Speak English Fluently by Mastering Auxiliary Verbs: Be, Do & Have: A Comprehensive Guide For Beginners

“To be, or not to be – William Shakespeare, from Hamlet, Act III.”

That’s the big question!

Today’s post is not about Shakespeare, but rather those pesky minor verbs, aka auxiliary verbs, that confound even fluent native speakers.

If you’re hoping to speak English fluently, you’ve got to get your grammar right! And in this post, we focus on auxiliary verbs and share easy tips and hacks to help you get “be, ”  “do, ” and “have” right!

What is an auxiliary verb?

Also known as helping or minor verbs, auxiliary verbs support the main verbs in a sentence. You can think of them as the supporting actors that prop the main verbs. Consider the sentence,

“I have finished my pizza. ”

Here, finished is the main verb and have is the auxiliary verb that supports the main verb finish.

2 Major Types Of Auxiliary Verbs

Generally, auxiliary verbs are of two main types:

• Primary auxiliary verbs: These include “be, ”  “do ,” and  “have. ” They also function as action verbs and can be conjugated in different tenses, moods and voices.
• Modal auxiliary verbs: These include verbs like “can, ”  “shall, ”  “may, ”  “will, ”  “could, ”  “should, ”  “would, ”  “might, ”  “must, ”  “need, ”  “dare” and the phrases,  “used to” and  “ought to. “

Let’s take a closer look at the three major forms of primary auxiliary verbs.

Three Common Auxiliary Verbs

The three primary auxiliary verbs – be, do, and have -appear in the following forms:

• To be: is, was, are, were, am, been, being, and will be
• To have: has, had, have, will have, having
• To do: do, does, will do and did

Let’s now take a closer look at these verbs in action, along with examples.

Be

“Be” is one of the most critical auxiliary verbs in English. You’re likely to use it multiple times in your daily conversations. If you wish to improve English speaking, being familiar with the different ” be ” usage styles is a must.

Be is a stand-alone action verb used in all tenses such as be, been, am, is, was, are, were, wasn’t, weren’t, are not, and to be. It denotes all tenses and can either be singular or plural. When used as an auxiliary verb, it’s accompanied by another verb to create a complete verb phrase. You can make negative sentences by adding “not” to “be. ” Here are a few examples of the different usages of be:

• As an action verb: Jonah is messy. Here,  “is” is the action verb.
• As an auxiliary verb: Although he is always complaining about the weather, Jonah forgets to take the umbrella when he steps out. Here “is” acts like an auxiliary verb accompanying the main verb,  “complain. ”
• As an auxiliary verb: Jonah is going to be doing extra laundry all his life, as he often gets caught in the rain.

Do

Do is another auxiliary verb that acts as a stand-alone verb in all tenses. The various forms of do include to do, does, did, done, did not, and doesn’t. Just like have, when used as an auxiliary verb, do always accompanies another verb to create a verb phrase. Sometimes, it can also be used to add emphasis.

Here are a few examples of do in different scenarios:

• As an action verb: As Amy is messy, she does laundry more often than others.
• As an auxiliary verb: “Amy didn’t close her coffee cup with a lid. ” or  “Amy doesn’t always spill her coffee. ”
• For emphasis: “I did my homework yesterday!”
• Questions and negated clauses: “She plays the guitar well, doesn’t she?” or  “The kids have finished dinner, but I didn’t. ”

Have

It is one of the most critical auxiliary verbs, and you can use it in all tenses: has, had, have, having, had, and hadn’t. It denotes ownership and is used to describe appearance and discuss ability. Here are a few common usages of have:

• You can use have instead of the verbs eat or drink. For example, instead of “Let’s eat dinner, ” you can say, “Let’s have dinner. ”

When used as a helping verb, have always accompanies another primary verb. Here are a few examples to illustrate this point:

• Tina has a large car. Here, has like an action verb and denotes ownership.
• Tina has bought a new car to replace her old wagon. Here have acts like an auxiliary verb and accompanies the action verb “bought. ” It completes the verb phrase.
• Tina should have been more careful driving her new car. Here, have is the auxiliary verb, and the phrase “should have been” denotes her actions and expresses time.

**In all the examples discussed below, the main verb is bold and underlined, while the auxiliary verb is highlighted in yellow. **

Auxiliary Verbs Expressing Tense

Here are a few examples where auxiliary verbs denote tense.

• I was waiting for an hour.
• She will be waiting at the cinema hall.
• The thief had escaped before the cops arrived.
• We would have left the place by then.
• We were studying before the exam.
• She will have been preparing for the exam for nearly two weeks.

Auxiliary Verbs Expressing Voice

• The soup was drunk by the cat.
• He will be terminated from his job tomorrow.
• The hens are driven through the fence.

In these examples, the auxiliary verb, “to be” helps to denote passive voice. Passive voice is a sentence where the subject doesn’t perform the action.

Auxiliary Verbs Expressing Mood

• Did you win?

In this sentence, the auxiliary verb creates the mood. It asks a question; hence this sentence is in an interrogative mood.

• Don’t forget your plane tickets.

Here the auxiliary verb, do not, indicates the mood, as it gives an order.

Modal Auxiliary Verbs

Let’s now turn our attention to modal auxiliary verbs. They express ideas like possibility, necessity, ability and intention. Here are a few examples:

• Necessity: You must focus on your lessons to pass your exam.
• Possibility: We might win the big game tomorrow.
• Intention: They shall meet at the coffee shop.
• Ability: The opposition could win the match, or it could be a draw.

Sometimes, a modal verb could express two different ideas. For example, could is used for both possibility and ability.

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