Auxiliary verbs in English are not translated, but they perform an important function. It is the auxiliary verbs that tell us how to correctly translate the sentence. For example, the presence of the auxiliary verb do is a sure sign of an interrogative or negative sentence. And the verb will tells us that the sentence is in the future tense.

To have a general idea of ​​the English auxiliary verb, take a look at the table. This table shows with examples how to use the auxiliary verbs in English (the verbs to DO, WILL, to BE, to HAVE and WOULD).

Help corporeal verb	When is it used?	Example
to DO	In interrogative sentences	Do you like cats? You love cats?
	In negative sentences	I do n "t like cats. I do not like cats.
	For the education of the future tense	I will read book.
to BE	As a formal predicate (when the predicate is omitted in the Russian version of the sentence)	I am a doctor. I am doctor.
	For the formation of the times of the group Continuous (continuous action)	We are watching a good film now.
	For the formation of the times of the group Perfect (completed action)	I haven’t played this computer game before. I have not played this PC game before.
	For the formation of the times of the Perfect Continuous group	I have been playing this musical composition for two hours. I've been playing this piece of music for two hours now.
	For the formation of the Future in past tense (when the first part of the sentence is in the past tense, and the second in the future).	I knew that she would come here. I knew she would come here.
SHALL / SHOULD	Not used in modern English. Previously used in certain cases as a replacement for WILL / WOULD verbs.

For each auxiliary verb from this table, there will be a detailed analysis and many examples.

How many auxiliary verbs are there in English?

Let's see what auxiliary verbs are in English and what each of them stands for. There are five such verbs:

1. to be
2. to have
3. to do
4. will (would)
5. shall (should)

Particular attention should be paid to the first three (to be, to have, to do) auxiliary verbs. There are several reasons for this:

• These verbs are used more often.
• They change by faces.
• They have abbreviated forms.
• They are "two-faced" - they can be both an auxiliary verb and a semantic one.

How do auxiliary verbs change by person?

The auxiliary verbs to be, to be and to have change by person. All present tense forms for these three verbs are collected in the table:

Pronoun	to be	to do	to have
I	im	do	have
He, She, It	is	does	has
They, we, you	you	do	have

In the past tense, only the verb to be changes:

I, he, she, it - was
They, we, you - were

The auxiliary verbs to do and to have in the past tense, respectively, will be did and had in all persons.
The verbs will, would, shall, should do not change for persons.

Auxiliary verb to do.

To do Is the most important of all the auxiliary verbs in the English language. It serves to build negative and interrogative sentences. For example, many people love cats and say about themselves:

I like cats.
I love cats.

But what if you do not share this love? Everything needs to be denied:

I do not like cats.
I do not like cats.

That is, we put the auxiliary verb do immediately after the subject with a negative particle not and get a negation instead of an affirmative sentence. Instead of do not for brevity they often write don’t.

It is just as easy to construct a question that will allow you to figure out avid cat ladies in a crowd of people:

Do you like cats?
You love cats?

Just put the auxiliary verb do in front of the subject and get an interrogative sentence.

More examples of interrogative and negative sentences:

I don’t know it.
I do not know that.

She didn’t watch this cartoon.
She has not watched this cartoon.

Do you speak English?
You speak English?

But you must always remember that there is an exception to the general rule for constructing negative and interrogative English sentences. The verb do is not substituted in sentences containing modal verbs. Read more about the correct handling of modal verbs.

Auxiliary verb to have

As a rule, the verb have is translated directly - as a semantic verb. Its meaning is to have, to have. If we talk about to have as an auxiliary verb, it is used to form complex temporary structures, in the name of which there are words such as Perfect / Perfect Continuous. These temporary structures, I must say, are not the most common. And beginners may well do without them. However, this is almost half of English "times" and it is desirable to have an idea of ​​how they were formed.

For clarity, I will briefly explain what Perfect / Perfect Continuous is.

