Auxiliary Verbs

Auxiliary Verbs are the verbs be, do, have, will when they are followed by another verb (the full verb) in order to form a question, a negative sentence, a compound tense or the passive.

The verb "be"

The verb be can be used as an auxiliary and a full verb. As an auxiliary we use this verb for compound tenses and the passive voice. Note that be is an irregular verb: Simple Present: I am, he/she/it is, we/you/they are Simple Past: I/he/she/it was, we/you/they were Past Participle: been You can tell that in the following sentences be is an auxiliary because it is followed by another verb (the full verb). (For progressive forms use the "-ing" form of the full verb; for passive voice, use the past participle of the full verb.)

Progressive Forms
Present Progressive: He is playing football. Past Progressive: He was playing football. Present Perfect Progressive: He has been playing football. Past Perfect Progressive: He had been playing football.

Passive
Simple Present/Past: The house is/was built. Present/Past Perfect: The house has/had been built. Future I: The house will be built. "be" as a full verb

The verb be can also be a full verb. In this case, it's not followed by another verb. If be is used as a full verb, we do not need an auxiliary in negative sentences or questions. positive sentence: They are fifteen years old. negative sentence: They are not fifteen years old. question: Are they fifteen years old?

The verb "have"

The verb have, too, can be used both as an auxiliary and as a full verb. As an auxiliary we use this verb to form compound tenses in active and passive voice. (Use the past participle of the full verb.) Compound Tenses - Active Voice Present Perfect Simple: He has played football. Past Perfect Simple: He had played football. Present Perfect Progressive: He has been playing football. Past Perfect Progressive: He had been playing football. Compound Tenses - Passive Voice Present/Past Perfect: The house has/had been built. Note that have is an irregular verb, too: Simple Present: I/we/you/they have, he/she/it has Simple Past: I/he/she/it/we/you/they had Past Participle: had "have" in positive sentences As a full verb have indicates possession. In British English, however, we usually use have got (have being the auxiliary, got the full verb).

full verb: I have a car. auxiliary verb: I have got a car. "have" in negative sentences and questions When we use have as a full verb, we must use the auxiliary do in negative sentences and questions. If we use have got, however, we do not need another auxiliary. have as a full verb: I do not have a car. Do I have a car? have as an auxiliary verb: I have not got a car. Have I got a car?

The verb "will"

The verb will can only be used as an auxiliary. We use it to form the future tenses. The auxiliary verb "will" Future I: He will not play football. Future II: He will have played football. The verb will remains the same for all forms (no "s" for 3rd person singular). The short form for negative sentences is won't.' Examples: I will, he will I will not = I won't

The verb "do"

The verb do can be both an auxiliary and a full verb. As an auxiliary we use do in negative sentences and questions for most verbs (except not for be, will, have got and modal verbs) in Simple Present and Simple Past. (Use the infinitive of the full verb.) The auxiliary "do" in negative sentences Simple Present: He does not play football.

Simple Past: He did not play football. The auxiliary "do" in questions Simple Present: Does he play football? Simple Past: Did he play football? The verb do is irregular: Simple Present: I/we/you/they do, he/she/it does Simple Past: I/he/she/it/we/you/they did The full verb "do" As a full verb we use do in certain expressions. If we want to form negative sentences or questions using do as a full verb, we need another do as an auxiliary. positive sentence: She does her homework every day. negative sentence: She doesn't do her homework every day. question: Does she do her homework every day?

Sentences without the auxiliary "do"

In the following cases, the auxiliary do is not used in negative sentences/questions: the full verb is "be" Example: I am not angry. / Are you okay? the sentence already contains another auxiliary (e.g. have, be, will) Example: They are not sleeping. / Have you heard that? the sentence contains a modal verb (can, may, must, need, ought to, shall, should) Example:

We need not wait. / Can you repeat that, please? the question asks for the subject of the sentence Example: Who sings that song?
1. I am hungry. full verb 2. They will help you. auxiliary verb 3. We do not know his address. auxiliary verb 4. My friend Amy does a lot of sports. full verb 5. How much is it? full verb 6. I am reading an interesting book at the moment. auxiliary verb 7. Will you be there? auxiliary verb 8. She has never been to London. auxiliary verb 9. Does he speak English? auxiliary verb 10. They have a cat and a dog. full verb

