Recognize an auxiliary verb when you see one. Every
sentence must have a verb. To depict doable activities, writers use action
verbs. To describe conditions, writers choose linking verbs. Sometimes an
action or condition occurs just once—bang!—and it's over.
Nate stubbed his toe.
He is miserable with pain.
Other times, the activity or condition continues over
a long stretch of time, happens predictably, or occurs in relationship to other
events. In these instances, a single-word verb like stubbed or is cannot accurately describe what
happened, so writers use multipart verb phrases to communicate what they mean.
As many as four words can comprise a verb phrase.
A main or base verb indicates the type of action or
condition, and auxiliary—or helping—verbs convey the other nuances that writers
want to express. Read these three examples:
Sherylee smacked her lips as raspberry jelly dripped
from the donut onto her white shirt.
Sherylee is always dripping something.
Since Sherylee is such a klutz, she should
have been eating a cake donut, which would not have
stained her shirt.
In the first sentence, smacked and dripped,
single-word verbs, describe the quick actions of both Sherylee and the
raspberry jelly.
Since Sherylee has a pattern of messiness, is
dripping communicates the frequency of her clumsiness. The auxiliary
verbs that comprise should have been eating and would have stained
express not only time relationships but also evaluation of Sherylee's actions.
Below are the auxiliary verbs. You can conjugate be,
do,
and have;
the modal
auxiliaries, however, never change form.
Understand the dual nature of be, do, and have.
Be, do, and have are both stand-alone verbs and
auxiliary verbs. When these verbs are auxiliary, you will find them teamed with
other verbs to complete the verb phrase. Compare these sentences:
Freddy is envious of Beatrice’s steaming
bowl of squid eyeball stew.
Is =
linking verb.
Freddy is studying Beatrice’s steaming bowl
of squid eyeball stew with envy in his eyes.
Is
= auxiliary verb; studying = present participle completing the verb phrase.
We did our homework for Mrs. Long.
Did
= action verb.
We’re not slackers! We did prepare our homework for
Mrs. Long.
Did
= auxiliary verb; prepare = main verb completing the verb phrase.
Selena has twelve orange goldfish in her
aquarium.
Has
= action verb.
Selena has bought a catfish to help keep
the tank clean.
Has
= auxiliary verb; bought = past participle completing the verb phrase.
Form
progressive tenses with the auxiliary verb be.
All progressive tenses use a form of be.
Present progressive follows this
pattern:
AM, IS,
OR ARE + PRESENT PARTICIPLE
Use the present progressive tense to convey an action
or condition happening right now.
I am baking chocolate-broccoli muffins
today.
Am =
auxiliary verb; baking = present participle completing the verb phrase.
Past progressive follows this pattern:
WAS OR
WERE + PRESENT PARTICIPLE
Use the past progressive tense to show either 1) an
action or condition that continued in the past or 2) an action or condition
interrupted by another.
Naomi was hoping for an A in her organic
chemistry class.
Was =
auxiliary verb; hoping = present participle completing the verb phrase.
Future
progressive looks like this:
WILL + BE + PRESENT PARTICIPLE
Use the future progressive tense to indicate an action
that will continue in the future.
I will be growing broccoli in the
backyard this spring.
Will, be = auxiliary verbs; growing = present
participle completing the verb phrase.
Form
passive voice with be.
You can make any transitive verb—an action verb that
can take a direct object—passive with
the auxiliary verb be.
Active voice looks like this:
SUBJECT + VERB + DIRECT OBJET
Example:
Frank devoured a bacon double
cheeseburger.
Passive voice makes these changes:
DIRECT
OBJET AS SUBJECT + FORM OF BE + PAST PARTICIPLE + BY + SUBJECT AS OBJECT OF THE PREPOSITION
The double bacon cheeseburger was being devoured by
Frank.
Form
perfect tenses with have.
All perfect tenses use a form of have. Present perfect follows this pattern:
HAS OR
HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE
Use the present perfect tense to convey an action or
condition that began in the past but continues [or is finished] in the present.
Marge has bought earplugs to drown out her
husband's snoring.
Has
= auxiliary verb; bought = past participle completing the verb phrase.
Past perfect follows this pattern:
HAD + PAST
PARTICIPLE
Use the past perfect tense to show that one action in
the past occurred before another.
Because Marge had purchased the earplugs, she no
longer fantasized about smothering George with a pillow.
Had
= auxiliary verb; purchased = past participle completing the verb phrase.
Future perfect follows this pattern:
WILL + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE
Use the future perfect tense to indicate that an
action will be finished in the future.
This Sunday, Marge will have gotten an
entire week of uninterrupted sleep.
Will, have = auxiliary verbs; gotten = past participle
completing the verb phrase.
Form
emphatic tenses with do.
When you use a form of do as an auxiliary verb, you
form the emphatic tense. This tense is useful for asking questions or
emphasizing an action. The patterns look like these:
FORM
OF DO + MAIN VERB
FORM
OF DO + SUBJECT + MAIN VERB… ?
I did not eat your leftover pizza!
Did
= auxiliary verb; eat = main verb completing the verb phrase.
Do you always accuse the first person you see?
Do
= auxiliary verb; accuse = main verb completing the verb phrase.
Doesn't
the evidence point to Samuel, who still has a bit of black olive stuck to
his front tooth?
Does
= auxiliary verb; point = main verb completing the verb phrase.
Understand
the job of modal auxiliary verbs.
Modal auxiliary verbs never change form. You cannot
add an -ed, -ing, or -s ending to these words.
Can,
could,
may,
might,
must,
ought
to, shall, should, will, and would
have only one form.
You can use modal auxiliary verbs in these patterns:
MODAL + MAIN VERB
MODAL + BE + PRESENT PARTICIPLE
MODAL + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE
With modal auxiliaries, you can indicate necessity or obligation:
To lose her orange glow, Yvonne should eat fewer carrots.
John must remember his wife's
birthday this year.
If Cecilia wants a nice lawn, she ought to be raking the
leaves.
Or you can show possibility:
Fred might share his calculus homework if
you offer him a slice of pizza.
Ann could have run the half marathon if
she had started to train four months ago.
Modal auxiliaries also show willingness or ability:
Nicole will babysit your pet iguana for a
reasonable fee.
Jason
can
pass chemistry this semester if he stops spending his study time at the
arcade.
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