Auxiliary Verbs

The two main classes of the verb are the main verbs, also called action verbs and auxiliary verbs that are also called helping verbs. Now, the verb forms of 'be' (is, am, are, was, were), 'do' (do, does, did), and 'have' ( has, have, and had) are called non-modal auxiliary verbs. These are used before the main verb and help to make tenses, passive forms, questions, and negatives. The verbs can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must, ought to, used to, need, and dare are modals auxiliary verbs. These are used to express permission, possibility, certainty, necessity, etc. The details of auxiliary verbs with examples are given below.

The forms of the auxiliaries 'be', 'do', and 'have' are used in the formation of interrogative sentences. In this kind of sentence, the auxiliaries are placed before the subject. Such placement of auxiliary verb is called 'inversion' or 'fronting'.

Examples:

• Do they like tea or coffee?
• Do you want to do this work now?
• Does he go to school regularly?
• Does it matter how much they take time to complete this work?
• Did you know when did she go?
• Did Aman go to Patna last month?
• Have we reached home?
• Have they gone for a trial match?
• Has she given me a bottle?
• Has my mother opened the door?
• Had Maya read David Copperfield?
• Had they gone to South Africa last month?
• Is John a very good football player?
• Are we waiting for the magician?
• Am I looking good?

These auxiliary verbs are also used in the formation of negative sentences with the use of 'not'.

Examples:

• Ramesh has not reached home yet.
• She does not tell a lie.
• People were not listening to the speaker.
• I don't have any idea how to do this.
• I have not bought this pen.
• You didn't take a risk.
• We had not waited for the bus.
• Manya is not reading the science book.
• I am not enjoying my food.

How Should Auxiliary Verbs Be Used?

Auxiliary verbs can serve a variety of tasks in a sentence or context. Auxiliary verbs help to change the tense, voice, and mood of a sentence. Let's have a closer look at how these verbs fulfill each of these qualities.

Auxiliary Verbs Utilized to Change the Sentence Tense

There are some auxiliary verbs in specific that can be employed to alter the tense of the action done by the subject (noun or pronoun) in a situation. All 'to be' verb forms, 'have' forms, and 'will' forms are utilized to signify different tenses.

Points To Remember

• When utilizing the forms of 'to be,' utilize the gerund (verb+ing) form of the main verb to express ongoing action.
• When employing forms of 'have', consider to it that you utilize the past participle forms of the main verbs together with various forms of 'have'. There is one more thing you must keep in mind.
• When using the auxiliary verbs 'have' and 'been' to describe the perfect continuous tense, make sure to utilize the gerund (verb + ing) form of the primary verb in that statement.
• When employing the auxiliary verb 'will' to signify the simple future tense, make sure to utilize the root verb as well as 'will,' as well as a gerund (verb + ing) along with 'will be' to signify the future continuous tense.
• When indicating the future perfect tense, utilize the past participle form of the main verb combined with the auxiliary verbs 'will' as well as 'have'.

The forms of auxiliary 'be' (is, am, are, was, and were) are used to form the continuous action or the action in progress.

Examples:

• I am going to purchase a new Scotty.
• John and Ajay are doing hard labor for their examination.
• She is searching for a proper place to live.
• Children were playing in the garden.
• He was playing the guitar at the annual function of his school.

It is also used in the formation of passive

Examples:

• A football is kicked by Tom.
• The wall was painted by my father.
• The trees were planted by NGO.
• The mangoes are eaten by us.

It is used to indicate a plan, arrangement, or agreement

Examples:

• I am to see him tomorrow.
• We are to be married next month.

It is used to denote commands.

Examples:

• You are to write your name at the top of each sheet of paper.
• Mother says you are to go market at once.

The forms of the auxiliary verb 'have' ( has, have, had) are used to form the completed action.

These are used in the formation of the perfect form of tenses.