If the action you are describing is typical:

• completeness of the action (optional);
• the importance of the message to the interlocutor;
• the opportunity for the interlocutor to use the message about the performed action;

then it is Perfect.

If a sentence reports an action that occurs over a period of time that is explicitly or implied, then it is Perfect Continuous.

The predicate in such sentences is built according to one of the 3 formulas shown in the table:

Each of these formulas has an auxiliary verb to have. And instead of asterisks, you need to substitute the infinitive of the main verb. But what is important, if we want to put a sentence in the past or future tense, then these tenses need to be applied to the verb to have, and not to the main verb. That is, in the past tense, instead of have, we put had, and in the future - will have.

I haven’t played this computer game before.
I have not played this PC game before (Present Perfect)

I have been playing this musical composition for two hours.
I've been playing this piece of music for two hours now (Present Perfect Continuous)

I have finished reading this book by 3 o'clock today.
By 3 o'clock today I finished reading this book (Past Perfect)

I had been reading this book for 30 minutes when he called.
I've been reading this book for 30 minutes now when he called (Past Perfect Continuous).

The have verb can also be used modal. Read about it in the article "The modal verb have to".
Also, do not forget that the have verb changes by person - see the table at the beginning of the article.

Auxiliary verb to be

As a semantic verb to be has the meaning "to be", "to be". The fact is that in an English sentence there must always be both a subject and a predicate. In Russian we can say:

I am doctor.

As you can see, there is no predicate here, and when translated into English, we will have to cram some verb into this sentence. In such situations, the verb to be is used. The correct translation of this sentence would be:

I am a doctor.

It literally means “ I am a doctor.”

And so always, when a predicate is missing in a Russian sentence, when translating into English, we add the required form of the verb to be after the subject.

I am doctor.
I am a doctor.

She is a student.
She is a student.

They are idiots.
They are idiots.

As an auxiliary verb, to be is used when constructing sentences in which an action is described that requires a certain amount of time. These are the so-called Present / Past Continuous.

Such proposals are built according to a simple scheme:

Subject + Desired form to be + Main verb to which the –ing particle is added

We are watching a good film now.
We are watching an interesting movie now.

They are loudly discussing the results of competitions.
They loudly discuss the results of the competition.

Tom was reading a magazine when the telephone rang.
Tom was reading a magazine when the phone rang.

By the way, if you are not well versed in English tenses, read the answer to the main question of English grammar “What is the difference between present indefinite and present continuous?” Continuous

The auxiliary verb will

With this verb, everything is simple. By itself, it is never used, but as an auxiliary verb, it is used to form the future tense. Just use the auxiliary verb will after the subject and get the future tense. For example:

I read a book. I'm reading a book.

I will read book. I will be reading a book.

Auxiliary verb would

Verb would used to construct sentences called future in the past. This is when the main sentence is in the past tense, and the subordinate clause in the future. In this case, the auxiliary verb would is not used in the subordinate clause to form the future tense. For example:

I knew that she would come here.
I knew she would come here.

You can read more about this verb in the article “Will and shall. The rule of formation of the future tense in English. " ...

The auxiliary verb shall / should

The main thing to know about these verbs is that they are not used in modern English. In case you have to read 19th century texts, remember that when translated, shall is similar to will and should is similar to would.

A verb is an action part of speech. There are two kinds of verbs in English: semantic and auxiliary... Semantic ones carry a certain meaning, that is, they denote an action or state. For example: wait, love, miss, run.

What are auxiliary verbs for? What are they? When theyare used and who do they help? I’ll tell you now.

What are auxiliary verbs for?

Subsidiary verbs have no meaning and are not translated in any way. They act as pointers that help us determine:

• Time of what is happening (present, future, past),
• The number of actors (many or one).

The following auxiliary verbs exist in English: be, do, have... We'll dwell on each of them in more detail later, but for now let's figure out what an "auxiliary verb" is.

As in Russian?

