Verbs

Auxiliary verbs

What about auxiliary verbs? To be – To haveModals


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.
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