Auxiliary Verbs in English

Auxiliary Verbs in English are the verbs that merely help principal verbs in the formation of various verb forms.

Auxiliary verbs in English are important as structural verbs.

Auxiliary Verbs in English

Rules Applicable to all Auxiliary Verbs in English

  • The negative is formed by putting not after auxiliary. Examples: I can not, They do not, I must not.
  • The interrogative is formed by inverting the subject and verb. Examples: Can he? May we? Must I?

Types of Auxiliary Verbs in English

Auxiliary Verbs in English are of two types:

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Primary Auxiliary VerbsBe Verb: is, am, are, was, were, been, being
Have Verb: have, has, had, having
Do Verb: do, does, did
Modal Auxiliary Verbscan, could, shall, should, will, would, may, might, must, dare, need, used to, ought to

Primary Auxiliary Verbs in English

Primary Auxiliary Verbs are, Do verbs, Have verbs, and Be verbs.

Be Verbs (am, is, are, was, were)

  1. I am working,
  2. You are writing.
  3. He is sleeping.
  4. I am going to the store.
  5. He is studying for his exam.
  6. They are playing soccer in the park.
  7. We are watching a movie tonight.
  8. The cat is sleeping on the couch.
  9. You are reading a book right now.
  10. My friends are coming over for dinner.

Have Verbs (Have, Has, Had)

  1. I have a meeting at 2 PM.
  2. She has already finished her homework.
  3. They have been studying for hours.
  4. He has not been feeling well lately.
  5. We have decided to go on vacation this summer.
  6. You have to submit the report by the end of the week.
  7. My sister has a lot of experience in marketing.
  8. She had forgotten her keys and was locked out of her apartment.
  9. They had never been to Europe before their trip last summer.
  10. He had finished his work before the deadline.

Do Verbs (Do, did, does)

  1. He does not like spicy food.
  2. We did a lot of sightseeing on our trip to Europe.
  3. Do not waste your time.
  4. You do not look well.
  5. Do you not like sweets?
  6. Did she not pass the test?
  7. The children have done their homework.
  8. Did he come to school yesterday?
  9. My boss did not approve my vacation request.
  10. The team has done an excellent job this season.

Modal Auxiliary Verbs in English

Modal Auxiliary Verbs in English are can, may, shall, will, must, ought to, used to, need, and dare. Can, may, shall, and will have special past forms could, might, should, and would respectively, but ‘must‘ do not.

Shall / Will

  1. I shall do my best to finish the project on time.
  2. She will be there to meet you at the airport.
  3. They will have a meeting tomorrow to discuss the proposal.
  4. He shall not be able to attend the conference due to a family emergency.
  5. Who will take this responsibility?
  6. When shall we meet again?
  7. When will the book be published?
  8. Autumn will come after the monsoons.
  9. He shall be twenty next Monday.
  10. We will go on a road trip next weekend.

May / Might

  1. l may go.
  2. He may succeed.
  3. It may be true.
  4. I may go to the gym later today.
  5. She might be running late for the meeting.
  6. They may need more time to finish the project.
  7. He may have lost his pen.
  8. It might rain tomorrow morning.
  9. I might go to the office.
  10. He might not be able to attend the party.

Can / Could

  1. I can walk.
  2. You cannot read.
  3. Lisa can write.
  4. The software could be updated to fix the bugs.
  5. You can use my laptop if yours is not working.
  6. Birds can fly.
  7. Yes, you can.
  8. No, he can not.
  9. Can you swim?
  10. Peter can do it easily.

Must

  1. You must go.
  2. You must be a liar.
  3. You must do it.
  4. You must not tell a lie.
  5. I must finish this report before the deadline.
  6. She must follow the safety guidelines while using the equipment.
  7. They must attend the meeting at 2 pm.
  8. We must obey the laws.
  9. We must go to school every day.
  10. We must do our duty.

Should / Would

  1. I should get more sleep to improve my productivity.
  2. She would love to go on a vacation to a tropical island.
  3. We should not sleep during the daytime.
  4. We should obey our parents.
  5. Peter would read ten hours a day.
  6. Would you please lend me a dollar?
  7. Would you please tell me the time?
  8. He would rather stay home and watch a movie than go out.
  9. We should be more mindful of our carbon footprint.

Ought to

  1. We ought to obey our parents.
  2. We ought not to laugh at a deformed man.
  3. I ought to start eating more vegetables to improve my health.
  4. She ought to apologize for her behaviour at the meeting.
  5. They ought to be more considerate of other people’s feelings.
  6. He ought to get a second opinion before making a decision.
  7. We ought to respect the rules and regulations of our workplace.
  8. You should have (or, ought to have) come back before it’s too late.
  9. You ought to wear a seatbelt while driving for your safety.

Also, Read Semi Modal Verbs

Dare

  1. Do you dare to go bungee jumping?
  2. Who dares to enter the office?
  3. I dare to say that you are a liar.
  4. Is she daring to climb that mountain alone?
  5. Tom dare not come to me.
  6. Peter dared insult me to my face.
  7. How dare he argue with you?
  8. She can dare any danger.

Need

  1. I don’t need to go to the store today.
  2. Do you need any help with your homework?
  3. John need not go there.
  4. We need not do this work.
  5. We aren’t needing any more volunteers for the event.
  6. Peter need not come here anymore.
  7. You need not have waited so long.
  8. Alisha need not worry.
  9. Did they need any special equipment for the camping trip?
  10. I need not have bought it.

Used to

  1. Peter used to play cricket when he was at school.
  2. I used to live in a village when I was a boy.
  3. He used to walk every morning when he was in Mumbai.
  4. They used to visit their grandparents every summer.
  5. Lisa used to wake us every morning.
  6. I used to do physical exercise in my boyhood.
  7. We used to always go to the beach on Sundays.
  8. She used to be shy, but now she’s more outgoing.

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Also, Read

Main Verbs and Helping Verbs

Main and Helping Verbs

24 Auxiliary Verbs List

24 Auxiliary Verbs List

Illative Conjunctions

Illative Conjunctions

Examples of Coordinating Conjunctions

Coordinating Conjunctions

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