Examples:

• He has worked.
• He has been working.
• You have scored well on the test.
• You have been scoring well on the test.
• She had completed her homework.
• She had been completing her homework.
• You will have done this work.
• You will have been doing this work.

These are also used in the formation of negative and interrogative sentences.

Examples:

• He has not worked.
• Has he worked?
• He has not been working.
• Has he not been working?
• You have not scored well on the test.
• Have you scored well on the test?
• You have not been scoring well on the test.
• Have you not been scoring well on the test?
• She had not completed her homework.
• Had she not completed her homework?
• She had not been completing her homework.
• Had she not been completing her homework?
• You will not have done this work.
• Will you not have done this work?
• You will not have been doing this work.
• Will you not have been doing this work?

The verbs do, does, did are to do forms of the verb.

These are used in the formation of negative and interrogative sentences in simple present and simple past tense.

Examples:

• You do not bake a chocolate cake.
• Do you not bake a chocolate cake?
• He does not bake a chocolate cake.
• Does he not bake a chocolate cake?
• They did not bake a chocolate cake.
• Did they not bake a chocolate cake?

These are also used with other verbs to emphasize something or to make a statement strong.

Examples:

• He does resemble his mother.
• Do sit down, please.
• I told him not to go, but he did go.

Modal Verbs

The modal verbs express the idea of ability, possibility, duty, and many more. They are used before the main verb, and with it, the form of the verb always remains in its base and original form. Modal verbs also do not change with the number and person of the subject. They are thirteen in number; can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must, ought to, used to, need, and dare.

a) Can: It is used to express capability, ability, permission, and possibility.

Examples:

• He can solve this problem. (ability)
• Sohan can come here any moment. (possibility)
• Can I take your pen? (permission)
• Can you lift this box? (capacity)

b) Could: It is used to express permission, request, possibility, and ability.

Examples:

• Could you please pass me that notebook? (request)
• Could I go with you? (permission)
• Could it be possible to rain?
• He could do it properly. (ability)

c) May: It is used to express possibility, permission, wish, hope, or prayer.

Examples:

• May I come in? (permission)
• May you live happily and long! (wish)
• May you win the match! (hope)
• May God bless you! (pray)
• He may come tomorrow. (possibility)

d) Might: It is used to express weak possibility and purpose.

Examples:

• I thought he might be at the office. (possibility)
• He might help his friend. (possibility)

e) Shall and Will: Basically, shall and will are used to denote future time. In old English, shall is used to express the first person, but in modern English, the use of shall is avoided, and the use of will is dominated at all places. Sometimes these are used as a modal verb, especially 'will'. Will is used to express certainty, determination, promise, willingness, etc.

Examples:

• Tomorrow will be Saturday. (future time)
• We shall meet you again. (future time)
• I will try to do better. (promise)
• I will work hard to get success. (determination)
• I will help you with cooking. (willing)
• I will complete my project next Monday. (certainty)

f) Should: It is used to express advice, desire, expectations, obligation, probability, supposition as well as it is used as a past equivalent to shall and will.

Examples:

• You should help the person in need. (advice)
• We should be polite to the children. (desire)
• He should be polite to us. (expectation)
• They should be in the classroom now. (probability)
• Children should obey their parents. (obligation)
• I told him that I should go to Mumbai the next week. ( here expressing future in past tense)

g) Would: It is used to express habit, option, desire, preference, unreal condition, determination, etc., and it is also used as a past equivalent to shall and will.

Examples:

• Would you like to have tea or coffee? (option)
• My granny would narrate stories to me. (habit)
• Would that I were a king! (desire/wish)
• I would prefer death to dishonor. (preference)
• Had you worked hard, you would have passed. (unreal condition)
• He would do it whether you like it or not. ( determination)

h) Must: It is used to express advice, obligation, compulsion, necessity, determination, and prohibition.

