Content: Auxiliary verbs; verb tens group; modal verb; the main verb tense;

1. English Grammar
Auxiliary verbs
What are auxiliary verbs?
1. Auxiliary verbs (sometimes known as helping verbs) are
verbs that are used to assist the verb.
2. Auxiliary verbs can not be used without a main verb.
3. Auxiliary verbs can not be used with modal verbs.
4. Auxiliary verbs are used to make sentences negative.
5. Auxiliary verbs are used to ask questions.
6. Auxiliary verbs are used in the sentence structure of the
verb sentence.
1. The 3 most common auxiliary verbs are:
 Do - Does - Did
 Do is used with the present simple tense. Do-Does are
used as part of the sentence structure for negative
statements/sentences with the present simple tense
 Do- Does are used as part of the sentence structure for
questions, with the present simple tense.
 Did is used with the past simple tense.
 Did is used as part of the sentence structure for negative
statements/sentences with the past simple tense
 Did is used as part of the sentence structure for
questions, with the past simple tense.
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2.  Be - Am - Is - Are -Was - Were
 Have - Has -Had
DO', 'BE' and 'HAVE' are the English auxiliary verbs used in a
negative structure, a question or to show tense.
DESCRIPTIONS OF ENGLISH AUXILIARY VERBS:
1. 'DO', 'DON'T', 'DOES' and 'DOESN'T' are used for questions
and negatives in the Present Simple Tense, and 'DID' and
'DIDN'T' are used in the Past Simple Tense.
2. 'BE' is used with the Present Participle in Continuous
(Progressive) Verbs. It is also used with the Past Participle in
the Passive.
3. 'HAVE' is used with the Past Participle to form the Perfect
Aspect.
Verb tense group
What is a verb tense group?
A verb tense group consists of a main verb tense and
anauxiliary verb or a verb.
Any combination on of verbs can be used to create a verb
tense group.
Verb groups are needed in certain kinds of sentence
structures according to the type of verb.
Examples:
 I am going to the store.
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3.  The teachers have been teaching for many years.
 The have sung for a long time.
Modal Verbs
Eveyone can understand Modal Verbs!
What are model verbs?
Model verbs are also called auxiliary verbs, helping verbs and
model auxiliaries.
Model verbs are not complete verbs, and they can only be
used with a verb.
The usage of model verbs:
Model verbs stay in the base form - bare infinitive - the bare
infinitive is the infinitive without "to" before the verb.
The following model verbs are used to with the present tense:
can, will, shall, ought to, must, need, may
The following model verbs are used in the past tense:
would, should, could, might
Model verbs are used to answer questions in the short form
yes, I do.
yes, we can.
No, I don't.
Model verbs can be used as part of the grammar structure of
the sentence, such as when used with the perfect tenses.
When are model verbs used:
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4. Prediction - Will and Shall
Will and shall can be used to state predict that an event or an
action will take place or will occur The model verbs can used
to make a prediction about an event or action about the
future.
 I think we will be able to go and see the move
tonight.
 My mother thinks we will not get home be it starts
to rain.
Requests - Offers - Suggestions - Can - Could - May -
Shall
To make requests, offers or suggestions can be stated with
the model verbs
Permission - Can - Could - May - Might
Can, could, may and might are model verbs that can be used
to give permission or deny permission to do something or to
someone.
Can I help you cook dinner?
You may not watch T. V. after dinner.
Certainty - Possibility - Can - Might - may- Could - Shall
-Can, might
- and could are model verbs that can be used to state
certainty and possibility.
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5. Do you think it might rain tomorrow night?
I might be home before midnight.
You can come over tonight if you would like to.
Ability - Inability - Can - Could - Able to
My father hopes that we will be able to go to the moves.
I can not go to Europe with you.
The main verb tense
What is a Main Verb Tense?
The main verb tense states the action of the subject. The
main verb can be the only verb in the sentence, but the main
verb can also be used with an auxiliary verb or a verb.
The auxiliary verb and the modal verb must be used with a
main verb tense.
The main verb tense is:
The main verb tense can be in its infinitive/basic form (simple
past/v2), past participle/v3.
The main verb tense states what the action of the subject.
-ed -ing -s -es are some common endings that can be added
to the main verb according to the tense.
It is common that the main verb doesn't change form,
because the auxiliary words change form.
When using the continuous tense and the perfect verb
tense auxiliary verb(s) are used with the main verb tense.
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6. When an auxiliary verb is used the main verb doesn't change
form according to the subject.
The main verb tense can change form when an auxiliary
verb is used to according to the verb form.
