Tips To Improve Your Grammar English Auxiliary Verbs BE DO HAVE
Hello! This is Emma from mmmEnglish!
This English lesson is all about auxiliary verbs
or you might recognise them if I say “helping verbs”,
verbs that help the main verb in an English sentence.
So why are they so important?
Knowing a little more about auxiliary verbs
will help you to improve your English grammar
because the relationship between
an auxiliary verb and a main verb
is very clear, plain and simple in English.
The auxiliary verb, “do”,
exists in the simple tenses.
The auxiliary verb, “be”,
exists in the continuous tenses
and the auxiliary verb “have”
exists in the perfect tenses.
Now before we do anything else this lesson,
just stop for a moment and think about this
because this information is golden!
It’s really valuable information.
As you’re checking your writing after
completing an IELTS exam or
checking an email before you
send it to your customers,
these simple reminders need to be
in your mind.
Now auxiliary verbs are a really interesting part
of the English language.
There’s quite a few things
that you need to know about them,
about grammar, about pronunciation,
about writing, about speaking.
So I want to make three things clear to you first.
There are three main auxiliary verbs in English:
“do”, “be” and “have”.
Modal verbs are also considered auxiliary verbs
but there are different grammar rules for modal verbs.
In this lesson, we’re focusing on
“do”, “be” and “have”.
These auxiliary verbs can also be used
as main verbs.
She didn’t do it!
He’s being annoying.
I’ve had three.
Number two.
When you’re using English verbs,
whether it’s a sentence with
only a main verb or there’s an auxiliary verb,
they must agree with the subject.
You need to choose the right verb form
for the subject in your sentence.
He is leaving.
They are leaving.
I am leaving.
The auxiliary verb
must match the main verb.
Now if you want to learn more about
subject-verb agreement,
then check out this video that I made about it, right here.
Number three.
Auxiliary verbs in positive sentences
are function words,
not content words.
This means that they’re usually
unstressed when they’re spoken.
Unstressed words in English are often
reduced or contracted
when they’re spoken out loud in English
so they can be difficult to hear.
I’m shopping with my friends.
He’s taking his time.
I’ve bought you some fruit.
Now in negative sentences,
auxiliary verbs are usually stressed
but often, they’re contracted with “not”.
I didn’t like it.
We haven’t been there yet.
Notice that when the sentence is negative,
you can contract the auxiliary verb with “not”
or you can also contract the auxiliary to the subject.
We’ve not been there yet.
Learning how to contract auxiliary verbs in English
is instantly going to make you sound
more relaxed and natural when you speak.
It’s much more natural to say
“He’s not coming.”
or “He isn’t coming.”
than “He is not coming.”
Okay! Time to look at some examples,
starting with “do”.
“Do” is the auxiliary verb
used in the simple tenses in English.
“do” and “does” in the present tense
and “did” in the past tense.
In the future forms, with “will” and “going to”,
we use the infinitive form only,
“do”.
We eat fish on Fridays.
They don’t want to.
He doesn’t eat meat.
Did you like it?
Doesn’t Paul know about it?
I’ll do it later.
She will do it first.
Now take a moment
to think about these examples
and to think about what I mentioned earlier.
The subject-verb agreement rules.
How the verb form changes depending on the subject
and the contractions.
What you hear so often in spoken English
and what you see in informal writing
are these contractions.
Also notice that in the very first example
we can’t see the auxiliary verb “do”.
In the present tense,
in negative sentences and in questions
then yes - of course - you must use the auxiliary verb
“do” or “does”
or “don’t” or “doesn’t”.
We don’t eat fish on Fridays.
Do you eat fish on Fridays?
But in positive sentences
in the present tense,
the auxiliary verb is often omitted.
It’s often left out because it’s unnecessary.
The sentence, “We eat fish on Fridays”
is exactly the same as the sentence
“We do eat fish on Fridays”
Often when “do” is included,
it’s to add emphasis to the sentence,
to make something clear.
Like in this context,
“You guys don’t eat fish.”
“We do eat fish! We eat it every Friday!”
Okay! Let’s move on and talk about “be”.
“Be” is the auxiliary verb used in the
continuous or the progressive tenses.
“Am”, “are” or “is”
in the present continuous tense
and “was” and “were” in the past continuous tense.
In the future forms, we only use
the infinitive “be”.
Of course, the main verb in the continuous tenses
is always using the “ing” form.
But the “be” verb, the auxiliary verb,
will always be there, helping out.
We are following your brother.
I am trying to call him now.
It isn’t raining at the moment.
Is he bringing his friend?
Aren’t we taking Sara?
He will be presenting at 3:00 p.m.
Will you be going to work today?
Again, stop for a moment
and have a look at these examples.
The subject-verb agreement
so how the verb form is always changing
depending on the subject and the tense
and the contractions.
Often in spoken English or informal writing,
you’ll see these contractions.
Now the “be” verb is also used as an auxiliary verb
in the passive voice
in sentences like
“I was given three minutes to finish.”
So it’s not always with a verb that’s in
the continuous form.
Here, the “be” verb
is used with the main verb in the past participle form.
Lastly, “have”.
“Have” is the auxiliary verb used in the perfect tenses.
“Have” and “has” in the present perfect tense
and “had” in the past perfect tense .
In the future forms, we use the infinitive form only.
“have”
with “will” or “going to”.
Now, of course, the main verb in the perfect tenses
is in past participle form.
And I’ve made quite a few lessons
about the present perfect tense
so you can check them out here if you need to.
So in the present perfect tense,
your main verb is in the past participle form
and the auxiliary verb “have”
is always going to be there, helping out.
Kate has taken the car.
We have tried it many times.
It hasn’t arrived yet.
Have they brought the umbrella?
We have been waiting for hours!
He will have finished by 3:00 p.m.
Again, let’s check what’s happening here.
The subject-verb agreement.
So the verb is always changing
depending on the subject
and the tense
and check out these contractions.
Kate’s taken the car.
We’ve tried it many times.
Well that’s it for this lesson!
I hope that it’s been really helpful for you
because understanding
the role of the auxiliary verb in English,
it’s challenging,
but it’s really important
and I hope that this lesson showed you that the
way auxiliary verbs are used in English
is reasonably consistent.
It’s just about becoming familiar
with the way that sentences function.
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Since we just practised a whole lot of English grammar,
why don’t you mix it up a bit
and practise your English pronunciation
and speaking skills
in either of these two fabulous lessons?
Thanks for watching and I’ll see you next time.
Bye for now!