Examples:

• You must pay your fee tomorrow. (obligation)
• You must learn your lesson regularly. (emphatic advice)
• We must follow the rules of the road. (compulsion)
• You must help your friend in the hour of need. ( necessity)
• I must leave for Bombay today. (determination)
• You must not leave home without taking breakfast. (prohibition)

i) Ought to: It is used to express obligation and probability also.

Examples:

• We ought to love our neighbors. (obligation)
• We ought to respect our teachers. (obligation)
• Food prices ought to come down soon. (probability)
• This book ought to be very useful. (probability)

j) Used to: It is used to express past habits.

Examples:

• When I was young, I used to work for twelve hours. (affirmative sentence)
• He used not to smoke, but now he is a chain smoker. (negative sentence)
• Used she to work hard when she was a student? (interrogative sentence)
• We are not used to telling lies. (Passive voice sentence)

k) Need to: It is both a modal auxiliary verb and a normal verb. The main use of 'need to' is to express necessity or requirement.

Examples:

• He needs to go to the supermarket.
• One needs to be careful.

l) Dare: It is generally used to express negative and interrogative sentences. The word denotes challenge.

Examples:

• How dare you take my pen?
• She dared not do it.
• They don't dare speak to me.

Other uses of auxiliary verbs

Auxiliary verbs serve a variety of other purposes in English. They can be used as follows:

• As questions
• To avoid recurrence
• In negative sentences
• For emphasizing

As Questions

Question tags are utilized at the conclusion of sentences to ask whether a previous statement is true or not. If the primary assertion is positive, add a negative auxiliary verb in the question tag. If the primary assertion is negative, add a positive auxiliary verb in the question tag.

The same auxiliary verb is used in question tags as in the primary statement. They both relate to the same thing. They do, however, invariably utilize subject pronouns (e.g., "I," "he," "she," or "we").

Examples

• Laura is coming to the event, isn't she?
• You don't have a job on Sundays, do you?

If the main sentence lacks an auxiliary verb, the question tag employs a conjugated version of the verb "do" in conjunction with the adverb "not" (for example, "Linda comes from Europe, doesn't she?").

To avoid recurrence

Auxiliary verbs are frequently employed in sentences to avoid reiterating the primary verb. Rather, a conjugated form of the auxiliary verb from the primary statement is employed, coupled alongside the coordinating conjunction "but" and the corresponding noun or pronoun. If the first statement is positive, the subsequent one should be negative, and vice versa.

Examples;

• I do not really like football, but Emma does. [She like football]
• Kiara is cleaning the home, but her cousins aren't. [They are not cleaning the house]

Note: If the primary statement lacks an auxiliary verb, the second statement must use a conjugated variant of the verb "do" (for example, "Sanya trusted Henrry's story, but Veronica didn't."

Negative assertions

The adverb "not" is usually added between the auxiliary verb as well as the main verb (or after the first auxiliary verb if the statement comprises more than one).

Examples;

• I'm not attending the party.
• They had not been on the road very long when they lost all money.

Utilize a conjugated version of the auxiliary verb "do" coupled with "not" along with the infinitive variant of the main verb to construct a negative version of a sentence that did not initially include an auxiliary verb.

Negative statements with the word "do"

• I did not misplace the car papers.
• Teresa doesn't like western music.

Emphasis

People sometimes emphasize an auxiliary verb in regular discourse to rebut or refute an earlier claim or query.

• Why are you not learning?
• I am learning!
• You do not understand what you're chatting about.
• I do understand what I am chatting about!

Conclusion

Auxiliary verbs, often known as helping verbs, supplement the functional or grammatical meaning of phrases in which they appear. They carry out their duties in a variety of ways:

• By conveying tense (a time reference, such as past, present, or future),
• Grammatical aspect (describes how the verb pertains to the passage of time)
• Modality (measures verbs)
• Voice (describes the link between the verb's action and the participants recognized by the verb's subject, object, and so on.)
• It emphasizes a sentence.

Auxiliary verbs almost always come alongside a main verb, and despite the fact that there are only a handful of them, they are amongst the most frequently used verbs in the English language.