A verb is a part of speech that denotes an action. There are two types 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 they used and who do they help? Now I'll tell you.

What are auxiliary verbs for?

Auxiliary the verbs have no meaning and cannot be translated in any way. They act as pointers that help us determine:

Time of what is happening (present, future, past),
Number of characters (many or one).

The following auxiliary verbs exist in English: be, do, have. We will look at each of them in more detail later, but for now let’s figure out what an “auxiliary verb” is.

How in Russian?

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

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

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

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

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

How in English?

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

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

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

Swimming in the pool.
___ ______ swim in the pool

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

Now let's add the auxiliary verb be:

am swimming
float ayu

are swimming
float yut

were swimming
float Ali

will be swimming
will floating t

Now we see that:

In the first case, the 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 has already happened, and there are many 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 translate the semantic verb it is paired with in the correct time and number.

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

I will dance all night.
We we will swim.

What auxiliary verbs are there in English?

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

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

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

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

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 “to go”) is happening at the present time)

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

I do my homework.
I I do my homework. (Here do is a semantic verb. It carries the meaning of “to do.”)

Do do you learn English?
Do you learn English? (Here do is an auxiliary verb. It helps to understand that the action (learn) is happening at the present time.)

Auxiliary verb be

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

Pronouns	Present tense (Present Tense)	Past tense (Past Tense)	Future (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 arrived.

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

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

Auxiliary verb do

Pronouns	Present tense (Present Tense)	Past tense (Past Tense)	Future (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 didn't watch this movie.

They will give up smoking.
They will quit smoking.

Auxiliary verb have

Pronouns	Present tense (Present Tense)	Past tense (Past Tense)	Future (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 lived here for five years.

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

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

We will have prepared it, before you come.
We'll have it ready before you arrive.

As you can see, auxiliary verbs are very important because they help us determine what tense is being used and how many people are involved. 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 move on to practice!

Reinforcement 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.

Which denotes an action or state. Depending on what meaning the verb has and whether it has it at all, as well as what role it plays in the sentence, all English verbs can be divided into three groups: semantic verbs ( notional verbs), service ( semi-auxiliary verbs) And ( auxiliary verbs). Semantic verbs have a meaning, and in a sentence they are a simple verbal predicate. Service verbs have no lexical meaning, and are used in a sentence only as part of a compound nominal or verbal predicate. We will talk in more detail about auxiliary verbs in English.

What are the auxiliary verbs in English?

Auxiliary verbs in English have no lexical meaning. These verbs are used only in conjunction with semantic verbs to create compound (analytic) forms.
Here are the most common verbs:

to be (am, are, is, was, were, been);
to do (do, does, did);
to have (have, has, had);
shall (should);
will (would).

Verb to be in certain forms are used to form the simple present ( ) and past tenses ( ). The choice of the form of this verb in the indicated tenses depends on the number and person of the subject. Am– for 1 person, units. numbers; are– for 1 person plural. numbers, 2 persons singular and many more numbers, 3rd person plural numbers; is– for a third party units. numbers. In the past time was is used for the singular, and were– for plural. It is part of a compound predicate in the present, past and future continuous tense ( / / ). Examples:

She is at the hospital now. “She’s in the hospital now.”

We were next to your house yesterday. – Yesterday we were near your house.

I am working at the moment. – I’m working at the moment.

An auxiliary verb in English like to do has three forms: do/does/did. Form does used with the third person singular, in other cases we choose do. This applies to the simple present tense - Present Simple. In the simple past tense - Past Simple– we use only a verb did. This auxiliary verb is needed to form interrogative and negative sentences in the listed tenses. Examples:

She doesn't do her work thoroughly. - She doesn't do her job thoroughly.

You did not find a way out. – You didn’t find a way out.

He doesn't feel good. - He feels bad.

Auxiliary to have has three forms: have, has, had. This verb is used to form the compound forms of the present, past and future perfect tenses ( / / ) and the same perfect continuous tenses in English ( / / ). Form have needed for all persons and numbers except the third person singular. In this case we use the form has. It's all in the present tense. In the past - form had for all subjects. Examples:

He has just written the letter. - He just wrote a letter.

