What are auxiliary verbs and how to use them
to ask questions
we must know about auxiliary verbs is that they are normal verbs with a specific meaning and also special verbs with different Therefunctions.are
Auxiliary verbs are special verbs that we use, for example:
UseExamples:theverb to be to talk about age. (notice that in this case we use the verb to have and this is a frequent mistake Spanish people make)
Use the verb to be to talk about weather.
Use the verb to be to say that you are hungry, or thirsty (again, we use the verb to have in these cases)
We use the auxiliary verb TO BE to form the verbal tense PRESENT CONTINUOUS. We will study this tense in the next unit. The verb TO BE as a normal verb is the equivalent of the Spanish verbs SER and ESTAR. Tip! We must be careful with some uses of the verb TO BE because we use different verbs in Spanish to express the same thing.
to talk about actions that are happening at the same time as we Somethingspeak.
to form negative sentences
a few auxiliary verbs but these are need to know right now: TO BE, TO DO and the modal verbs CAN & MUST.
THE AUXILIARY VERB TO BE
Tip!
- My
? Is
We use the auxiliary verb TO DO to form negative sentences and to ask questions. In this case, the auxiliary verb doesn’t have a meaning; it only helps the main verb to form those types of sentences. The verb TO DO as a normal verb means ‘hacer’. Although the auxiliary TO DO is needed to form negative and interrogative questions, it is not necessary when the main verb is another auxiliary verb. Check these examples: friend Mary is tall and beautiful. – She can run very fast. friend Mary isn’t tall and beautiful -- She can’t run very fast. your friend Mary tall and beautiful? -- Can she run very fast? VERB TO DO
THE VERB TO BE THE VERB TO DO + ? + ? I He/she/Youamare it is We TheyYouareareare I am not He/she/aren’tYou it aren’tTheyaren’tYouWeisn’taren’t Am I? Are you? Is AreAreArehe/she/it?we?you?they? I Youdo TheyYouWeitHe/she/doDoesdododo I TheyYouWedoesn’tHe/she/itYoudon’tdon’tdon’tdon’tdon’t Do I? Do Doesyou?she/he/it ? Do we? Do you? Do they? Study the table below and see how both verbs are formed in affirmative, negative and interrogative THE AUXILIARY
+ My
Can I? Can you? they?CanCanCanhe/she/it?Canwe?you? I
THE VERB TO HAVE GOT + ?
Has she/he/it got? Have we got? Have you got? Have they got?
Have I got? Have you got?
THE MODAL AUXILIARY VERB CAN THE MODAL AUXILIARY VERB MUST + ? + ?
I He/she/Youcancan it
I have got You have got He/she/ it has got We have got You have got They have got
I haven’t got You haven’t got He/she/it hasn’t got We haven’t got You haven’t got They haven’t got
Must I? Must you? she/he/itMust ? Must we? Must you? Must they?
We will study some of the modal verbs later this year so at this point we will just notice that the modal verbs are also auxiliary verbs and so they don’t need another auxiliary verb to form negative sentences or to ask questions. As we will see, we use CAN to express ability or to ask for permission, for example, and we will use MUST to talk about obligation.Studythe table below and see how both verbs are formed in affirmative, negative and interrogative.
Check the table for the structure of these verbs
TheyYouWecan’tHe/she/Youcan’tcan’titcan’tcan’tcan’t
TheyYouWecancancancan I
Another important verb your learnt last year is the verb TO HAVE GOT. It is used to express possession and it is the equivalent to the Spanish verb ‘tener’.
THE MODAL AUXILIARY VERBS
Notice that the verb HAVE GOT doesn’t need the auxiliary verb to form questions or negative sentences.
TheyYouWemustHe/she/Youmustmustitmustmustmust I mustn’tTheyYouWemustn’tHe/she/itYoumustn’tmustn’tmustn’tmustn’t
• THE VERB HAVE GOT
The structure There +(be) is the English equivalent to the verb ‘haber’.
Study the table below:
Go to our virtual classroom in Educamosclm and complete all the exercises you will find under the ‘gramar practice’ section.
Let’s practice
THERE IS THERE ARE There is a pen on the table. There is a boy playing football in the street.
There are two pens on the table. There are some boys playing football in the street.
We use this structure in all the tenses so if we are talking about the present, we will use there is in the singular and there are in the plural. Equally, as we will see soon, if we are talking about the past we will use ‘there ‘+ the past of the verb to be.
SAYING ‘HAY’ IN ENGLISH