MAIN VERBS & HELPING (AUXILIARY) VERBS

Besides regular and irregular, verbs are listed as either Main Verbs or Helping (Auxiliary) Verbs. To
help you understand how a helping (auxiliary) verb works, picture the following.
A person you never saw before walked up to you and said “I can”, your first response would be
“This person is a nut”. If you are brave enough, you might ask “You can what”?
“I can” as a statement on its own does not make sense. You need another word to complete the
sentence. “I can walk”, “I can run”, I can help” all make sense, it gives complete information. In these
cases “walk”, “run” and “help” are the Main Verbs and “can” is the Helping or Auxiliary Verb. The helping
verb helps the main verb make sense.
Another example of a helping verb is the verb “Be”. The sentence “I am walking” tells you three
important things. First, it tells you who is doing the action (“I”). Second, it tells you what the action is
(“walking”) and finally, it helps you to understand when the action takes place or the Tense of the verb
(“am” and the “ing” ending of the verb implies the action is happening now). Helping verbs often tell us
when the action takes place.
There are a total of 23 helping verbs. They are;

am are be been

being can could did

do does had has

might
have is may

must shall should was

were will
would
1. Twelve of these verbs, when used as helping verbs, combine with the base or dictionary form only.
They are

could did
can

do does may

must shall
might

should will would

Examples

I will work. He can go. We should stop. You may go. They do go.

2. Seven verbs, when used as auxiliary verbs, combine with present participles (base form + ing) OR past
participles.

am are

be been

is was

were

Examples; I am singing. He is singing. He is done. You are singing. You are done. She was singing. She
was done. We were singing. We were done. They will be singing. They will be done. It has been
raining. It has been done.

3. Four verbs, when used as auxiliary verbs, combine with past participles only.

Being Had
Has Have

Examples; I have gone. He has gone. I had gone. I was being robbed. I have chased. He has chased. I
had chased. I was being chased.
4. Nine are helping (auxiliary) verbs ONLY.

can could may

might must shall

should will would

Exampes; I will sing. I shall sing. I can sing. I would sing. I should sing. I could sing. I may sing. I
might sing. I must sing.

5. Fourteen can be used as helping (auxiliary) verbs OR principal verbs.

am are
be been

being did

do does
had has

have is

was were

Examples;

Helping or Auxiliary Principal

I do like chocolate. I do my homework.

He does like chocolate. He does a good job.

He did sing He did what I asked.

He is going He is fat
He had eaten He had breakfast
Top Tip;

Short Answers;

When talking in everyday language, native speakers often use expressions such as: I do. I
will. He does. We might. You should. They might. I must. It could. It seems like the auxiliary
verb is being used as a principal verb, but this is not the case. The principal verb is not said. The
examples above occur only in response to questions. Do you like the beach? Yes, I do (like the
beach). No, I don’t (like the beach). Will she come here? Yes, she will (come here). No, she will not
(come here). Does he study English? Yes, he does (study English). No, he doesn’t (study
English).