Examples:
 The cat eats fish.
 The cats eat the fish
 The cat has eaten the fish.
 The cat ate the fish.
 The cat has been eating the fish.
Tense & Time
It is important not to confuse the name of a verb tense
with the way we use it to talk abouttime.
For example, a present tense does not always refer
to present time:
• I hope it rains tomorrow.
"rains" is present simple, but it refers here to
future time (tomorrow)
Or a past tense does not always refer to past time:
• If I had some money now, I could buy it.
"had" is past simple but it refers here to present
time (now)
The following examples show how different tenses can
be used to talk about different times.
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7. Basic Tenses
For past and present, there are 2 simple tenses + 6
complex tenses (using auxiliary verbs). To these, we
can add 4 "modal tenses" for the future (using modal
auxiliary verbs will/shall). This makes a total of 12
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8. tenses in the active voice. Another 12 tenses are
available in the passive voice. So now we have 24
tenses.
24 Tenses past present future*
ACTIVE simple
tenses
past present future
complex
tenses
formed
with
auxiliary
verbs
past
perfect
present
perfect
future
perfect
past
continuous
present
continuous
future
continuous
past
perfect
continuous
present
perfect
continuous
future
perfect
continuous
PASSIVE past present future
past
perfect
present
perfect
future
perfect
past
continuous
present
continuous
future
continuous
past
perfect
continuous
present
perfect
continuous
future
perfect
continuous
Some grammar books use
the
wordprogressive instead
of continuous. They are
exactly the same.
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9. The use of tenses in English may be quite complicated,
but the structure of English tenses is actually very
simple. The basic structure for a positive sentence is:
subject + auxiliary verb + main verb
An auxiliary verb is used in all tenses. (In the simple
present and simple past tenses, the auxiliary verb is
usually suppressed for the affirmative, but it does exist
for intensification.) The following table shows the 12
tenses for the verb to work in the active voice.
structure past present future*
auxiliary main
verb
simple normal I
worked
I work I will
work
intensive do base I did
work
I do
work
perfect have past
participle
I had
worked
I have
worked
I will
have
worked
continuous be present
participle
-ing
I was
working
I am
working
I will be
working
continuous
perfect
have
been
present
participle
-ing
I had
been
working
I have
been
working
I will
have
been
working
* Technically, there are no future tenses in English.
The word will is a modal auxiliary verb and future
tenses are sometimes called "modal tenses". The
9

10. examples are included here for convenience and
comparison.
Basic Tenses: Regular Verb
This page shows the basic tenses with the regular
verb work. It includes the affirmative or positive form
(+), the negative form (-) and the interrogative or
question form (?).
The basic structure is:
positive:
+ subject + auxiliary verb + main verb
negative:
- subject + auxiliary verb + not + main
verb
question:
? auxiliary verb + subject + main verb
These are the forms of the main verb that we use to
construct the tenses:
base
verb
past past
participle
present participle
-ing
work worked worked working
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11. See the regular verb list
Basic Tenses: Irregular Verb
Irregular verbs list
This page shows the basic tenses with the irregular
verb sing. It includes the affirmative or positive form
(+), the negative form (-) and the interrogative or
question form (?).
The basic structure is:
positive:
+ subject + auxiliary verb + main
verb
negative:
- subject + auxiliary verb + not +
main verb
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12. question:
? auxiliary verb + subject + main
verb
These are the forms of the main verb that we use to
construct the tenses:
base verb past past participle present participle -ing
sing sang sung singing
The basic structure of tenses for regular verbs
and irregular verbs is exactly the same (except
to be). The only difference is that with regular
verbs the past and past participle are always
the same (worked, worked), while with
irregular verbs the past and past participle are
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13. not always the same (sang, sung). But the
structure is the same! It will help you a great
deal to really understand that.
Basic Tenses: Be
This page shows the basic tenses with the verb be. It
includes the affirmative or positive form (+), the
negative form (-) and the interrogative or question
form (?).
The basic structure is:
positive: + subject + auxiliary verb + main
verb
negative: - subject + auxiliary verb + not +
main verb
question: ? auxiliary verb + subject + main
verb
But for simple past and simple present tenses, the
structure is not the same. In fact, it's even easier.
There is no auxiliary verb. Here is the structure:
positive: + subject + main verb
negative: - subject + main verb + not
question: ? main verb + subject
These are the forms of the main verb be that we use to
construct the tenses:
base past
simple
past
participle
present
participle
present
simple
be was, been being am, are,
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14. were is
In the following table, we see be conjugated for 12
basic tenses.
past present future
I was I am I will be
I was not I am not I will not be
Was I? Am I? Will I be?