We had finished building this house when they came. – By the time they arrived, we had already finished building the house.

Auxiliary verbs in English, namely shall And will are needed for education. We are talking about simple, continuous, perfect, perfect continuous tenses ( , Future Continuous, Future Perfect , Future Perfect Continuous). Currently auxiliary verb shall is practically not used, and previously it was used with 1st person pronouns, both singular and plural. Forms should / would needed in sentences that follow the rules. Examples:

My father will come in two days. - My father will arrive in two days.

We shall be cooking tomorrow. - Tomorrow we will cook.

A friend of mine told me he would read this book at the weekends. My friend said that he would read this book over the weekend.

Auxiliary verbs in English are not numerous, but it is necessary to know them, since the formation and use of the tenses of this language depend on them.

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

Auxiliary verbs are not translated in English, but they perform an important function. It is the auxiliary verbs that tell us how to correctly translate a 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 English auxiliary verbs, take a look at the table. This table shows with examples how to use auxiliary verbs in English (the verbs to DO, WILL, to BE, to HAVE and WOULD).

Help telny verb	When is it used?	Example
to DO	In interrogative sentences	Do do you like cats? You love cats?
to DO	In negative sentences	I do n"t like cats. I do not like cats.
	To form the future tense	I will read book.
to BE	As a formal predicate (when in the Russian version of the sentence the predicate is omitted)	I am a doctor. I am doctor.
to BE	To form tenses of the Continuous group (long action)	We are watching a good film now.
	For the formation of tenses of the Perfect group (completed action)	I haven't played this computer game before. I haven't played this computer game before.
	To form the tenses of the group Perfect Continuous	I have been playing this musical composition for two hours. I've been playing this piece of music for two hours now.
	To form the tense Future in past (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, in certain cases, it was used as a replacement for the verbs WILL/WOULD.

There will be a detailed analysis and many examples for each auxiliary verb from this table.

How many auxiliary verbs are there in English?

Let's look at what auxiliary verbs there are in English and what each of them means. There are five such verbs:

to be
to have
to do
will (would)
shall (should)

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

These verbs are used more often.
They change according to their faces.
They have abbreviated forms
They are “two-faced” - they can be either an auxiliary verb or a semantic one.

How do auxiliary verbs change by person?

The auxiliary verbs to be, to be and to have change according to persons. 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 will be did and had in all persons, respectively.
The verbs will, would, shall, should do not change by person.

Auxiliary verb to do.

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

I like cats.
I love cats.

But what if you don’t share this love? Everything must be denied:

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

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

You can also easily construct a question that will allow you to identify avid cat lovers in a crowd of people:

Do do you like cats?
You love cats?

Simply put the auxiliary verb do before the subject and you 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 didn't watch this cartoon.

Do do you speak English?
Do you speak English?

But we must always remember that there is an exception to the general rule of 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 possess. If we talk about to have As an auxiliary verb, it is used to form complex temporary constructions, the names of which contain words such as Perfect/Perfect Continuous. These temporary structures, it must be said, are not the most common. And beginners can easily do without them. However, these are almost half of the English "times" and it is advisable to have an idea of how they are formed.

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

If the action you describe is typical:

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

then it's Perfect.

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

The predicate in such sentences is constructed according to one of the 3 formulas given in the table:

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

I haven't played this computer game before.
I have not played this computer 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.
Today by 3 o'clock I finished reading this book (Past Perfect)

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

The verb have can also be used as a modal verb. Read about this in the article “Modal verb have to”.
Also, do not forget that the verb have changes according to persons - see the table at the beginning of the article.

Auxiliary verb to be

As a semantic verb, to be means “to be”, “to appear”. The fact is that an English sentence must always have 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 translating into English, we will have to cram some kind of 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.

Literally this 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.

To be is used as an auxiliary verb when constructing sentences that describe an action that requires a certain amount of time. These are the so-called Present/Past Continuous.

The following sentences are constructed according to a simple scheme:

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

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

Auxiliary verb will

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

I read a book.
I am 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 clause is in the past tense, and the subordinate clause is in the future. In this case, in the subordinate clause to form the future tense, not will, but the auxiliary verb would is used. 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 for forming the future tense in English." .

