Enjoy English: พฤศจิกายน 2010

Auxiliary Verbs

Auxiliary Verbs are the verbs be, do, have, will when they are followed by another verb (the full verb) in order to form a question, a negative sentence, a compound tense or the passive.

Auxiliary verbs are used with main verbs to construct the verb phrase. They fall into two groups:

· Primary auxiliaries

· Modal auxiliaries

Primary auxiliaries

The primary auxiliaries are: be, have, and do. They are used in clauses.

The verb "be"

The verb be can be used as an auxiliary and a full verb. As an auxiliary we use this verb for compound tenses and the passive voice. Note that be is an irregular verb:

"be" as a full verb

The verb be can also be a full verb. In this case, it's not followed by another verb. If be is used as a full verb, we do not need an auxiliary in negative sentences or questions.

be as a main verb in the Simple Present (am, are, is)

affirmative	negative	question
I:
I am from England.	I am not from England.	*Are* you from English?
he, she, it:
He is from England.	He is not from England.	Is he from English?
we, you, they:
They *are* from England.	They *are* not from England.	*Are* they from English?

be as a main verb in the Simple Past (was, were)

affirmative	negative	question
I, he, she, it:
He *was* here.	He *was* not here.	*Was* he here?
we, you, they:
They *were* here.	They *were* not here.	*Were* they here?

Past Participle: been

You can tell that in the following sentences be is an auxiliary because it is followed by another verb (the full verb). (For progressive forms use the "-ing" form of the full verb; for passive voice, use the past participle of the full verb.)

Progressive Forms

be as an auxiliary verb in the Present Progressive (am, are, is + Verb-ing)

affirmative	negative	question
I:
I am reading a book.	I am not reading a book.	*Are* you reading a book?
he, she, it:
He is reading a book.	He is not reading a book.	Is he reading a book?
we, you, they:
They *are* reading a book.	They *are* not reading a book.	*Are* They reading a book?

be as an auxiliary verb in the Past Progressive (was, were + Verb-ing)

affirmative	negative	question
I:
I *was* reading a book.	I *was* not reading a book.	*Were* you reading a book?
he, she, it:
He *was* reading a book.	He *was* not reading a book.	*Was* he reading a book?
we, you, they:
They *were* reading a book.	They *were* not reading a book.	*Were* they reading a book?

be as an auxiliary verb in the Present Perfect Progressive (has, have + been + Verb-ing)

affirmative	negative	question
I:
I *have been* reading a book.	I *have not been* reading a book.	*Have* you *been* reading a book?
he, she, it:
He *has been* reading a book.	He *has not been* reading a book.	*Has* he *been* reading a book?
we, you, they:
They *have been* reading a book.	They *have not been* reading a book.	*Have* they *been* reading a book?

be as an auxiliary verb in the Past Perfect Progressive (had + been + Verb-ing)

affirmative	negative	question
I:
I *had been* reading a book.	I *had not been* reading a book.	*Had* you *been* reading a book?
he, she, it:
He *had been* reading a book.	He *had not been* reading a book.	*Had* he *been* reading a book?
we, you, they:
They *had been* reading a book.	They *had not been* reading a book.	*Had* they *been* reading a book?

Passive

be as a Passive voice in the Simple Present (is, am, are + Verb 3/Past Participle)

affirmative	negative	question
The house is built.	The house *is not* built.	Is the house built?

be as a Passive voice in the Simple Past (was, were + Verb 3/Past Participle)

affirmative	negative	question
The house *was* built.	The house *was not* built.	*Was* the house built?

be as a Passive voice in the Present Perfect (has, have + been + Verb 3/Past Participle)

affirmative	negative	question
The house *has been* built.	The house *has not been* built.	*Has* the house *been* built?

be as a Passive voice in the Past Perfect (had + been + Verb 3/Past Participle)

affirmative	negative	question
The house *had been* built.	The house *had not been* built.	*Had* the house *been*built?

be as a Passive voice in the Simple Future (will + be + Verb 3/Past Participle)

affirmative	negative	question
The house *will be* built.	The house *won’t be* built.	*Will* the house be built?

be as a Passive voice in the going-to future (is, am, are + going to + be + Verb 3/Past Participle)

affirmative	negative	question
The house is going to be built.	The house *is not* going to be built.	Is the house going to bebuilt?

The verb "have"

The verb have, too, can be used both as an auxiliary and as a full verb. As an auxiliary we use this verb to form compound tenses in active and passive voice. (Use the past participle of the full verb.)

Compound Tenses - Active Voice

"have" in positive sentences

As a full verb have indicates possession. In British English, however, we usually use have got (have being the auxiliary, got the full verb).

full verb:

I have a car.

auxiliary verb:

I have got a car.

"have" in negative sentences and questions

When we use have as a full verb, we must use the auxiliary do in negative sentences and questions. If we use have got, however, we do not need another auxiliary.

have as a full verb:

I do not have a car.

Do I have a car?

have as an auxiliary verb:

I have not got a car.

