Auxiliary verbs in the English language cause difficulties for everyone without exception. This is primarily due to the fact that the structures of our native language that are familiar to us do not work, and the imposed system is alien and incomprehensible. However, as the most successful translators say, in order to learn how to speak a foreign language well, it is necessary to understand how its speakers think. We'll figure out.
What are they needed for
Auxiliary verbs, as the name implies, help with the grammatical design of speech. These are "assistants" that indicate categories - such as time, number, person, voice, etc. It is important to understand that in this function they do not indicate an action, which, for example, in Russian is the main characteristic of a verb.
Let’s take as an example the question: “Do you like oranges?” Please note that in Russian in speech only intonation indicates that this sentence is a question. That is, if you pronounce it exactly, the interlocutor will decide that this is a statement. What else can we say about the grammar of the example? The pronoun “you”, the form of the verb “love” tell us that we are addressing one specific person in the present tense. The form of the verb is important for us: we do not use the main one - “love”, but specifically select the grammatically correct one.
This question is translated into English like this: "Do you like oranges?" And by the first word - an auxiliary verb - we can determine what:
- This is a question (in English only questions begin with a verb);
- we are interested in action in the present tense;
- we certainly don’t refer to “him” or to “her,” since in this case the verb would take on the form does.
All subsequent words do not carry a grammatical load, only semantic. Note how the grammar is “spread out” according to the Russian sentence and is densely concentrated in one English word, which we do not even mention in the translation. That is, the precise understanding of our speech directly depends on what auxiliary verbs are used in the sentence.
Verb to do
The auxiliary verbs do and does are most often used to construct questions and negatives in the present simple tense. The form depends on the subject of the proposal - if it is “he”, “she” or “it” (to put it scientifically, 3 persons, singular), then the does form is used (and the main action verb loses the ending -s / -es), in all in other cases, the main form of do is used.
Did form questions and negatives in the simple past. Its form does not change depending on the subject.
In affirmative sentences, sometimes different forms of do are used as auxiliary verbs - in order to emphasize something, to emphasize action, imperative or adverb, etc. For example, ardently proving your love for porridge, you can say: "I do like porridge, is it so unbelievable? "
Verb to have
The verb have and its other forms - has and had - are most often used as auxiliary words for expressing actions in specific English time categories: Perfect and Perfect Continuous, expressing the "perfection" of an action. So, have and has express the present, and in combination with will - the future; had is used if the action occurred in the past.
In addition, have and its forms, followed by the infinitive particle to express the need for action and have a similar meaning with the modal and auxiliary verb must.
Verb to be
To be is one of the most common auxiliary verbs of the English language. It has a very wide range of shapes.
So, to express the Present Simple time in questions and negatives, depending on the subject of the sentence, am (for the first person in the singular - "I") is used, is (for the third person in the singular - "he" " she "," it ") or" are "(second person and all persons in the plural). Do not forget that in sentences like "I am a doctor" - the verb to be (in the form of am) is semantic, not auxiliary; in this case, it can independently be used to build questions and negatives.
If the action is taking place at the moment, that is, the Present Continuous time is used, the forms am / is / are also used (in all kinds of sentences), and the semantic verb acquires the ending -ing.
Questions and negatives in the past simple time (Past Simple) are built using the forms was (for the singular) and were (for the plural, including you), and will be used in all kinds of sentences to express actions in the future.
Another form of the verb in question - been - is part of the auxiliary construction of the so-called Perfect Continuous Tense group and in combination with the main verb with the ending -ing expresses just this duration. This group of times has traditionally caused great problems for students of English, but the theoretical description of the grammar sounds more complicated than things really are: "I have been learning English my whole life and still have no clue on how to deal with Tense System!" “I’ve been studying English all my life, but I still don’t fully understand the time system.”
All forms of the verb to be also help to express a passive voice - the choice depends on the time in which this or that action occurs.
Other auxiliary verbs
The verbs must, should, can, could, may, might, ought and others are also known as modal auxiliary and are used to express the need, possibility or resolution of some action. Most of them do not change either in time or in dependence on the subject of the story.
Notes of Beginning Linguists
All famous linguists once began to learn a foreign language. Success depends on many factors, including the comprehension of subtle nuances that often facilitate the understanding of a foreign system. We consider it necessary to mention the following factors:
- If the question begins with an auxiliary word (and not with an interrogative word, such as “What ...” or “When ...”), the answer to it can be a simple monosyllabic “yes” or “no”, but for literacy in the style of called Perfect English, you can add the corresponding pronoun and the same verb that stood at the beginning. "Does Anna like porridge?" - "Yes (she does)". Pay attention to the form - perhaps it should be negative if you use no in the answer.
- In order to avoid misunderstanding, it is necessary to remember that all auxiliary verbs in the English language (except modal) can also be semantic. At the same time, you should not be scared or puzzled by the double representation of a word in a sentence, as, for example, in the question: "Do you do cleaning every day?" - "Do you clean every day?" - in the first case, the verb do is auxiliary, and in the second, semantic.
It is worth noting that the system of auxiliary verbs in the English language is so complex that even native speakers sometimes make mistakes when using them. However, students should be diligent and deeply work on this topic in order to be able to accurately convey the necessary information and correctly understand the interlocutor.