Exercise 2
Is the bold verb an auxiliary or a full verb?
1. Dad is working in the garden. auxiliary verb 2. We do the shopping once a week. full verb 3. These students never have classes on Fridays. full verb 4. What do you do for a living? auxiliary verb 5. The kids were dancing to the music. auxiliary verb 6. Did you see him? auxiliary verb 7. The door is closed. auxiliary verb 8. Where have you been? auxiliary verb 9. My parents are on holiday. full verb 10. I had just finished my breakfast when the phone rang. auxiliary verb

Exercise 3
Complete each sentence with the correct auxiliary verb.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

What have you done? I do not like this song. Does she know that you are here? The lesson has not started yet. Do you drink milk? Who has eaten my biscuits? It does not matter. They do not want to play outside.

9. We have not seen you for a long time. 10. My friend has sent me some photos.

Modal Verbs and their substitutes

Modal verbs are for example may, can, must, should, need. They express an ability, permission, wish etc. to do something. (I may, can, must swim.) Many modal verbs cannot be used in all of the English tenses. That's why we need to know the substitutes to these modal verbs. Modal Verb must must not can may need need not shall / should/ ought to Substitute to have to not to be allowed to to be able to to be allowed to to have to not to have to to be supposed to / to be expected to / to be to Example I must swim. = I have to swim. I must not swim. = I am not allowed to swim. I can swim. = I am able to swim. I may swim. = I am allowed to swim. I need to swim. = I have to swim. I need not swim. = I don't have to swim. I shall / should / ought to swim. = I am supposed to swim. / I am expected to swim. / I am to swim.

Exercise on Modal Verbs and their Substitutes

Choose the correct substitute for each modal verb.
1. We ought to win the race. We are supposed to win the race. 2. I can swim. I am able to swim. 3. You must meet my best friend. You have to meet my best friend. 4. He should be in bed by now. He is supposed to be in bed by now. 5. I must get up early. I have to get up early. 6. They may stay up late. They are allowed to stay up late. 7. She needs to see the doctor. She has to see the doctor. 8. We need not walk. We do not have to walk. 9. You must not sleep You are not allowed to sleep. 10. Should I go to the cinema with them? Am I supposed to go to the cinema with them? 11. You must get up early tomorrow. 12. You need not call a baby sitter. 13. We may watch the film tonight. 14. He could not see me yesterday. 15. She had to stay at school yesterday afternoon. 16. Were you allowed to go to the disco yesterday? 17. He must not sleep now. 18. You need not answer. 19. He was supposed to give evidence at the court yesterday.

20. Since he bought the new car he has not been able to

sleep.

Exercise on the use of 'must not'

- must not - prohibition (it is not allowed) - need not - option (it is not necessary) The players must not touch the ball with their hands or arms. = They are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms. Practise the use of 'must not' and 'need not' in the following exercise. Which is correct?
1. The teams must not have more than 11 players on the field during a match. 2. But there need not even be 11 players playing for each team. 3. Players must not wear anything which might injure another player. 4. Players need not play the ball with their feet only. 5. Substituted players must not return to the game. 6. Players must not leave the game without the referee's permission. 7. Players must not hold an opponent. 8. The referee need not send a player off if he has committed foul play. 9. However, if a player is sent off during the game, he must not be replaced. 10. A period need not be over after exactly 45 minutes.

Passive Voice
Use of Passive
Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action. Example: My bike was stolen. In the example above, the focus is on the fact that my bike was stolen. I do not know, however, who did it. Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following example shows: Example: A mistake was made. In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I do not blame anyone (e.g. You have made a mistake.).

Form of Passive
Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle (3rd column of irregular verbs) Example: A letter was written. When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:

the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence the finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle) the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is dropped)

Examples of Passive

Examples of Passive

Passive Sentences with Two Objects

Rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice means that one of the two objects becomes the subject, the other one remains an object. Which object to transform into a subject depends on what you want to put the focus on.