Have I got a car?

have as a main verb in the Simple Present (have, has, don't have, doesn't have)

affirmative	negative
I, we, you, they:
I have a new guitar. I have got a new guitar.*	I don't have a new guitar. I haven't got a new guitar.*
he, she, it:
He has a new guitar. He has got a new guitar.*	He doesn't have a new guitar. He hasn't got a new guitar.*

have as a main verb in the Simple Past (had, didn't have)

affirmative	negative
I had a new guitar. I had got a new guitar.*	I didn't have a new guitar. I hadn't got a new guitar.*

have as an auxiliary verb and a main verb - Present Perfect (had)

affirmative	negative
I, we, you, they:
They have had a nice time.	They haven't had a nice time.
he, she, it:
He has had a nice time.	He hasn't had a nice time.

have as an auxiliary verb and a main verb - Past Perfect (had)

affirmative	negative
They had had a nice time.	They hadn't had a nice time.

have as an auxiliary verb in the Present Perfect (past participle):

affirmative	negative
I, we, you, they:
I have seen Peter.	I haven't seen Peter.
he, she, it:
She has seen Peter.	She hasn't seen Peter.

have as an auxiliary verb in the Past Perfect (past participle):

affirmative	negative
I had seen Peter.	I hadn't seen Peter.

have as an auxiliary verb in the Future Perfect (past participle):

affirmative	negative
They will have spoken to Peter.	They won't have spoken to Peter.

Progressive Forms

have as an auxiliary verb in the Present Perfect Progressive (has, have + been + Verb-ing)

affirmative	negative	question
I:
I *have been* reading a book.	I *have not been* reading a book.	*Have* you *been* reading a book?
he, she, it:
He *has been* reading a book.	He *has not been* reading a book.	*Has* he *been* reading a book?
we, you, they:
They *have been* reading a book.	They *have not been* reading a book.	*Have* they *been* reading a book?

have as an auxiliary verb in the Past Perfect Progressive (had + been + Verb-ing)

affirmative	negative	question
I:
I *had been* reading a book.	I *had not been* reading a book.	*Had* you *been* reading a book?
he, she, it:
He *had been* reading a book.	He *had not been* reading a book.	*Had* he *been* reading a book?
we, you, they:
They *had been* reading a book.	They *had not been* reading a book.	*Had* they *been* reading a book?

The verb "do"

The verb do can be both an auxiliary and a full verb. As an auxiliary we use do in negative sentences and questions for most verbs (except not for be, will, have got and modal verbs) in Simple Present and Simple Past. (Use the infinitive of the full verb.)

The auxiliary "do" in negative sentences

Simple Present:

He does not play football.

Simple Past:

He did not play football.

The auxiliary "do" in questions

Simple Present:

Does he play football?

Simple Past:

Did he play football?

The verb do is irregular:

Simple Present:

I/we/you/they do, he/she/it does

Simple Past:

I/he/she/it/we/you/they did

The full verb "do"

As a full verb we use do in certain expressions. If we want to form negative sentences or questions using do as a full verb, we need another do as an auxiliary.

positive sentence:

She does her homework every day.

negative sentence:

She doesn't do her homework every day.

question:

Does she do her homework every day?

do as a main verb in the Simple Present (do, does, don't, doesn't)

affirmative	negative
I, we, you, they:
I do my homework in the evenings.	I don't do my homework in the evenings.*
he, she, it:
He does his homework in the evenings.	He doesn't do his homework in the evenings.*

*Note: Here we use do in the negative sentence as an auxiliary and as a main verb.

do as a main verb in the Simple Past (did, didn't)

affirmative	negative
I did my homework in the evenings.	I didn't do my homework in the evenings.**

**Note: Here we use did in the negative sentence as an auxiliary and do as a main verb.

do as a main verb - past participle (done)

affirmative	negative
I have done my homework.	I haven't done my homework.

do as a main verb (Present Progressive, Gerund, present participle) - (doing)

affirmative	negative
I am doing my homework.	I am not doing my homework.
Doing my homework is not always fun.	Not doing my homework is not clever.
I saw Jane doing her homework.	I didn't see Jane doing her homework.

do with negative imperatives:

Don't sing under the shower.

Sentences without the auxiliary "do"

In the following cases, the auxiliary do is not used in negative sentences/questions:

the full verb is "be"

Example:

I am not angry. / Are you okay?

the sentence already contains another auxiliary (e.g. have, be, will)

Example:

They are not sleeping. / Have you heard that?

the sentence contains a modal verb (can, may, must, need, ought to, shall, should)

Example:

We need not wait. / Can you repeat that, please?

the question asks for the subject of the sentence

Example:

Who sings that song?

Modal auxiliaries

Modal auxiliaries cannot work as main verbs and normally appear with a main verb. The full list is:

will	shall	would	should
may	might
can	could
must
ought (to)

Modals are: can, could, may, might, must, ought to, shall, should, will, would and need (need can be a full verb, too).

We can play football.

We could play football.

We may play football.

We might play football.

We must play football.

We mustn't play football.

We needn't play football.

We ought to play football.

We shall play football.

We should play football.

We will play football.

We would play football.

Note:

1)	Do not use modals for things which happen definitely.	The sun rises in the East.
2)	They do not have an -s in the 3rd person singular.	He can play football.
3)	Questions are formed without do/does/did.	Can he speak Spanish?
4)	It follows a full verb in the infinitive.	They must read the book.
5)	There are no past forms (except could and would).	He was allowed to watch the film.
6)	When you use the past particple, you tell about things which did not happen in the past.	You should have told me.

Form

positive		negative
long form	contracted form	long form	contracted form
can	--	cannot	can't
could	--	could not	couldn't
may	--	may not	--
might	--	might not	--
ought to	--	ought not to	oughtn't to
--	--	need not	needn't
shall	'll	shall not	shan't
should	'd	--	shouldn't
will	'll	will not	won't
would	'd	would not	wouldn't