AUXILIARY VERBS

Welcome to this lecture headed “AUXILIARY VERBS”. We will be discussing all about noun. Enjoy your lecture.

Auxiliary means working in a supporting capacity and that is precisely what these auxiliary verbs do, which is why they are as well referred to as helping verbs. They are utilized in addition to a main verb to provide grammatical information and thus add extra meaning to a sentence; information that is not provided by the main verb.

They are utilized to form the passive voice.

They are used to form the continuous tense.

They are used to form the perfect tense.

Be, Do and Have are auxiliary verbs, they are irregular verbs and can be utilized as main verbs. The verbs ‘to be’ and ‘to have’ are the most commonly used auxiliary verbs and function alongside the main verbs in any statement.

Modal verbs are as well auxiliary verbs, but will be treated disjointedly, these are can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, and would, they vary from the others due to the fact that they can never act as a main verb.

To be

Be is the most common verb in the English language. It can be utilized as an auxiliary and a major verb. It is used a lot in its other forms.

Base form = be

Present form = am/is/are

Past form = was/were

Present Participle / Gerund = being

Past Participle = been

Verbs To do

The verb do is one of the most common verbs in English. It can be used as an auxiliary and a main verb. It is frequently used in questions.

Base form = do

Present form = do/does

Past form = did

Present Participle / Gerund = doing

Past Participle = done

The auxiliary verb ‘do’ is at all times followed by the base form (infinitive).

To have

Have is one of the most common verbs in the English language.

Base form = have

Present form = have / has

Past form = had

Present Participle / Gerund = having

Past Participle = had

Auxiliary verbs have has no meaning on their own but assists the main verb in functional and grammatical way.

The most common auxiliary verbs:

To Be

In Progressive (Continuous) tenses:

They are watching TV in their room right now. (present progressive)

Obi was shopping when I saw him. (past progressive)

He has been running for an hour. (present perfect progressive)

We had been sleeping for four hours when the fire alarm rang. (past perfect progressive)

Note: we constantly make use of the “-ing” form of the main verb following the auxiliary verb.

In Passive Voice

Example:

The bridge is broken.

The house was built.

The new schedule has been declared.

It should be transformed.

Your homework must be done before lessons.

Have

In Compound Tenses:

They have provided all the evidence.

Nobody has seen something.

She has been playing.

We had organized everything.

Nothing has been done consigning the incident.

Examples

	Have	Have got
Question – ?	“Do you have a car?”	“Have you got a car?”
Positive Answer – Yes	“Yes, I have a car.”	“Yes I’ve got a car.”
Negative Answer – No	“No, I don’t have a car.”	“No I haven’t got a car.”

Do

In Negatives

I don’t like action films.

John didn’t take part in the play.

In Questions

Does your sister know Hausa?

Did you attend the lesson last week?

In emphasis

I do want to visit you.

Note: these three auxiliary verbs (be, do and have) can as well be used as full verbs, you therefore need to pay particular attention to the words coming after them to differentiate between the two uses.

I am so tired today.

“To be” is the main verb of the sentence in this sentence because it isn’t followed by a full verb.

I have a house and it is so classy.

Both the verb “have” (shows possession) and “to be” are full verbs in this sentence.

Can you do me a favor please?

He is doing his best to pass his exams.

The verb “do” is the main verb in this sentence; however, “to be” is an auxiliary verb as it is followed by the main verb (doing).

Will

Will can only be utilized as an auxiliary verb:

I will assist you with the chores.

They won’t come today.

Modal Auxiliary Verbs

Most common modal auxiliary verbs are:

Can / could / may / might / shall / should / must / ought to / had better

For instance:

We cannot talk to you right now.

You had better finish your assignments before your mum returns.

We must obey the traffic rules.

I think you should take a pain relief drug.

He might be in his house.

Could you lift this up for me, please?

Form of verb to have

	Present	Past	Continuous
I / you / we / they	have	had	having
he / she / it	has	had	having

It does not take the continuous form “I having” – for that you have to use the auxiliary verb be.

For instance: “I am having a shower.” “Are you having a good time?”

The forms of the verb “to have” are have and has for the present and had for the past.

Question	Positive Statement (Spoken)	Negative Statement (Spoken)
Singular
Do I have …? Have I got …?	I have (I’ve)	I have not (I haven’t/I’ve not)
Does he / she / it have…? Has he/she/it got …?	He/she/it has (He/she/it ‘s)	He/she/it has not (He/she/it hasn’t)
Do you have …? Have you got …?	You have (You’ve)	You have not (You haven’t/You’ve not)
Did I / he / she / it have …? Had I / he / she / it / you got…?	I / He / She / It / You had (I’d / He’d / She’d / You’d)	I / He / She / It / You had not (I / He / She / It / You hadn’t)
Plural
Do we / you / they have …? Have we / you / they got …?	We / You / They have (We’ve / You’ve / They’ve)	We / You / They have not (We / You / They haven’t // We’ve not / You’ve not They’ve not)
Do you have …? Have you got …?	You have (You’ve)	You have not (You haven’t/You’ve not)
Do they have …? Have they got …?	They have (They’ve)	They have not (They haven’t/They’ve not)
Did we / you / they have …? Had we / you / they got … ?	We / You / They had (We’d / You’d / They’d)	I / He / She / It / You had not (I / He / She / It / You hadn’t)

To have as an auxiliary verb

The verb “to have” is used as an auxiliary verb to help other verbs produce the perfect tense – auxiliary verb have [+ past participle].

