English Grammar Understanding the Basics - Evelyn P. Altenberg, Robert M. Vago 2010
Lesson 31: The basic structure of auxiliary phrases
Unit 12: Auxiliary phrases
Part II: Kinds of phrases
So far, each verb we’ve talked about occurs in a verb phrase. This type of verb is called a main verb. Other verbs, called helping verbs or auxiliary verbs, are found in auxiliary phrases. Auxiliary phrases are among the most satisfying to describe. That’s because the English auxiliary phrase has a regular pattern, which helps to make it easy to understand. So here’s some help with helping verbs.
Lesson 31: The basic structure of auxiliary phrases
What are some sentences with helping (auxiliary) verbs? Here are a few examples, with the helping verb underlined:
1. She should study.
2. She has studied.
3. She is studying.
In these sentences, the main verb is a form of study, and the helping verb is helping to give us additional information that we can’t get from just the main verb. (See Unit 2 to remind yourself about main verbs.)
There aren’t that many helping verbs; the basic ones are listed in Quick tip 31.1.
Quick tip 31.1
The basic helping verbs of English are:
a. can may shall will must
could might should would
b. have has had
c. am are is
was were
be been being
Now take another look at sentences 1-3, which have both a helping verb and a main verb. Which comes first? You can see that the main verb always comes after the helping verb.
Quick tip 31.2
If a sentence has both a main verb and a helping verb, the main verb is always last.
Does every sentence of English have a helping verb? Here are examples of sentences that do not have a helping verb. Each only has a main verb, which is underlined.
4. She studies every day.
5. She studied every day.
6. He leaves at 9 in the morning.
7. He left at 9 in the morning.
Test yourself 31.1
Decide whether or not each sentence has a helping verb. Look for the main verb, which is underlined, and see if there’s a helping verb before it.
Getting started (answers on p. 164)
1. They were arguing loudly.
2. The frog had jumped five feet.
3. You invited everyone.
4. I must buy some milk.
5. Harry lives in Europe.
More practice (answers on the website)
6. Jogging should increase your stamina.
7. I have worked all day.
8. Sam will go fishing tomorrow.
9. Judy left for Dallas at noon.
10. Joey was chasing a rascal all day long.
Test yourself 31.2
Decide whether or not each sentence has a helping verb. This time the main verbs are not underlined.
Getting started (answers on p. 164)
1. You might write her a letter.
2. Congress voted on the bill.
3. Beth has survived that ordeal.
4. I could be an actor.
5. The Giants won the Super Bowl.
More practice (answers on the website)
6. You should do that.
7. She could move nearby.
8. My friend wants a two-car garage.
9. Jan must get that report done.
10. The sun rose at 5 a.m. today.
The helping verbs belong to different subgroups, as indicated in Quick tip 31.1. We’ll take a closer look at each of the three types of helping verbs in the next few lessons.