It is very difficult for Russian people to understand what an "auxiliary verb" is and why it was invented at all. In fact, everything is very simple. In Russian, in order to understand at what time an action is performed and who is performing it, we change the endings.

... ghoul la- tells us that there was one person (woman) and in the past (yesterday or some time ago) she went outside and breathed air for a while.

... ghoul no- tells us that one person in the present went out into the street and breathes air for some time (now).

... ghoul eat- tells us that many people in the present have gone out and breathed air for some time (now).

As you can see, in Russian we change the word itself (ending) and thanks to this we understand who and when did the action.

How is it in English?

The English (fortunately for us) are too lazy to change words, because then their language would be very difficult. So they decided they would put extra little words front actions. These small words will show the time and the number of people who perform the action.

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In this case, we change only the small words (auxiliary verbs) before the actions, and not the verbs themselves. Let's take a look at how this happens.

Let's take a semantic verb swim(more precisely, its swimming form).

Swimming in the pool.
___ ______ swim (-y / -yu / -em / -y / -yut) in the pool

We understand WHAT a person / people do - he rakes the water with his hands in order to stay on it and not drown. But can we understand WHEN a person / people are doing this? Yesterday? Today now? Tomorrow? And can we understand how many people are doing this action? One? Or more than one? No.

Now let's add the auxiliary verb be:

am swimming
float Ayu

are swimming
float ayut

were swimming
float ali

will be swimming
will floating be

We now see that:

• In the first case, a person talks about himself, and the action takes place in the present moment, now ( am swimming)
• in the second, we are talking about several people (more than one) and in the present tense ( are swimming)
• in the third case, we have the past tense, that is, the action was yesterday or was already, and a lot of people ( were swimming)
• in the fourth, we are talking about the future tense ( will be swimming)

We do not translate the auxiliary verb, but it helps us in the correct tense and number to translate the semantic verb, paired with it.

By the way, in Russian there is still one auxiliary verb. You all know him - this word will be. When we talk about the future, we say “I will, it will be, we will be”. This is what points us to the future.

I AM will dance all night.
We we will swim.

What auxiliary verbs are there in English?

As I said, there are not so many auxiliary verbs in English: do, have, be. These verbs can also be semantic and have a meaning:

• do - to do,
• have - to have,
• be - to be.

Important: I will say again that we consider these verbs as auxiliary. Therefore, they are not translated. Let's compare sentences in examples.

He is a doctor.
He is an doctor. (Here be is a semantic verb. It carries the meaning “to be, to be”.)

He is going to a doctor.
He goes to the doctor. (Here be is an auxiliary verb - it helps to understand that the action (the semantic verb "go") is currently taking place)

They have a cat.
They have cat. (Here have is a semantic verb. It carries the meaning “to have, to own”.)

They have fed a cat already.
They have fed the cat already. (Here have is an auxiliary verb. It helps to understand that the action (to feed) has already been completed recently.)

I do my homework.
I AM doing my homework. (Here do is a semantic verb. It carries the meaning of "to do".)

Do you learn English?
Do you learn English? (Here do is an auxiliary verb. It helps to understand that the action (learning) is currently taking place.)

Auxiliary verb be

Now we will look at all forms of auxiliary verbs in different tenses: Present, Past and Future.

Pronouns	Present time (Present Tense)	Past tense (Past Tense)	Future tense (Future Tense)
I	am	was	will
you, they, we	are	were	will
he, she, it	is	was	will

She is sleeping.
She is sleeping.

They are dancing now.
They are dancing now.

We were watching TV, when he came.
We were watching TV when he came.

My sister will go abroad.
My sister will go abroad.

We examined this verb in a semantic form in great detail in these articles:

Auxiliary verb do

Pronouns	Present time (Present Tense)	Past tense (Past Tense)	Future tense (Future Tense)
I	do	did	will
you, they, we	do	did	will
he, she, it	does	did	will

I don’ t know it.
I don’t know this.

She doesn "t like to sing.
She doesn't like to sing.