For instance, “I have read a lot of books,” or “I have never been to Europe,” or “I have already eaten.”

Present Perfect
I have been a teacher for over 11 years	You have been a student for	He / She has been a student for …	It has been nice today.	We have been students for ….	They have been students for …
Past Perfect
I had been a teacher for several years.	You had been a student for several years.	He / She had been a student for several years	It had been nice for several hours.	We had been students for several years.	They had been students for several years
Future Perfect
I will have been a teacher for several years.	You will have been a student for several years.	He / She will have been a student for several years	It will have been nice for several years.	We will have been students for several years	They will have been students for several years

Question	Positive Statement	Negative Statement
Singular
Have you been …?	You have been … (You’ve been …)	You have not been … (You haven’t been … // You’ve not been …)
Plural
Have we / you / they been …?	We / You / They have been … (We’ve / You’ve They’ve been …)	We / You / They have not been … (We / You / They haven’t been … // We’ve / You’ve They’ve not been …)

For example:

Question – ? “Have you washed your had today?”

Positive Answer – Yes ” Yes, I have.”

Negative Answer – No ” No, I haven’t.”

Question – ? “Have you ever had a head ache?”

Positive Answer – Yes ” Yes, I’m afraid I have.”

Negative Answer – No ” No, thank goodness, I haven’t.”

The use of have to

In addition to the two forms, there is another use of have as a modal verb; have to or have got to. This, of course, ought to be followed by another verb “They have to do something”.

To have something done

When something is done for you; it wasn’t actually done it yourself, we make use of the structure “to have something done”.

For instance:-

“He had a tooth out.” (Only a masochist would go pull their own teeth out. The rest of us have to visit the dentist who would pull our teeth out for us.

“I have my hair cut once every six weeks.” (I don’t cut my own hair; my hairdresser cuts it for me.)

“My husband has the car serviced once a year.” (He wouldn’t have a hint how to service a modern car thus, he takes it to the garage and they service it for us.)

All the auxiliary verbs apart from be, do and have are known as modals. Unlike other auxiliary verbs modals only exist in their helping form; they cannot act alone as the main verb in a sentence.

Be, do, and have as well vary from the other auxiliaries in that they can as well act as ordinary verbs in a given sentence.

The modal verbs are:-

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

Modal	Example	Functions
Can	They can plan their own budgets. We can’t repair it. Can I urinate here? Can you assist me?	Ability / Possibility Inability / Impossibility Asking for permission Request
Could	Could I borrow your shoe? Could you say it again bit by bit? We could try to repay it ourselves. I think we could have another heavy shower. He gave up his old job so he could work for us.	Asking for permission. Request Suggestion Future possibility Ability in the past
May	May I have another cup of tea? Nigeria may become a key world power.	Asking for permission Future possibility
Might	We’d better go later, they might be sleeping now. They might give us a small discount.	Present possibility, Future possibility
Must	We must say farewell now. They mustn’t interrupt the work any longer.	Necessity / Obligation Prohibition
Ought to	We ought to employ a professional writer	Saying what’s right or correct
Shall (More common in the UK than the US)	Shall I help you with your luggage? Shall we say 2.30 then? Shall I do that or will you?	Offer, Suggestion, Asking what to do
Should	We should sort out this issue at once. I think we should check everything again. Profits should increase in the coming months.	Saying what’s right or correct, Recommending action, Uncertain prediction
Will	I can’t see any taxis so I’ll walk. I’ll do that for you if you wish. I’ll get back to you first thing on Monday. Profits will increase next year.	Instant decisions, Offer, Promise, Certain prediction
Would	Would you mind if I brought a colleague with me? Would you pass the sugar please? Would you mind waiting a little? “Would ten o`clock be okay for you?” – “That’d be fine.” Would you like to play golf this Friday? “Would you prefer tea or coffee?” – “I’d like tea please.”	Asking for permission, Request, Request, Making arrangements, Invitation, Preferences

You ought to note that the modal auxiliary verbs are always followed by the base form.

The verb used to can as well be used as a modal verb.

Thanks for reaching to this point marking the end of this lecture.

Your Lecture Master:

Mst. Ugonwanne Joshua