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.
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.
exists in the continuous 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
these simple reminders need to be
Now auxiliary verbs are a really interesting part
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:
Modal verbs are also considered auxiliary verbs
but there are different grammar rules for modal verbs.
In this lesson, we're focusing on
These auxiliary verbs can also be used
When you're using English verbs,
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.
Now if you want to learn more about
then check out this video that I made about it, right here.
Auxiliary verbs in positive sentences
This means that they're usually
unstressed when they're spoken.
Unstressed words in English are often
when they're spoken out loud in English
so they can be difficult to hear.
auxiliary verbs are usually stressed
but often, they're contracted with "not".
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.
Learning how to contract auxiliary verbs in English
is instantly going to make you sound
more relaxed and natural when you speak.
Okay! Time to look at some examples,
used in the simple tenses in English.
"do" and "does" in the present tense
In the future forms, with "will" and "going to",
we use the infinitive form only,
"do".
and to think about what I mentioned earlier.
The subject-verb agreement rules.
How the verb form changes depending on the subject
What you hear so often in spoken English
and what you see in informal writing
Also notice that in the very first example
we can't see the auxiliary verb "do".
in negative sentences and in questions
then yes - of course - you must use the auxiliary verb
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
it's to add emphasis to the sentence,
"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.
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.
It isn't raining at the moment.
He will be presenting at 3:00 p.m.
Will you be going to work today?
and have a look at these examples.
so how the verb form is always changing
depending on the subject and the tense
Often in spoken English or informal writing,
you'll see these contractions.
Now the "be" verb is also used as an auxiliary verb
"I was given three minutes to finish."
So it's not always with a verb that's in
is used with the main verb in the past participle form.
"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"
Now, of course, the main verb in the perfect tenses
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
is always going to be there, helping out.
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.
So the verb is always changing
and check out these contractions.
Well that's it for this lesson!
I hope that it's been really helpful for you
the role of the auxiliary verb in English,
and I hope that this lesson showed you that the
way auxiliary verbs are used in English
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,
and practise your English pronunciation
in either of these two fabulous lessons?