As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not sound very elegant. Thats why it is usually dropped.

Personal and Impersonal Passive

Personal Passive simply means that the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. So every verb that needs an object (transitive verb) can form a personal passive.

Example: They build houses. Houses are built. Verbs without an object (intransitive verb) normally cannot form a personal passive sentence (as there is no object that can become the subject of the passive sentence). If you want to use an intransitive verb in passive voice, you need an impersonal construction therefore this passive is called Impersonal Passive. Example: he says it is said Impersonal Passive is not as common in English as in some other languages (e.g. German, Latin). In English, Impersonal Passive is only possible with verbs of perception (e. g. say, think, know). Example: They say that women live longer than men. It is said that women live longer than men. Although Impersonal Passive is possible here, Personal Passive is more common. Example: They say that women live longer than men. Women are said to live longer than men. The subject of the subordinate clause (women) goes to the beginning of the sentence; the verb of perception is put into passive voice. The rest of the sentence is added using an infinitive construction with 'to' (certain auxiliary verbs and that are dropped). Sometimes the term Personal Passive is used in English lessons if the indirect object of an active sentence is to become the subject of the passive sentence.

Nouns - Articles, Plural and Possessive Case

Important things to keep in mind when using nouns are which article to use and how to form the plural and how to form the possessive case.

Article
Direct article - the

example: the house

Indirect article a / an

a - if the first letter of the following word is pronounced like a consonant example: a car, a university an - if the first letter of the following word is pronounced like a vowel

example: an apple, an hour Exercise on indirect articles Exercise on direct articles

Plural
general rule: singular form + s example: a car - two cars after s, ch, x, z the plural is formed by adding es example: a box - two boxes y after a consonant is changed to ie before the plural s example: a city - two cities But: y after a vowel is not changed example: a boy - two boys After o the plural is usually formed by adding es (this is not the case, however, with words used for electric gadgets and music: radio, video, disco) example: a tomato - two tomatoes

English Tenses Graphic Comparison

Problems with the English tenses? Have a look at the time line, it might help you understand when to use which tense. As there is a similarity between past, present and future tenses, there are just a few rules to keep in mind. If you know how to use the present progressive correctly to express present actions, you will as well be able to use the past progressive correctly to express past actions. Legend

Legend

action that takes place once, never or several times actions that happen one after another actions that suddenly take place action that started before a certain moment and lasts beyond that moment actions taking place at the same time action taking place before a certain moment in time puts emphasis on the result action taking place before a certain moment in time puts emphasis on the course or duration of the action

moment in time

period of time

Result

Course / Duration

Adjectives and Adverbs

Adjectives are used to modify nouns, e.g. The dog is loud. What is the dog like? loud Adverbs are used to modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs, e.g. The dog barks loudly. How does the dog bark? loudly

Comparison of Adjectives
Exercise on Positive Form and Comparison of Adjectives

Positive Form
Use the positive form of the adjective if the comparison contains one of the following expressions: as as Example: Jane is as tall as John. not as as / not so as Example: John is not as tall as Arnie.

Comparative Form and Superlative Form (-er/-est)

one-syllable adjectives (clean, new, cheap) two-syllable adjectives ending in -y or -er (easy, happy, pretty, dirty, clever)

Exceptions in spelling when adding -er / -est

silent e is dropped

Example: late-later-latest

final y after a consonant becomes i

Example: easy-easier-easiest

final consonant after short, stressed vowel is doubled

Example: hot-hotter-hottest

Comparative Form and Superlative Form (more/most)

adjectives of three or more syllables (and two-syllable adjectives not ending in -y/-er)

Comparative Form and Superlative Form (irregular comparisons)

Form and Comparison of Adverbs

Adverbs are used to express how something is done (adjectives express how someone or something is). Example: The dog sleeps quietly. The dog is absolutely quiet.

Form
In general: adjective + -ly

Exceptions in spelling

Adjectives ending in -ic: adjective + -ally (exception: public-publicly)

Adjectives ending in -ly: use in a way / manner or another adverb with similar meaning

Exceptions