Auxiliary Verbs

By Mehwish Ali Khan

taken from thelecturette.com presented with amendments

What is an auxiliary verb?

• An auxiliary verb is also called a helper verb

• A verb used in forming the tenses, moods, and voices of other verbs

• It comes before some verbs

• Not all sentences have an auxiliary

Sentences with no auxiliary verb

• I played football last night

• I walk this way to school every day

• I like chocolate

Can you identify the verbs in these sentences?

• Auxilary verbs are divided into two categories principal Auxiliaries and Modals(secondary auxiliaries)

• "The auxiliary verbs of English are the following:can,,could, may,might will,would shall,should, must, ought, need, dare used to[modals]– be, have, do, [non-modals

Here are some sentences with missing auxiliary verbs – can you

suggest replacements?• I _____ walking along the dusty road.

• Tomorrow I ___ swim for my school.

• I __ very good at maths.

• Dad _____ the dishes because mum cooks the tea.

• I ___ spell all of the words on my list.

To do

do, does, did• These are followed by the base form of a verb

• e.g. I do work very hard.• Johnny does try his best.• They did win the game last week.

• Put each of these auxiliaries into a sentence of your own

To have

Have, has, had• These are followed by the past participle of

the next verb

• e.g. • I have eaten all of my food.• John has climbed Ben Nevis. • Debbie had hidden all of Paul’s pencils.

To be

Am, is, are, was, were,been,being• Is followed by the present or past participle in the

sentence

• e.g. I am going to the park. (going = present)• Kylie is singing at Wembley stadium.• I was beaten by a better player• They were running past the gates when they saw a

dog.

The auxiliary verbs are ‘be’, ‘have’, and ‘do’. They are used with a main verb to form tenses, negatives and questions.

He is planning to get married soon.

I haven’t seen Peter since last night.

Which doctor do you want to see?

‘Be’ as an auxiliary verb is used:

• with the ‘-ing’ form of the main verb to form continuous tenses

He is living in Germany.

They were going to phone you.

‘Be’ as an auxiliary verb is also used:

• with the past participle of the main verb to form the passive.

These cars are made in Japan.

The wall of her flat were covered with posters.

You use ‘have’ as an auxiliary with the past participle to form the perfect tenses.

I have changed my mind.

I wish you had met Paul.

The present perfect continuous, the past perfect continuous, and the perfect tenses in the passive are formed using both ‘have’ and ‘be’.

He has been working very hard recently.

She did not know how long she had been lying there.

Examples continued….

The guest-room window has been mended.

They had been taught by a young teacher.

‘Be’ and ‘have’ are also used as auxiliaries in negative sentences and questions in continuous and perfect tenses, and in the passive.

He isn’t going.

Hasn’t she seen it yet?

Was it written in English?

You use ‘do’ as an auxiliary to make negative and question forms from sentences that have a verb in the present simple or past simple.

He doesn’t think he can come to the party.

Do you like her new haircut?

She didn’t buy the house.

Didn’t he get the job.

Note: You can use ‘do’ as a main verb with the auxiliary ‘do’.

He didn’t do his homework.

Do the do the work themselves.

You can also use the auxiliary ‘do’ with have as a main verb.

He doesn’t have any money.

Does anyone have a question?

You only use ‘do’ in affirmative sentences for emphasis or contrast.

I do feel sorry for Roger.

WARNING: You never use the auxiliary ‘do’ with ‘be’ except in the imperative.

Don’t be stupid.

Do be a good boy and sit still.

Some grammars include modals among the auxiliary verbs. When there is a modal in the verb group, it is always the first word in the verb group, and comes before the auxiliaries ‘be’ and ‘have’.

She might be going to Switzerland for Christmas.

I would have liked to see her.

Note: You never use the auxiliary ‘do’ with a modal.