Auxiliaries, modals, gerunds, participles, infinitives

Auxiliaries, Modals, Gerunds,
Participles & Infinitives
By
Debaleena Dutta

What are Auxiliary Verbs
Auxiliary verbs are helping verbs.
They help in forming:
• Negatives [isn’t, hasn’t doesn’t, can’t. etc]
• Questions [is he? Does he?]
• Tenses—Perfect, Continuous and Future
• Passive voices

Auxiliary
• BE [used to make Passive voice and
Progressive]
• Have [Used to make perfect tenses]
• Do [used to make assertive sentences, which
are then used to form questions & negatives]

Auxiliary ‘Be’
• BE [used to make Passive voice and Progressive]
Passive voice
He drove the car.
The car was driven by him. [Passive]
Progressive
He is driving a car.
[continuous tense]

Auxiliary ‘Be’
• BE [used to make Passive voice and Progressive]
Passive voice
He drove the car.
V2 [past tense]
The car was driven by him. [Passive]
be-past tense + Drive-V3
Progressive
He is driving a car.
be-present drive –v4 [continuous tense]

Auxiliary ‘Have’
Used for making perfect tenses.
He drives cars. [present tense]
He has driven a Mercedes recently. [Perfect tense]

Auxiliary ‘Have’
Used for making perfect tenses.
He drives cars. [present tense]
[Drive-V1]
He has driven a Mercedes recently. [Perfect tense]
[has + Drive-v3]

Auxiliary ‘Do’ for Assertive sentences
“He has a car.”
--”Really?”
“Oh yes. He does have a car.”
So, we use ‘Do’ forms to emphasize our points.
Question form & negative form:
Doesn’t he have a car?

Auxiliary ‘Do’ for Assertive sentences
“He has a car.”
--”Really?”
“Oh yes. He does have a car.”
Do(V1)singular + have(V1).

Please note
Auxiliaries are senior verbs.
When they are in a sentence, they do the job of an
elder in the house—attending guests--tenses and
plurals.
He doesn’t have a car. They don’t have a car
The car is driven by him. The car was driven by him
He is buying a car. They are buying a car.

Please note the Main verbs: V1,
V3, V4
They don’t change!
Auxiliaries are senior verbs.
When they are in a sentence, they do the job of an
elder in the house—attending guests--tenses and
plurals.
He doesn’t have a car. They don’t have a car
The car is driven by him. The car was driven by him
He is buying a car. They are buying a car.
V1
V3
V4

So when in a sentence, we have both an
auxiliary verb and a main verb,
• Auxiliary responds to tense and plurals
• General verb remains static
• General verb is either in V3/V4 or V1 from.

Modals are ‘limited power’ auxiliaries
• They can’t come alone.
* I can homework. *I will house.
• They can’t handle plurals!
*He cans swim
*He wills eat.
Models 

Modals: what they do
• Form future tenses, abilities, permission,
and predictions.
• Form questions
• Form negatives.
Can/ Could Ought
Will /Would Need
Shall/ Should Dare
May / Might

Modal: Can/could
Can is used for capabilities and for
giving permissions.
He can swim.
You can come in.
Could is used for politeness and predictions.
“Could you please give this message to him?”
The parcel could arrive tomorrow.
Why ‘Could’--the past form? We want to be
tentative, for politeness or for non-surety.

Modal: Will/Would
Will is used for strong prediction, promise and
vows.
It will rain tomorrow [for sure].
“I will call you when reach there.”
“I will go to the party, and no one can stop me!”.
Would is used for being tentative, polite.
It would be great if you join us in dinner.
I’d call you when I reach there. [half-hearted
promise]

Modal: Shall/Should
Shall is a diluted version of will in promise.
Used when you are not sure of a strong
commitment, but have to say ‘yes’ anyways.
“Are you coming to the fundraiser? We need you
help as a volunteer.”
“Ok. I shall come” [not willing to confirm].
“Ok. I will come” [Confirming to come].
“You should come!! Its your duty as a citizen!”
Shou

Modal: May/Might
May is used for guessing possibilities and for asking
permissions.
Given the situation, the predictions of WWIII
may come true [in future].
May I come in?
See the sureness on a decreasing scale:
The rupee will be devalued [decision almost taken].
The rupee can be devalued [strong chances]
The rupee may be devalued [50-50 chances]

Uses of “Might”
• It might have rained last night
[‘May’ referring to past = Might].
• You might be in trouble if you travel without
ticket. [might—for tentativeness].

Modals: Ought, Must, Need, Dare
Their job is to act as moral policeman in a
sentence!
He ought to take care of his parents. [obligation]
I dare you to do this again. [warning!]
You must lead a controlled life. [Doctor’s advice]
You must submit the report by 19th. [order!]
You needn’t apply again if you were rejected
before [order/instruction].

Infinitives, Gerunds and
Participles

‘Dead’ & ‘Alive’ verbs
Verbs can be active or dead, i.e., they can
become non-functional.
Active verbs will always respond to
plurals & tenses
Let’s test some verbs…

Dead or Alive?
Walk: original form =V1
He walks to school. [present singular]
They walk to school. [present plural]
She walked to school. [simple past]
Go: original form = V1
He went abroad.
She goes for music classes everyday.
They go for dinner at eight every night.

Alive!
Walk: original form =V1
He walks to school. [present singular]
They walk to school. [present plural]
She walked to school. [simple past]
Go: original form = V1
He went abroad.
She goes for music classes everyday.
They go for dinner at eight every night.

Now see:
which verb changes, and which does not
He is going to the market.
She was going to the market
They were going to the market.
He has gone to the market.
They have gone to the market.
She had gone to the market

Now see:
‘Going’ is as it is!
Doesn’t change with
plural or tense.
‘Gone’ remains as it
is. Doesn’t change
with plural or tense.