I had been I have been I will have been
I had not been I have not been I
will not have been
Had I been? Have I been? Will I have been?
I was being I am being I will be being
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15. I was not being I am not being I will not be being
Was I being? Am I being? Will I be being?
I had beenbeing I have beenbeing I will have
beenbeing
I
had not beenbeing
I
have not beenbeing
I will not have
beenbeing
Had I beenbeing? Have I beenbeing? Will I have
beenbeing?
In the following table, we see be conjugated for 12
basic tenses.
SIMPLE past present future
singular I was am will be
you were are will be
he/she/it was is will be
plural we were are will be
you were are will be
they were are will be
PERFECT past present future
singular I had been have been will have
been
you had been have been will have
been
he/she/it had been has been will have
been
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16. plural we had been have been will have
been
you had been have been will have
been
they had been have been will have
been
CONTINUOUS past present future
singular I was
being
am being will be
being
you were
being
are being will be
being
he/she/it was
being
is being will be
being
plural we were
being
are being will be
being
you were
being
are being will be
being
they were
being
are being will be
being
CONTINUOUS
PERFECT
past present future
singular I had been
being
have been
being
will have
been being
you had been
being
have been
being
will have
been being
he/she/it had been
being
has been
being
will have
been being
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17. plural we had been
being
have been
being
will have
been being
you had been
being
have been
being
will have
been being
they had been
being
have been
being
will have
been being
Simple Present Tense
Grammar rules for the present simple tense:
In positive sentences the auxiliary verb is not used.
In positive sentence the main verb changes form according to
the subject.
In negative statements the auxiliary verb "do-does" is added
after the subject.
In negative statements and questions the main verb stays in its
base form.
How do we make the Simple Present
Tense?
subject + auxiliary verb + main verb
do base
There are three important exceptions:
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18. 1. For positive sentences, we do not normally use
the auxiliary.
2. For the 3rd person singular (he, she, it), we
add s to the main verb or es to the auxiliary.
3. For the verb to be, we do not use an auxiliary,
even for questions and negatives.
Look at these examples with the main verb like:
subject auxiliary
verb
main
verb
+ I, you, we,
they
like coffee.
He, she, it likes coffee.
- I, you, we,
they
do not like coffee.
He, she, it does not like coffee.
? Do I, you, we,
they
like coffee?
Does he, she, it like coffee?
Look at these examples with the main verb be. Notice
that there is no auxiliary:
subject main verb
+ I am French.
You, we, they are French.
He, she, it is French.
- I am not old.
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19. You, we, they are not old.
He, she, it is not old.
? Am I late?
Are you, we, they late?
Is he, she, it late?
How do we use the Simple Present
Tense?
We use the simple present tense when:
• the action is general
• the action happens all the time, or habitually, in
the past, present and future
• the action is not only happening now
• the statement is always true
John drives a taxi.
past present future
It is John's job to drive a taxi. He does it every day.
Past, present and future.
Look at these examples:
• I live in New York.
• The Moon goes round the Earth.
• John drives a taxi.
• He does not drive a bus.
• We do not work at night.
• Do you play football?
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20. Note that with the verb to be, we can also use the
simple present tense for situations that are not general.
We can use the simple present tense to talk
about now. Look at these examples of the verb "to be"
in the simple present tense - some of them
are general, some of them arenow:
Am I right?
Tara is not at home.
You are happy.
past present future
The situation is now.
I am not fat.
Why are you so beautiful?
Ram is tall.
past present future
The situation is general. Past, present and future.
Present Simple Tense with the verb “To be”
What is the structure of the present simple tense with the verb
"to be"?
Subject +
Auxiliary
Verb
+ Main Verb --
-- do - does Verb in the base form
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21. (-s/-es
Grammar rules for the present simple tense with the verb "to
be":
The verb "to be" is the main verb used in the sentence.
When the verb "to be" is used as the main verb, no auxiliary
verb is used.
The main verb "to be" changes forms according to the subject.
In order to form negative statements "not" is added between
the the verb "to be" and the main verb.
How is the present simple tense used?
The present simple is the tense used to describe actions that
are timeless. If the time of the action can be defined, then
the present simple tense is used. The time and/or place is
stated or understood.
The Present Simple Tense is used in the following situations:
 permanent actions -
 actions that happen on a regular basis
 facts
 statements that are always true
 to state existence
 to state feeling
 static verbs
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22.  general actions
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