Auxiliary (or Helping) Verbs

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• By expressing tense ( providing a time reference, i.e. past, present, or future)
• Grammatical aspect (expresses how verb relates to the flow of time)
• Modality (quantifies verbs)
• Voice (describes the relationship between the action expressed by the verb and the participants identified by the verb’s subject, object, etc.)
• Adds emphasis to a sentence

How to Identify an Auxiliary Verb

1. Jerry caught his thumb in the car door as coffee spilled from his cup onto his favorite shirt.
2. Jerry is always spilling things.
3. Since Jerry is also accident prone, he should have been drinking coffee from a mug with a lid, which would not have spilled on his favorite shirt.

Three Common Auxiliary Verbs

• Have
• Do
• Be

Have

• Jerry has a large coffee stain on his shirt. → Has = action verb
• Jerry has bought a new shirt to replace the one that was ruined earlier. → Has = auxiliary verb; bought is a past participle that competes the verb phrase.
• Jerry should have been more careful! → Have = auxiliary verb; phrase “should have been” expresses time and evaluates Jerry’s actions.

Do

• Because he spills things so often, Jerry does more laundry than most people.  Does = action verb
• Jerry didn’t put his coffee in a cup with a lid.  Didn’t = auxiliary verb
• Jerry doesn’t always spill things, but it happens a lot.  Doesn’t = auxiliary verb

Be

• Jerry is messy.  Is = action verb
• Although he is always complaining about his accidents, Jerry fails to pay attention.  is = auxiliary verb
• Jerry is going to be doing extra laundry for the rest of his life.  to be = auxiliary verb

Modal Auxiliary Verbs

• Can
• Could
• May
• Might
• Must
• Ought to
• Shall
• Should
• Will
• Would

Auxiliary Verb Examples

1. Jessica is taking John to the airport.
2. If he doesn’t arrive on time, he’ll have to take a later flight.
3. Unfortunately, our dinner has been eaten by the dog.
4. I have purchased a new pair of shoes to replace the ones that were lost in my luggage.
5. We hope you don’t have an accident on your way to school.
6. She was baking a pie for dessert.
7. Dad has been working hard all day.
8. The bed was made as soon as I got up.
9. Sarah doesn’t ski or roller skate.
10. Did Matthew bring coffee?

Auxiliary Verb Exercises

1. What ________________ the kids doing when you last saw them? (was, were, are, did, been)
2. Carla ________________ always wanted to try skydiving. (was, doesn’t, has, is, have)
3. Where __________________ you go on your summer vacation? (were, been, are, did, does)
4. Why do you think she __________ call you like she said she would? (didn’t, is, hasn’t, has been, have)
5. Mary _____________ going to be upset when she hears what happened. (will, don’t, is, didn’t, has)
6. Jeremy _____________ want to go to the movies; he wants to stay home instead. (doesn’t, isn’t, wasn’t, hasn’t, was not)
7. I _________________ appreciate his jokes. They weren’t funny. (did, have, been, didn’t, haven’t)
8. I really like fish but I _______________ care for meat. (weren’t, been, don’t, is, was)
9. Where _____________ you going when I saw you last night? (were, was, is, do, did)
10. Tara ________________ called yet; she’s late as usual. (are, were, has, hasn’t, wouldn’t)