things IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-in-front-of-a-verb-why/809411/16 "2018-02-23T18:49:47Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > [Irish English Resource Centre, (c) Raymond Hickey](https://www.uni-due.de/IERC/IERC_Celtic-English_Contact.htm) **hibernicus** , nice cite, and thanks for the excerpt. I’m guessing someone named hibernicus, like leo bloom but undoubtedly more so, has been involved in Celtic stuff. ETA to **cochrane** , I hear my train. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-in-front-of-a-verb-why/809411/17 "2018-02-23T19:00:12Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Why is the OP **a-fixin’** to change this? [bold added] To take part in the pleasant GQ train (heh) of associations, I looked up this on the bolded, one colloquialism-from-language history on top of another: \*\*[Going to go and having to have - are there any other verbs that do this? (and in other languages)](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=718851) \*\* ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-in-front-of-a-verb-why/809411/18 "2018-02-23T19:00:23Z")
> [@bardos](#): > > I await further replies I see what you did there. In that case, the “a-” is from Old French, derived from Latin “ad-” or “a-”, meaning (usually) “to”. (In Romanian, this became the infinitive prefix, much as “to” did in English). ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-in-front-of-a-verb-why/809411/19 "2018-02-23T19:08:08Z")
> [@bardos](#): > > I await further replies > > > [@JKellyMap](#): > > > > I see what you did there. Huh. Good interesting. The etymology is on the level? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-in-front-of-a-verb-why/809411/20 "2018-02-23T19:21:02Z")
Also, [I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.](https://genius.com/Johnny-cash-folsom-prison-blues-lyrics) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-a-in-front-of-a-verb-why/809411.md?page=2)