27/10/2020 Grammar

Grammar reference
Material for English courses

1.1 Main verbs and auxiliary verbs

SHOW MENU

Examples of main verbs are:

talk, go, include, correspond

Main verbs can take different forms, e.g.:

talk, talks, talking, talked; go, goes, going, went, gone

Auxiliary verbs are (1) be, (2) have, (3) the modal auxiliaries and (4) do, does and did.

1. Be:

We use am, is, are to make the present continuous and was and were to make the past continuous; we use am, is, are,
was, were, be, been and being to make passive verb forms.

2. Have:

We use have, has and had to make perfect forms, (see present perfect simple, past perfect simple, etc.).

3. Modal auxiliaries:

The modal auxiliaries are: can, could, will, would, shall, should, may, might, must and ought. These verbs do not
have different forms.

All of these auxiliaries are used in positive statements, negative statements and questions:

Statement Negative Question

be (continuous) He was sitting. He wasn't sitting. Was he sitting?

be (passive) It is made. It isn't made. Is it made?

have She has come. She hasn't come. Has she come?

modal She can come. She can't come. Can she come?

4. Do, does, did:

In the present simple, we use do and does in negative statements and questions; in the past simple we use did in
negative statements and questions.

We use all of the auxiliary verbs, including do, does and did, to make short answers and short statements, e.g.:

A: Is he working? (¿Está trabajando?)

B: Yes, he is. / No, he isn't. (Sí./No.)

C: Has he been there? (¿Ha estado allí?)

D: Yes, he has. / No, he hasn't. (Sí./No.)

E: Did she come? (¿Vino?)

F: Yes, she did. / No, she didn't. (Sí./No.)

https://aprenentatge.recursos.uoc.edu/continguts/PID_00203824/web/index.html# 1/7
27/10/2020 Grammar

Jane is eating and so is Tom (or and Tom is, too).

(Jane come y Tom también.)

Sally has finished and so have Peter and Bill (or and Peter and Bill have, too).
(Sally ha acabado y Peter y Bill también.)

Tim works and so does Pam (or and Pam does, too).
(Tim trabaja y Pam también.)

Jill is playing but Ken isn't.

(Jill juega, pero Ken, no.)

Ken isn't playing but Jill is.

(Ken no juega, pero Jill, sí.)

Sam works but Ann doesn't.

(Sam trabaja, pero Ann, no'.)

Ann doesn't work but Sam does.

(Ann no trabaja, pero Sam, sí.)

Ken isn't playing and neither/nor is John (or and John isn't, either).
(Ken no juega y John tampoco.)

Ann doesn't work and neither/nor does Larry (or and Larry doesn't, either).
(Ann no trabaja y Larry tampoco.)

We can use all of the auxiliary verbs, including do, does and did, in emphatic statements (where the auxiliary is stressed
in speech and writing), e.g.:

A: Jane isn't helping. (Jane no ayuda.)

B. That's not true. She is helping. (No es cierto. Sí que ayuda.)

C: Jane can't swim. (Jane no sabe nadar.)

D: That's not true. She can swim. (No es cierto. Sí que sabe nadar.)

E: Jane doesn't work. (Jane no trabaja.)

F: That's not true. She does work. (No es cierto. Sí que trabaja.)

For other uses of auxiliary verbs, see also: Modals; so, too,
neither/nor, either; tag questions.

We also use auxiliary verbs in tag questions.

See also be and have.

https://aprenentatge.recursos.uoc.edu/continguts/PID_00203824/web/index.html# 2/7