Now see:
‘Going’= V4
V4 = inactive verb
‘Gone’ = V3
V3 = inactive verb

So, verbs in V3 and V4 form are dead
• Dead verbs cannot change to tense or number.
• So they depend on Auxilliary verbs Be and Have
to remain valid in a sentence.
Eg: 1. He cooking. [Invalid sentence]
He is cooking. [valid sentence. Be aux. is used
before the dead verb in -ing form].
2. He eaten. [invalid sentence]
He has eaten. [valid sentence. Have aux. is used
before the dead verb in V3 form]

Now, what happens if the V3 and V4
form verbs don’t have Aux.?
They stop being verbs !!!
Alive verbs must respond to tense and number
to prove their validity.
Without aux., V3 and V4 form verbs become.
Invalid : they cannot sense tense and number.
So they either become, Or Adjectives
This is a drying machine.
Dried potatoes are used for chips.
[ BE Drying. In eg.1]
[Have Dried in eg. 2]
Drying & Dried = dead verb
Both come before nouns. Adjective
Nouns:
I love painting. [Painting >ing > no
Be aux. before it]
I love what? [Noun]

What are Gerunds?
Gerunds are V4 verbs that act as nouns.
They answer the question ‘what?’
Travelling gives experience.
[What] gives experience?
He has to do a lot of travelling.
He has to do [what?]

What are gerunds?
Gerunds are V4 verbs that act as nouns.
They answer the question ‘what?’
Travelling gives experience.
[What] gives experience?
He has to do a lot of travelling.
He has to do [what?]
Travel (V1)
Travelled (V2)
Travelled (V3)
Travelling (V4)

Gerunds VS continuous tense
So, we have a gerund when a verb is:
• in V4 –ing form,
• Answers “WHAT?” in subject position or
object
• Is not preceded by Be or Have verbs.
So, find which is a gerund below:
He is travelling.
He does a lot of travelling.

Participle form
When verbs are used as adjectives, we call it
participle.
Little children are careless with fire; but
a burnt child dreads the fire!
[What kind of child?]
Burn—Verb;
burned (V2);
burnt (V3),
burning (V4)

Participle
Other examples:
Dried potatoes are used for making chips.
Damaged goods will be replaced.
[What kind of potatoes/goods?]
Your examples:
1.
2.

Now consider this:
Beautiful children make good photos.
Smiling children make good photos.
[What kind of children?]
Bright stars can be seen without telescope.
Shooting stars fulfill wishes.
[What kind of stars?]

Now consider this:
Beautiful children make good photos.
Smiling children make good photos.
[What kind of children?]
Bright stars can be seen without telescope.
Shooting stars fulfill wishes.
[What kind of stars?]
Shoot (V1)
Shot (V2)
Shot (V3)
Shooting (V4)
Smile (V
Smiled(V
Smiled (V
Smiling (V

So, a participle is:
• A verb that acts as an adjective.
• Is either in V3 or in V4 form
• Modifies the noun that comes after it.
Your Examples:
1.
2.

Infinitives
• Any verb that is To + V1 in form.
• Behaves like noun.
To kill someone is a crime.
[What, here, is a crime?]
I asked him to leave.
[I asked him to do what?]

Infinitives: they won’t change form for
infinity!
Compare:
I leave office by 5:30 [habit]
I left office at 5:45 yesterday. [past event]
I am leaving office now. [Current action]
But,
I like to leave early.
I liked to leave early.
I have liked to leave early.

Infinitives: they won’t change form for
infinity!
Compare:
I leave office by 5:30 [habit]
I left office at 5:45 yesterday. [past event]
I am leaving office now. [Current action]
But,
I like to leave early.
I liked to leave early.
I have liked to leave early.
No change of infinitive, even if
the sentence changed from
present to past to perfect!

So, infinitives happen when
• There is a ‘to’ before a verb.
• They behave as nouns, by answering ‘what/ to
do what?’
Remember, some infinitives can be even without
‘To’. They are called ‘bare infinitives’
They happen with ‘Make’ and ‘let’
He made her (to) cry. I let him (to) go.

How this lesson is relevant for you in
doing sentence transformation?
1. For active to passive transformation.
When we have gerunds, active to passive will be
possible.
The government banned hunting of tigers.
Passive Voice: Hunting of tigers is banned by the
government.
Note: When you have a gerund, it is Singular in
form.
Verb in V4 form
Answers “WHAT?”
Therefore: Gerund

How this lesson is relevant for you in
doing sentence transformation?
Active to passive contd.
When we have To infinitives, we cannot make
passives.
Eg: I love to cook.
We cannot write: To cook is loved by me.
Infinitive

How is this lesson relevant for you?
2. For changing sentences to Simple sentence
from Complex and compound.
A simple sentence will have Only one Alive Verb.
In complex and compound sentences, you have
more than one alive verbs.
I fell asleep because I was tired. [complex
sentence]
Simple: Being tired, I fell asleep.
‘Was’ in Was Tired is
made dead. Was >
Be > Being = dead
Two Alive verbs:
Fell; Was tired

So, to sum up
• Auxiliaries are verbs that:
• Responds to plural and tense.
• Makes questions and negatives.
• Be=continuous tense
• Have=perfect tense
• Do = assertive sentence.
• Modals = future tense, ability, permission, request
• When an auxiliary is present, general verb becomes
static.

So, to sum up
• Auxiliaries are senior verbs.
• When there is an auxiliary and a general verb
in a sentence, auxiliaries take the
responsibility of answering to tenses and
plurals.
• The general verb sits inactive—either in V3
form or in V4 form.

Auxiliaries, modals, gerunds, participles, infinitives

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