He didn’t watch this film.
He hasn't seen this movie.

They will give up smoking.
They will quit smoking.

Auxiliary verb have

Pronouns	Present time (Present Tense)	Past tense (Past Tense)	Future tense (Future Tense)
I	have	had	will have
you, they, we	have	had	will have
he, she, it	has	had	will have

I have lived here for five years.
I have lived here for five years.

She has worked as a doctor since 2007.
She has been working as a doctor since 2007.

They had read this text.
They have finished reading this text.

We will have prepared it, before you come.
We will prepare this before you come.

As you can see, auxiliary verbs are very important, as we use them to determine which tense is used and how many people participate in it. So don't forget about them, even though we don't translate them.

I hope you now understand what auxiliary verbs are and how and when to use them. Now let's get to practice!

Assignment task

And now, to consolidate, translate the following sentences into Russian, pay attention to our pointers - auxiliary verbs:

1. He will go to the cinema.
2. My sister is playing tennis now.
3. They have broken the window.
4. I don’t speak Spanish.
5. We will dance all night.
6. She didn’t take this pen.
7. You will not buy this dress.

As always, write your answers in the comments.

To form complex forms of the predicate in the English sentence, auxiliary verbs are used, which play a crucial role in the conjugation of the English verb ( the formation of verb tenses), they have no independent meaning and are only indicators of time, person, number, pledge.

Auxiliary verbs:

Auxiliary verbs - are involved in the formation of all verb tenses, with the exception of the affirmative form Present and Past Indefinite. Auxiliary verbs have no independent meaning and only perform different grammatical meanings, being indicators of time, person, number, voice, and so on. The action itself is expressed by semantic verbs, in combination with which they are used.

Present - present.

• Affirmative I work; No auxiliary verb
• Interrogative form Do I work?
• Negative form I do not work;
• Do I not work?

Past Indefinite - Past indefinite time.

• Affirmative I worked; No auxiliary verb
• Interrogative form Did I work?
• Negative form I did not work;
• Interrogative - negative Did I not work?

List of auxiliary verbs

1. to do; [ tu: du:]
2. shall, should; [ ʃal], [ʃʊd]
3. will, would; [ wɪl], [wʊd]
4. to be [ tu: bi]
5. to have [ tu: hæv] (not always auxiliary);

Note. There is only one auxiliary verb in Russian to be.

Verb to do Information on the use and conjugation of the verb to do is posted on a separate page. The verb "to-do" For a correct understanding of the following information, you need to look at the conjugation table of the verb to do. (opens in a new tab)

Verbs: shall, should, will, would.

• should is the past tense of the verb shall these verbs are used with pronouns: I - I and we - we
• would is the past tense of the verb will these verbs are used with pronouns: you - you, you, he - he, she - she, it - he, she, it (about objects, about animals), they - they

Verbs: shall, will is used in the formation of affirmative, interrogative and negative sentences in all forms of the future tense with all indicative verbs, except modal. Shall - used to express future action with the first person singular and plural. will - used to express future action with the second and third person singular and plural.

The verb shall is also used in interrogative sentences when the speaker asks for advice on whether or not to perform an action: Shall I sign here? - Do I have to subscribe here?

Note. In modern English, the verb shall is supplanted by the verb will, that is, if you say: I will be at the cafe tomorrow - I will be in a cafe tomorrow... This will not be a mistake.

Verbs: should, would used as auxiliary:

1. When forming affirmative, interrogative and negative sentences in all forms future in the past tense indicative mood with all verbs (except modal).
2. In subjugative sentences;
3. Like modal verbs.

Conjugations of auxiliary verbs

• Conjugation Table of the verb to do
• Verb table

Although auxiliary verbs in English do not have their own meaning, they play a very important role. When combined with semantic (main) verbs, auxiliary verbs form almost.

In our article, you will learn how to use auxiliary verbs in English Perfect and Continuous tenses. We will also tell you what are modal verbs and modal phrases. And the comparative approach in this lesson will improve your understanding of verb tenses in general.