Auxiliary verb shall/should

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

This lesson will cover a fairly difficult topic to remember, so you should concentrate as much as possible. Auxiliary verbs in English, the table of which will be presented below, are parts of speech that do not have individual meaning in terms of vocabulary, but act as assistants. Their main function is to help correctly compose a construction for a complex verb form. Verbs considered:

to do,
will (would),
to be
shall (should),
to have.

We will look at the topic in detail so that you do not have any questions.

Why are auxiliary verbs needed?

Auxiliary verbs in English are used when there is a need to express gender, number or time period of an action. In this case, this part of speech is added.

It should be noted that some parts of speech from the topic under consideration can be used as semantic ones, these include: to be (to be), to have (to possess), to do (to do). In addition, in many cases, to be is used in construction as a connective, and the verbs shall (should) and will (would) are used as modals. The parts in question are a universal assistant, but are not translated into Russian. When translating, no questions are even asked to them.

Examples:

She is at the hospital now. - She's in the hospital now.
She swims here every morning. – She swims here every morning.
You were young and didn’t understand your father. – You were young and did not understand your father.

Example with a semantic verb:

I'm a teacher. - I'am a teacher.

Verb to have

This part of speech can be used as a semantic verb in its main meaning.

For example,

I don't have time. - I have no time.
I have a big family. - I have a big family.

To form the Perfect of any tense, use this part of speech.

For example,

I will have read the article by nine. – I will have read the article by nine o’clock.
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 before two o’clock.

Verb to be

The auxiliary verb that will be considered is the only one, having a special form in the singular, plural and persons. It can be used as a link, used as a semantic one, or used as an auxiliary part of speech in a construction.

As a semantic verb, this verb is used in the meaning of “to appear” and “to be.”

Examples of declarative sentences and those using questions:

I have to be at home now. - I should be home now.
Do you want to be our friend? – Do you want to be our friend?

As a linking verb, this part of speech is part of the predicate (this verb + attribute or character). In a sentence, it corresponds to the place where the verb “to be” should logically be located (as a rule, in Russian such omitted).

For example,

He is a doctor. - He is a doctor.
I am your friend. - I am your friend.

The verb to be as an auxiliary is used to form all Continuous and Perfect Continuous tenses in the active voice.

For example,

We were expecting a better result. -We expected a better result.
I am looking for someone. - I'm looking for someone.
I have been waiting for you for two hours. - I've been waiting for you for two hours.

Just like an auxiliary, this verb is used to form all forms of the passive (passive) voice.

For example,

The building is being constructed now. - The building is currently under construction.
The newspapers have been delivered. - The newspapers have been delivered.

Verb to do

As a semantic verb, this verb is used in the meaning of “to engage”, “to do”.

For example, Just do it! - Just do it! He does what he wants. - He does what he wants.

The verb to do is used as an auxiliary when the Present Simple and Past Simple forms of all verbs, in addition to modal and auxiliary, are formed. But this only applies to negative and interrogative sentences.

For example,

Do you listen to me? -Are you listening to me?
My sister doesn't trust her husband. – My sister doesn’t trust her husband.
We didn't see anything. - We didn't see anything.

Also, as an auxiliary, this part of speech helps to form the negative form of the imperative mood.

For example,

Don't be late. - Do not be late.

In addition, this verb, acting as an auxiliary part of speech, enhances the meaning of the verb in the form of Present Simple or Past Simple, when the speaker proves his point of view.

For example,

Why did you say I don’t know your sister? I do know her. - In connection with what, you said that I don’t know your sister? I know her.

Verb will (would)

This verb is used as an auxiliary and modal.

The auxiliary (will) is used to make up all forms of the future tense.

For example,

The winter will be cold. - The winter will be cold.
I will be walking with my dog this evening. - I will walk the dog this evening.

Would is used when constructing a future form in the past.

For example,

My friend told me he would watch this film at the weekends. My friend said that he would watch this film at the weekend.

