EVOLVE Educational Vocational Objective Learning of Vernacular English

Auxiliary Verbs

Auxiliary means ‘secondary’ or ‘supporting’ and that is exactly what these verbs do. There are only three true auxiliary verbs in English: Have, Do and Be. These verbs also have meanings as main verbs and it is important to realise their different functions as both main verbs and auxiliary verbs. Let’s look at each of them in their different roles.

Have-   Main verb: To possess, own, contain, experience, eat, drink
             
Auxiliary verb: when combined with the past participle ‘done’ it indicates the use of the perfect tense.

We use ‘has’ in the third person

In the following examples the main verb is highlighted in italics.

“I have visited Paris” “She has seen the play” “He has opened the shop” “We have left the cat at home” “He has had breakfast”

To form questions we switch the position of the subject and the auxiliary:

“Have you visited Paris?” “Has she seen the play?” “Has he opened the shop?” “Have we left the cat at home?” “Has he had breakfast?”

To form the negative we put ‘not’ or the contraction ‘-n’t’ between the auxiliary and the main verb:

“I have not visited Paris” “She has not seen the play” “He has not opened the shop” “We haven’t left the cat at home” “He hasn’t had breakfast”

By changing the auxiliary verb, this can be modified to suit any perfect tense:

“I had visited Paris” “She will have seen the play” “He had opened the shop” “We had left the cat at home” “He will have had breakfast”

Task 1
Change these sentences into the present perfect

1. I go to Scotland.

 

2. You try bungee jumping.

 

3. I eat too much.

 

4. My sister see that film.                               

 

5. They are a long time.

 

6. Cardiff is the capital city of Wales for more than fifty years.

 

Task 2
Change these sentences into questions

1. You have visited your mother this week.

 

2. We have paid the bill.

 

3. You have studied all day.

 

4. Gary has heard that song.                           

 

5. They have read the papers.

 

6. Mel has had this problem before.

 

Task 3
Change these sentences into negative sentences

1. You have met my family.

 

2. We have bought enough.

 

3. I have had a break today.

 

4. Malcom has been to Malaysia.                    

 

5. I have finished my homework.

 

6. Tracey has made a mistake.

 

Task 4
Change the sentences 1, 2 and 3 into the past perfect using had

1. You have been to Spain before the last holiday.

 

2. Our teacher told us that we haven’t written enough.

 

3. I haven’t had a headache like the one I had yesterday.

 

Change the sentences 4, 5 and 6 into the future perfect using will have

 

4. Gerry has slept by tomorrow morning.          

 

5. I have finished my course by next year.

 

6. We have been married for a year in three months.

Do-       Main verb: to perform an act, to accomplish.

Auxiliary verb: Do is used when we want to form questions and negatives in the absence of another auxiliary verb.
A verb is a ‘doing’ word and therefore, similar to the function of pronouns, many verbs can be replaced by ‘do’ when we are aware of the action we are referring to.

We use ‘does’ in the third person and we don’t change the main verb

In the following examples the main verb is highlighted in italics.

Questions:
“Do you like chocolate?” “Does she read every night?” “Do we know the answer?”

Notice that the word ‘do’ comes before the subject when we form questions. It denotes the start of an interrogative sentence as a question mark denotes the end.

Negatives:
“I do not like football” “He doesn’t work hard” “They don’t eat much”

Here we have a choice of using ‘do not’ or the contracted form ‘don’t’. It is placed between the subject and the main verb.

This can be modified to suit the past simple tense:

“Did you like chocolate?” “Did she read every night?” “Did we know the answer?”
“I did not like football” “He didn’t work hard” “They didn’t eat much”

 

Task 1
Change these sentences into questions

1. You go to university.

 

2. You like Mexican food.

 

3. They drink enough water.

 

4. My sister plays tennis.                                

 

5. You do too much.

 

6. Computers help us to work.

 

 

 

Task 2
Change these sentences into negative sentences

1. You come from Texas.

 

2. I enjoy skiing.

 

3. They try hard enough.

 

4. My father works for the government.             

 

5. We understand the question.

 

6. The children cry.

 

Task 3
Change the sentences into the past simple using did

1. Do you arrive early?

 

2. Do they help you with your homework?

 

3. Do we get paid?

 

4. They don’t enjoy the game.                         

 

5. I don’t feel nervous before the exam.

 

6. James and Ami don’t look well.

 

Be-       Main verb: To exist, live, happen, occupy

Auxiliary verb: The verb ‘be’ is used as a tense indicator when combined with the continuous form ‘doing’ AND when it is combined with the past participle ‘done’ it forms the passive voice.

In the following examples the main verb is highlighted in italics.

Continuous

“I am studying” “She is watching the play” “He is opening the shop” “We are leaving the cat at home” “He is having breakfast”

Passive

“It is studied” ”The play is watched” “The shop is opened” “The cat is left at home” “Breakfast is had”

To form questions we switch the position of the subject and the auxiliary:

Continuous

“Are you visiting Paris?” “Is she watching the play?” “Is he opening the shop?” “Are we leaving the cat at home?” “Is he having breakfast?”

Passive

“Is it studied?” ”Is the play watched?” “Is the shop opened?” “Is the cat left at home?” “Is breakfast is had?”

 

To form the negative we put ‘not’ or the contraction ‘-n’t’ between the auxiliary and the main verb:

Continuous

“I am not visiting Paris” “She is not watching the play” “He is not opening the shop” “We aren’t leaving the cat at home” “He isn’t having breakfast”

Passive

“It is not studied” ”The play is not watched” “The shop is not opened” “The cat isn’t left at home” “Breakfast isn’t had”

 

This can be modified to suit any continuous tense:

“I was visiting Paris” “She will be watching the play” “He was opening the shop” “We were leaving the cat at home” “He will be having breakfast”

Or any tense in the passive:

“It was studied” ”The play will be watched” “The shop was being opened” “The cat has been left at home” “Breakfast is going to be had”

 

Task 1
Change these sentences into the present continuous

1. I go to school.

 

2. You eat well.

 

3. They drink from the stream.

 

4. My little brother plays football.                     

 

5. You do the right thing.

 

6. My telephone works.

 

Task 2
Change these sentences into negative sentences

1. I am meeting my friends.

 

2. You are helping me work.

 

3. We are talking to each other.

 

4. Marc is earning a lot of money.                    

 

5. You are getting worse at maths.

 

6. My dog is barking all night.

 

Task 3
Change the sentences 1, 2 and 3 into the past continuous using was

1. You are working all night.

 

2. Our teacher is telling us what to do.

 

3. I am fixing my car.

 

Change the sentences 4, 5 and 6 into the future continuous using will be

 

4. Andrew is working tomorrow morning.           

 

5. I am studying engineering next year.

 

6. We are going on holiday in three months.

 

Task 4
Put these sentences into the passive voice