Let's see how exactly auxiliary verbs are involved in the formation of basic tenses.

Recent Past (Present Perfect)

Present Perfect (also known as present perfect or complete) in English describes an action that comes from the past and continues in the present, or happened in the recent past. The tense is formed as follows: the form of the auxiliary verb have / has + III form of the main verb.

• My sister has come back from school. - My sister (already) returned from school.
• Tom has studied for 6 years. - Tom studied for 6 years.
• Mother has cooked the whole day. - Mom spent the whole day cooking.
• Jane has just finished doing her homework. - Jane just finished her homework.
• I have slept for six hours. “I slept for six hours.
• They have worked on this project for two last weeks. “They've been working on this project for the last two weeks.

Past Perfect

(past perfect) describes an action in the past that began and ended at a certain point in the past. Past Perfect is formed as follows: auxiliary verb had + III form of the verb.

• We had left home when she arrived. - By the time of her arrival, we had already left the house.
• Jane had demonstrated no fright before the airplane took off. “Before the plane took off, Jane showed no fear.
• Max finally repaired his car that he had bought two years ago. “Max ended up fixing his car, which he bought two years ago.
• The child had broken the toy before his mother paid for that. - The child broke the toy (already) before his mother paid for it.

Continuous action in the present (Present Continuous)

(present long-term or long-term) denotes an action that is taking place at the moment, or that will happen in the near future.

It is formed as follows: auxiliary verb to be (am, is, are) + main verb + ending -ing.

• The family is having breakfast now. - At the moment, the family is having breakfast.
• Jane is preparing for an important exam. - Jane is preparing for an important exam.
• I'm going to visit that museum soon. - In the near future, I'm going to go to this museum.
• We are going to build a new house soon. - We are planning to build a new house in the near future.

Past Continuous

Past Continuous refers to an action that has continued at a specific point in time in the past. It is formed as follows: forms of the auxiliary verb to be (was, were) + main verb + ending -ing.

• Tom was helping his brother with his homework the whole yesterday evening. “Tom helped his brother with his homework all evening yesterday.
• Jane was swimming in the pool for two hours yesterday. “Jane swam in the pool for two hours yesterday.
• They were trying to mend the car for two hours this morning. “They tried to fix the car for two hours this morning.
• We were having our dinner when the neighbor came. - When a neighbor came in, we had dinner.

Other auxiliary verbs (Modal verbs)

If in the construction of the auxiliary verb + the main verb the verb can, will, shall, may, could, would, should, might or must appears first, then they remain unchanged. In such cases, it is not necessary, as, for example, in Present Continuous or Past Continuous.

Let's look at some examples:

• I must study hard to pass the exams successfully. - To pass the exam successfully, I have to study with all my might.
• We should be careful when crossing the street. - When crossing the street, we must be careful.
• You will go to the trip in summer. - In the summer you will go on a trip.
• He may work harder to earn more money. - To earn more, he can work harder.
• She might win the prize. - She could have won a prize.
• They could stay in the mountains for two days more. “They could have stayed in the mountains for two more days.

Modal phrases

Such as could have, would have, must have attach a semantic verb in the III form.

Let's consider them with examples:

• She must have prepared her evening dress in advance. “She should have prepared the evening dress in advance.
• We could have left for vacations unless the car breakage. - If not for the breakdown of the car, we could already go on vacation.
• He would have reached the peak if he had started his climb two days earlier. - If he had started climbing two days earlier, he would have already reached the summit.

Modal phrases used to, have to, have got to, be able to, ought to, be supposed to form constructions with a semantic verb in the I form.

Let's look at some examples.

Auxiliary verbs in English are verbs that do not have their own lexical meaning, with the help of which various complex forms of the verb are formed. Auxiliary verbs include: to be, to have, to do, will (would), shall (should).

