{"id":5814,"date":"2022-02-14T06:00:30","date_gmt":"2022-02-14T12:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/?p=5814"},"modified":"2023-03-07T16:10:23","modified_gmt":"2023-03-07T22:10:23","slug":"auxiliary-verbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/verbs\/auxiliary-verbs\/","title":{"rendered":"What Are Auxiliary Verbs? (Including Examples and Usage)"},"content":{"rendered":"

We use auxiliary verbs\u2014also known as helping or modal verbs\u2014all of the time in American English. Even if you aren’t familiar with the definition of an auxiliary verb, there’s a great likelihood you’ve used many today before reading this.<\/p>\n

In this discussion we’ll review what an auxiliary verb is. We’ll also provide you with examples to reinforce your understanding of how important auxiliary verbs are to our everyday communication.<\/p>\n

What Is an Auxiliary Verb?<\/h2>\n

An auxiliary verb is one that combines with a main verb to form a verb phrase. Together, auxiliary verbs and their main verbs provide further information about an action’s tense, mood, or emphasis.<\/p>\n

For example, compare I study <\/em>with I will study. <\/em>The auxiliary verb (will<\/em>) in the second statement indicates a different timing of the action. Consider also I work <\/em>and I should work.<\/em> The auxiliary verb in the second statement makes the action suggestive; without an auxiliary, the first statement’s action is assertive.<\/p>\n

Just a few common auxiliary verbs are will, shall, should, may, can, <\/em>and would<\/em>. These auxiliaries are also known as modal verbs because their forms do not change (I will<\/u> run, you will<\/u> run, they will<\/u> run<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Other auxiliary verbs are variations of be, have,<\/em> and do<\/em>. These auxiliaries are known as helping verbs<\/a>, because they can change form (I am<\/u> writing, you are<\/u> writing<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Let’s look at some more examples:<\/p>\n

Sheila has<\/u><\/strong> already spent<\/u> the money.<\/em> (The auxiliary verb lets us know the action occurred in the past.)<\/p>\n

All of the donuts will<\/u><\/strong> be<\/u> gone by lunch.<\/em> (Again, the auxiliary verb tells of the action’s timing.)<\/p>\n

Lamar did<\/u> <\/strong>ace<\/u> the test by studying for it.<\/em> (The auxiliary verb informs us of the timing [the past] while also adding emphasis to the action.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How Are Auxiliary Verbs Used?<\/h2>\n

As we’ve been discussing, auxiliary verbs provide more information about the context of an action. In this way, they allow for greater precision in our communication than would be possible without them.<\/p>\n

That precision includes giving us the ability to negate an action as well. For example, imagine if we could say or write only I no go.<\/em> That limitation would leave out much information. Now consider the same negation with the help of auxiliary verbs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
I will<\/u><\/strong> not<\/u> go.<\/em><\/td>\nI would<\/u><\/strong> not<\/u> go. <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
I shall<\/u><\/strong> not<\/u> go.<\/em><\/td>\nI am<\/u><\/strong> not<\/u> going.<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
I may<\/u><\/strong> not<\/u> go.<\/em><\/td>\nI have<\/u><\/strong> not<\/u> gone.<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
I cannot<\/u><\/strong> go.<\/em><\/td>\nI do<\/u><\/strong> not<\/u> go.<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

With auxiliary verbs, we now have several ways we can further clarify the negated action just as we can an action that is not negated.<\/p>\n

Continue Your Study of Grammar<\/h2>\n

Our website is full of grammar tips and guidance for helping you become an even more precise and eloquent communicator. Whether you have a subject in mind or would just like to browse, our archive has a wide range of articles for enhancing your mastery of American English. We also welcome you to share a comment or thought about the topic on this page in the comments section below.<\/p>\n

Pop Quiz<\/h2>\n

Identify all of the auxiliary verbs in the sentences below.<\/p>\n

1. Brian is surely going, but he does not know if Mariah will be joining him.<\/p>\n

2. Do you know if it will rain tomorrow?<\/p>\n

3. Carina should have an answer soon as long as Peter has properly finished his research.<\/p>\n

4. The team is traveling by bus, and the fans can follow in their cars.<\/p>\n

5. Najila would like to read more of those books if Petra can make them available.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pop Quiz Answers<\/h3>\n

1. Brian is<\/strong> surely going, but he does<\/strong> not know if Mariah will<\/strong> be joining him.<\/p>\n

2. Do<\/strong> you know if it will<\/strong> rain tomorrow?<\/p>\n

3. Carina should<\/strong> have an answer soon as long as Peter has<\/strong> properly finished his research.<\/p>\n

4. The team is<\/strong> traveling by bus, and the fans can<\/strong> follow in their cars.<\/p>\n

5. Najila would<\/strong> like to read more of those books if Petra can <\/strong>make them available.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We use auxiliary verbs\u2014also known as helping or modal verbs\u2014all of the time in American English. Even if you aren’t familiar with the definition of an auxiliary verb, there’s a great likelihood you’ve used many today before reading this. In this discussion we’ll review what an auxiliary verb is. We’ll also provide you with examples […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-verbs"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5814"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5814"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6473,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5814\/revisions\/6473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}