What about auxiliary verbs? To be – To have – Modals
Examples of auxiliary / helping verbs, including modal auxiliaries:
- be, have, do, will, shall, would, should, can, could, may, might, must, ought
Forming the positive:
- To have: I have, you have, he-she-it has, we have, you have, they have.
- He has a lot of work to do.
- We have a puppy and a guinea pig.
- To be: I am, you are, she-he-it is, we are, you are, they are.
- She is a friend.
- It is sunny today.
- You are always hungry.
- Modals never change. I should / you should/ she-he-it should / we should/ you should /they should
- She might see a movie.
- We must call Gabriella.
- You could ask a question.
Forming questions and the negative:
- Have I? / I haven’t / I don’t have / Has she? / She hasn’t / She doesn’t have / Has it? / It hasn’t
- How many bananas does Susan have? Susan doesn’t have any bananas. She hasn’t any.
- Have you any compassion? They don’t have any compassion. They haven’t any compassion.
- Am I? / I’m not / Is he? / He isn’t / Is it? / It isn’t / Are we? / We aren’t
- Is it hot? It isn’t hot. Is it time to go? It isn’t time to go / Are they cold? They aren’t cold.
- Will I? / I won’t / Should she? / She shouldn’t / Could we? / We couldn’t / Might they? / They might not
- Will you call me? He shouldn’t eat too much candy. Could they hear the music? I may not arrive on time.
To be: am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been
- I am (I’m) not working on my car.
- They are (they’re) going to the visit their grandparents.
- Is she playing outside?
- They were offered a trip to Disney.
- Was the report written by our hard-working team?
- Have they gone to the museum?
- He was trying to catch the bus.
To have: have, has, had
- Has she seen the movie three times?
- I have read some interesting books.
- I invited them to join us for dinner, because they hadn’t (had not) eaten.
To do: do, does, did: used for emphasis
- She did speak to the teacher about her grade. The emphasis is on did
- Did she speak to her manager about her evaluation? The emphasis is on did
- I did tell her about our meeting. The emphasis is on did
- I didn’t (did not) tell her about the meeting. The emphasis is on didn’t
- He does speak English. The emphasis is on does
- He doesn’t (does not) speak English. The emphasis is on doesn’t
- Did he stop at the red light? The emphasis is on did
Example: Lutz wants to emphasize that he likes seafood.
- Inge: Why aren’t you eating? Don’t you like seafood?
- Lutz: I do like seafood. I’m not very hungry.
Example: Xavier wants to emphasize his desire
- Sabine: Do you want to go to the music festival?
- Xavier: I do!
Example: Geraldine wants to emphasize that she called.
- Magda: You didn’t call Karina yesterday.
- Geraldine: I did call. She didn’t answer.