Auxiliary verbs by themselves have no lexical meaning, they only participate in the construction of complex forms, but note that the verbs to be, to have, to do can be used as semantic verbs (in the meanings “to be”, “to have”, “to do” ), in this case they will have lexical meaning. The verb to be can also be used as a linking verb, and the verbs will (would), shall (should) as modal.

Auxiliary verb to be

The verb to be is the only verb that has special forms in different persons and numbers. It can be used as a linking verb, an auxiliary verb and a semantic verb. For details on the forms of the verb to be (all forms are given in the form of tables and cards), read in.

As a semantic verb, to be is used to mean “to be”, “to be”:

Do you want to be our friend? - Do you want to to be our friend?

I have to be at home now. - I must now to be at home.

As a linking verb- in a compound predicate (consisting of to be + a noun, adjective or pronoun) in the place where the verb “to be” or “to appear” can be used in Russian (in Russian it is usually omitted).

I am your friend. - I am your friend.

He is a doctor. - He's a doctor.

We are not rich. - We are not rich.

As an auxiliary, the verb to be is used:

1. For education of all times Continuous and Perfect Continuous in a real (active) voice.

I am looking for someone. “I'm looking for someone.

We were expecting a better result. - We expected a better result.

I have been waiting for you for two hours. “I've been waiting for you for two hours.

2. For education of all forms.

The newspapers have been delievered. - Newspapers delivered.

The building is being constructed now. - The building is under construction now.

Auxiliary verb to have

The verb to have can be used how semantic in its direct meaning "to have", "to possess":

I have a big family. - I have a big family.

I don’t have time. - I have no time.

As an auxiliary, the verb to have is used to form all tenses Perfect:

You have done a lot of work. - You did a lot of work.

We had finished the task by two o'clock. - We completed the task until two o'clock.

I will have read the article by nine. “I'll read the article by nine o'clock.

Auxiliary verb to do

The verb to do is used as a semantic in the meaning of "to do", "to engage":

Read more about the forms of the verb to do in the article.

He does what he wants. - He does what he wants.

Just do it! - Just Do It this is!

As an auxiliary, the verb to do is used:

1. For the formation of interrogative and negative forms and all verbs, except for auxiliary and.

Do you understand me? - Do you understand me?

My sister doesn’t trust her husband. “My sister doesn't trust her husband.

Did you see that? - Did you see that?

We didn’t see anything. - We didn't see anything.

2. To form a negative imperative mood.

Don’t touch the button! - Don't touch the button!

Don’t be late. - Do not be late.

3. To strengthen the meaning of the verb in the form or in the affirmative form.

Why did you say I don’t know your sister? I do know her. - Why did you say that I do not know your sister. I know her.

You don’t believe that I helped them, but I did help them. “You don’t believe that I helped them, but I did help them.

Auxiliary verb will (would)

The verb will (would) can be used both modal and auxiliary.

As an auxiliary it is used:

1. The verb will - for building all forms of the future tense.

The winter will be cold. - Winter will be cold.

I will be walking with my dog ​​this evening. - I'll walk the dog tonight.

2. The verb would - for constructing the forms of the future tense in the past (Future in the Past).

He said that the winter would be cold. - He said the winter will be cold.

She said that she would be walking with her dog. - She said she would walk with her dog.

The auxiliary verb shall (should)

1. The auxiliary verb shall is used to construct future tense forms (that is, instead of will) with the 1st person singular and plural:

I shall meet you at the gate. - I'll meet you at the gate.

We shall discuss it later. - We will discuss this later.

2. The auxiliary verb should is used to construct future forms in the past (that is, instead of would) with the 1st person singular and plural:

I told him that I should meet him at the gate. - I told him that I would meet him at the gate.

They said that we should discuss it later. - They said that we will discuss it later.

In modern English, will and would are used in all of these cases. Auxiliary (not modal, namely auxiliary) verbs shall, should can be found in books about good old England, films about Sherlock Holmes and Soviet English textbooks.

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