Use of Auxiliary Verbs in English

Use of Auxiliary Verbs in English

Hi dear English learners. Today’s lesson is about grammar. We will be discussing the use of auxiliary verbs in English. They are very important because they indicate a certain tense and voice and help us to build a sentence correctly. 

We normally use auxiliary verbs for:

• verb tenses (active and passive)
• a short answer to a yes/no question
• echo questions
• question tags
• to add emphasis
• to avoid repeating a verb
• in expressions ‘so do I’, ‘nor am I’…

Use of auxiliary verbs in English

Use of auxiliaries in verb tenses

There are 3 auxiliary verbs in English. They are to be, to do and to have. We normally use to be in continuous tenses, to do in simple tenses and to have in perfect tenses.

Let’s look at the use of auxiliary verbs be, do and have through different verb tenses.

Auxiliary verb TO DO

Tense	Structure	Example sentences
Present Simple (negative)	I/you/we/they + do not (don’t) + infinitive He/she/it + does not (doesn’t) + infinitive	I don’t want to go. She doesn’t like ice cream.
Present Simple (question)	Do + I/you/we/they  + infinitive Does + he/she/it? + infinitive	Do you want to dance? Does he want to play?
Past Simple (negative)	I/you/we/they/he/she/it  + did not (didn’t) + infinitive	They didn’t pay the full price
Past Simple (question)	Did + I/you/we/they/he/she/it  + infinitive	Did you pass the test?

Auxiliary Verb TO BE

Tense	Structure	Example sentences
Present Continuous	am/is/are + present participle	I’m mowing the grass. Peter isn’t mowing the grass. Are you mowing the grass?
Past Continuous	was/were + present participle	I was waiting for 2 hours. He isn’t waiting. Were you waiting long?
Future Continuous	will + be + present participle	We will be travelling in the afternoon. They won’t be travelling. Will you be travelling?
Present Perfect Continuous	have/has + been + present participle	They have been studying all morning. You haven’t been studying. Has she been studying?
Past Perfect Continuous	had + been + present participle	We had been walking. He hadn’t been walking. Had they been walking?
Future Perfect Continuous	will have + been + present participle	You will have been sleeping. She won’t have been sleeping. Will you have been sleeping?
Be going to	To be + going to + infinitive	We are going to lay the table. They aren’t going to lay the table. Is Paul going to lay the table?

Auxiliary verb TO HAVE

Tense	Structure	Example sentences
Present Perfect	have/has  + past participle	I’ve sent three emails this morning.
Present Perfect Continuous	have/has + been + present participle	Sean has been waiting for an hour.
Past Perfect	had + past participle	They had been to the cinema before they came here.
Past Perfect Continuous	had + been + present participle	They had been walking for hours before they reached their destination.

As you know, we use the auxiliary verb to be in passive constructions. Not all verb tenses can take passive form. 

Tense	Structure	Example sentences
Present Simple Passive	am/is/are + past participle	Sara is considered a good actress.
Present Continuous Passive	am/is/are + being + past participle	Tonya is being obsessed with her new boyfriend.
Past Simple Passive	was/were + past participle	Sean was born in Wales.
Past Continuous Passive	was/were + being + past participle	The car was not being driven at the time.
Future Simple Passive	will + be + past participle	Your parcel will be delivered tomorrow.
Present Perfect Simple Passive	have/has + been + past participle	The Smiths have been invited to the party.
Past Perfect Passive	had + been + past participle	The blinds had been drawn.

Auxiliary verbs as short answers to yes/no questions

• Do you want to have a coffee with us? Yes, I do. / No, I don’t.
• Has Samantha dyed her hair blond? Yes, she has. / No, she hasn’t.
• Were you about to say something? Yes, I was / No, I wasn’t.
• Are those people from Brazil? Yes, they are. / No, they aren’t.
• Had your friends been at the party when you arrived? Yes, they had. / No, they hadn’t.

Use of auxiliary verbs in English

Auxiliary verbs in echo questions

We use echo questions to show interest in the subject or clarify things. 

• ‘Peter is not coming to work today. ‘ Isn’t he?’
• ‘We’ve broken the neighbour’s window.’ ‘Have you?’
• ‘They went on a cruise in the Mediterranean last summer.’ ‘Did they?’

Auxiliary verbs in question tags

We use question tags to ask for agreement or to check if something is true. They are always placed at the end of a sentence. The rule for question tags is – if the sentence is positive, use the negative question tag, and vice versa – if the sentence is negative, use the positive question tag.

• 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 will help me in the garden, won’t you?
• You haven’t been waiting in a queue for two hours, have you?

Use of auxiliary verbs in English

Auxiliary verbs to add emphasis

• ‘You should watch this film. It’s great.’ ‘Well, I have watched that film.’
• ‘Why didn’t she call a taxi when she realised she was going to be late for an exam?’ ‘She did call a taxi, but there were no available ones.’
• May I notice that you do look great in that dress?
• ‘I thought you were studying.’ ‘I am studying! But right now I’m having a lunch break.’
• ‘Haven’t I told you to tidy your room?’ ‘I did tidy it. Come and take a look.’

Auxiliary verbs to avoid repeating a verb

We normally use auxiliary verbs when we want to avoid repeating the same verb or a verb phrase in the same sentence.

• John doesn’t speak Spanish but his wife does.
• We’ve been to Paris, but our children haven’t.
• My mum never helps me with my homework, but my dad does.
• Jill isn’t very good at tennis but her brother is.
• Brazilians speak Portuguese but Mexicans don’t. They speak Spanish.

Use of auxiliary verbs in English

Auxiliary verbs in expressions ‘so do I’, ‘neither/nor am I’,…

When we want to agree with a positive statement, we use so + auxiliary + subject:

• ‘I hate white chocolate.’ ‘So do I’
• ‘I went to Argentina last summer.’ ‘What a coincidence! So did I!’

When we want to agree with a negative statement, we use neither/nor + auxiliary + subject:

• ‘I don’t like having a big breakfast.’ ‘Neither do I.’
• I’ve never been to Italy. ‘Nor have I.’

When we want to disagree with a positive statement, we use subject + auxiliary + not:

• ‘We went out last night.’ ‘Oh, we didn’t‘
• I worked till late last night.’ ‘Oh, I didn’t. I went to bed early.’

Use of auxiliary verbs in English

When we want to disagree with a negative statement, we use subject + auxiliary:

• ‘I’ve never liked to live in a house. ‘Oh, I have.‘
• ‘I’m not very fond of cooking.’ ‘Oh, I am.‘

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