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.

As always, if you enjoyed my lesson, please subscribe

by clicking the red button right there.

And make sure that you're notified

when I upload a new lesson.

To do that, click the bell button just here as well.

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!