Verb shall (should)

Modern English classifies the verb shall (should) only as modal, however, in textbooks published during the Soviet era one can find information that:

Instead of will, the verb shall is used as an auxiliary when it is necessary to create a future tense construction with the 1st person singular and plural. For example, We shall talk about it. - We'll talk about this later.
With the same parameters, but in order to create the form of the future tense in the past, the verb should can be used instead of would. Eg, I said that we should discuss it later. - I said we'll discuss this later..

In modern British language this verb is replaced by will and would. The verb shall (should) can be found in old English textbooks, old books and films in the original language.

English is not particularly rich in auxiliary verbs , however, one should keep in mind in what cases one or another verb is used. The main thing to do is to learn these verbs, in what cases and in what forms they are used. And do not confuse them with semantic ones, which carry lexical load in the constructed construction.

Auxiliary verbs in English table

To summarize the information, you can use the table below.

Time	A sentence that contains a statement	A sentence containing a negation	Sentences that use questions
Present Simple		don't / doesn't	do/does
Past Simple		didn't	did
Future Simple	will	won't	will
Present Continuous	am/is/are	am not /isn’t /aren’t	am/is/are
Past Continuous	was/were	wasn't/weren't	was/were
Future Continuous	will be	won't be	will be
Present Perfect	have / has	haven't/hasn't	have/has
Past Perfect	had	hadn't	had
Future Perfect	will have	won't have	will have
Present Perfect Continuous	have / has been	haven't/hasn't been	have / has been
Past Perfect Continuous	had been	hadn't been	had been
Future Perfect Continuous	will have been	won't have been	will have been

Auxiliary verbs in English play a very important grammatical role. They do not have a translation into Russian, which makes them especially difficult for students.

Why are auxiliary verbs needed?

This group of words is required to compose statements in various tense forms. Conventionally, we can divide these helping verbs into 2 groups:

those that are present in all types of sentences and are part of a compound verbal predicate:

I will remember about this. – I will remember this. (will is an auxiliary verb in the simple future tense Future Simple)

I will not (won’t) forget about this. - I won't forget about this.

Will you remember about this? – Will you remember this?

verbs that appear only in negative and interrogative sentences:

I love reading scary stories. – I love reading scary stories.

Do you love reading scary stories? – Do you like to read scary stories? (verb do - auxiliary in the present simple tense Present Simple)

I don’t love reading scary stories. – I don’t like reading scary stories.

Only a few English verbs can be auxiliary: to be, to have, to do, will. These words also have independent meanings and can be used in sentences as semantic ones.

I have just done my homework. - I just did my homework. (to have is an auxiliary verb in the present completed tense Present Perfect)

I have a lot of tasks to do. – I have a lot of tasks left. (to have is a semantic verb)

Mary will make a delicious cake. – Maria will bake a delicious cake. (will is an auxiliary verb in the future simple tense Future Simple)

She doesn't know what else to will. “She doesn’t know what else to wish for.” (will is an independent verb)

It is necessary to learn to distinguish in what capacity one or another of the verbs listed above is used, so as not to make mistakes during translation. Helper words have no equivalents in Russian sentences.

He will go on a voyage around the world. - He will go on a circumnavigation of the world. (Wrong: He will go on a circumnavigation of the world.)

Table “Auxiliary verbs in English”

To make it easier to memorize helper words, it is necessary to combine them into a summary table indicating grammatical tenses and types of sentences according to the purpose of the statement. Some verbs can be used in pairs.

	*Affirmative sentences*	*Negations*	*Questions*
(simple present)	–	don't/doesn't	does
Present Continuous (present continuous)	am/is/are	am not/isn’t/aren’t	Am/Is/Are
(present completed)	have/has	haven't/hasn't	Have/Has
Present Perfect Continuous (present completed continuous)	have been/has been	haven't been/hasn't been	Have been/Has been
(simple past)	–	didn't = didn't	Did
(past continuous)	was/were	wasn't/weren't	Was/Were
(past complete)	had	hadn't	Had
Past Perfect Continuous (past completed continuous)	had been	hadn't been	Had been
(future simple)	will	will not = won't	Will
Future Continuous (future continuous)	will be	won't be	Will be
(future completed)	will have	won't have	Will have
Future Perfect Continuous (future completed continuous)	will have been	won't have been	Will have been