Auxiliary Verbs in English

Auxiliary Verbs in English: Be, Do, and Have Explained with Examples

Hello dear English learners! Today’s lesson is about one of the cornerstones of English grammar — auxiliary verbs, also known as helping verbs. These little words are small but mighty! They help us form tenses, make questions and negatives, add emphasis, and even avoid repeating verbs.

In English, there are three main auxiliary verbs: be, do, and have. Let’s look at how they work in different situations with plenty of examples.

What are Auxiliary Verbs?

Auxiliary verbs are used together with the main verb to:

• form verb tenses (both active and passive)
• make questions and negatives
• form short answers and question tags
• add emphasis
• avoid repeating the same verb
• use expressions such as so do I or neither am I

Auxiliary Verb DO

We use do, does, and did to form negatives and questions in simple tenses.

Structure and Examples

Remember:

We don’t use do in questions with modal verbs (Can you swim? ✅ Do you can swim? ❌).

Auxiliary Verb BE

We use be (am, is, are, was, were, will be) in continuous tenses and in the passive voice.

Structure and examples

Auxiliary Verb HAVE

We use have, has, had in perfect tenses.

Auxiliary Verb BE in the Passive Voice

We use be + past participle to form the passive. Not all tenses can be passive, but here are the most common ones.

 Short Answers with Auxiliary Verbs

We use auxiliary verbs to make short answers instead of repeating the whole sentence.

Do you like chocolate? — Yes, I do. / No, I don’t.

Has Emma finished her project? — Yes, she has. / No, she hasn’t.

Were you tired? — Yes, I was. / No, I wasn’t.

Are they from Brazil? — Yes, they are. / No, they aren’t.

Echo Questions

We use echo questions to show surprise or interest.

“Peter isn’t coming to work today.” → “Isn’t he?”

“We’ve broken the window!” → “Have you?”

“They went to Greece last summer.” → “Did they?”

Question Tags

We use question tags to ask for confirmation or agreement.

Adam is Italian, isn’t he?

Lorna and Nicolas went to school together, didn’t they?

Our neighbours don’t have children, do they?

You’ll help me in the garden, won’t you?

You haven’t been waiting long, have you?

Rule: positive sentence → negative tag; negative sentence → positive tag.

Auxiliary Verbs for Emphasis

We use auxiliaries to make a point stronger.

“You do look nice today!”

“I did call you, but you didn’t answer.”

“I am listening, honestly!”

“She has finished it already!”

Avoiding Repetition

We often use auxiliary verbs to avoid repeating the main verb.

John doesn’t speak Spanish, but his wife does.

We’ve been to Paris, but our children haven’t.

Jill isn’t good at tennis, but her brother is.

Expressions with So do I / Neither am I

When we agree with a positive statement:

“I love Italian food.” → “So do I.”

“I went to London last year.” → “So did I.”

When we agree with a negative statement:

“I don’t like coffee.” → “Neither do I.”

“I’ve never been to Japan.” → “Nor have I.”

To disagree with a positive statement:

“We went out last night.” → “Oh, we didn’t.”

To disagree with a negative one:

“I’m not keen on cooking.” → “Oh, I am!”

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