AUXILIARY VERBS: TO BE, HAVE, DO.

(Los modales también son auxiliaries.)

- Siempre deben acompañar a un verbo principal (excepto en respuestas cortas, para dar énfasis o para no
repetir el verbo). Los verbos principales son los que tienen el significado. Los auxiliares sirven para
especificar el tiempo de un verbo, para negarlo o para preguntar.
- Se niegan a ellos mismos con NOT (o n’t), nunca con otro auxiliar.
- Para preguntar se colocan delante del sujeto.
- Si no van seguidos de otro verbo, entonces NO son auxiliares y por lo tanto, CAMBIAN DE SIGNIFICADO
(excepto el verbo TO BE que siempre significa ser o estar y siempre es auxiliar).

Formas de los verbos auxiliares TO BE, HAVE y DO.

TO BE: SER / ESTAR

Presente: (afirmativo) (negativo) (interrogativo) (Yo soy/ estoy)

I am / I’m I am not Am I…?

You are / You’re You are not / aren’t Are you…?

He, She, It is / He’s … He, She, It is not / isn’t Is he, she, it…?

We are / We’re We are not / aren’t Are we…?

You are /You’re You are not / aren’t Are you…?

They are / They’re They are not / aren’t Are they…?

Pasado: (afirmativo) (negativo) (interrogativo) (Yo era/estaba)

I was I was not / wasn’t Was I…?

You were You were not / weren’t Were you…?

He, She, It was He, She, It was not / wasn’t Was he, she, it…?

We were We were not / weren’t Were we…?

You were You were not / weren’t Were you…?

They were They were not / weren’t Were they…?

Presente Perfecto: I have been / I haven’t been / Have I been…? (Yo he sido / estado)

Pasado Perfecto: I had been / I hadn’t been / Had I been…? (Yo había sido / estado)

Futuro: I will be / I won’t be / Will I be…? (Yo seré / estaré)

Condicional: I would be / I wouldn’t be /Would I be…? (Yo sería / estaría)

- I am tired: El verbo TO BE no es auxiliar porque no va seguido de otro verbo.

- I am studying: El verbo TO BE sí es auxiliar porque va seguido de otro verbo.
- I am being honest: El primer TO BE sería auxiliary y el segundo normal.

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HAVE: HABER (auxiliar) / TENER, TOMAR (normal)

 A continuación se muestra la forma del auxiliar haber, NO del verbo tener, tomar, ya que en el segundo caso necesitará otro
auxiliar para las oraciones negativas e interrogativas.

Presente: (afirmativo) (negativo) (interrogativo) (Yo he / tengo)

I have I have not / haven’t Have I…?

You have You have not / haven’t Have you…?

He has He, She, It has not / hasn’t Has he, she, it…?

We have We have not / haven’t Have we…?

You have You have not / haven’t Have you…?

They have They have not / haven’t Have they…?

Pasado: (afirmativo) (negativo) (interrogativo) (Yo tenía/había)

I had I had not / hadn’t Had I…?

You had You had not / hadn’t Had you…?

He, She, It had He, She, It had not / hadn’t Had he, she, it…?

We had We had not / hadn’t Had we…?

You had You had not / hadn’t Had you…?

They had They had not / hadn’t Had they…?

Presente Perfecto: I have had / I haven’t had / Have I had…? (Yo he tenido)

Pasado Perfecto: I had had / I hadn’t had / Had I had…? (Yo había tenido)

Futuro: I will have / I won’t have / Will I have…? (Yo tendré)

Condicional: I would have / I wouldn’t have /Would I have…? (Yo tendría)

- I have money: El verbo HAVE no es auxiliar porque no va seguido de otro verbo y por lo tanto significa
TENER (Yo tengo dinero).
- I have walked: El verbo HAVE sí es auxiliar porque va seguido de otro verbo y por lo tanto significa HABER
(Yo he paseado).
- I have had: El primer HAVE sería auxiliary y el segundo normal (Yo he tenido).

 HAVE GOT (tener): En muchos casos HAVE (verbo normal tener) y HAVE GOT se pueden usar indistintamente,
cuando se refiere a posesión, relaciones, enfermedades… Pero en pasado siempre se usa HAD (sin got). Sin embargo,
el HAVE GOT se niega a sí mismo con NOT (n’t) y se pone delante para preguntar (como los auxiliares): I have a dog
= I have got a dog / I don’t have a dog = I haven’t got a dog / Do I have a dog? = Have I got a dog? PERO NO: I
haven’t a dog, Have you a dog?, I don’t have got a dog, Does she have got a dog? Sin embargo, para muchas
acciones y experiencias sólo se puede usar have y no have got, como have breakfast, a coffee, a bath, a swim, a
break, a party, a holiday, a rest, a dream, an experience, an accident, a look, a conversation, difficulty, fun, a good
time…

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DO: SIN SIGNIFICADO (auxiliar) / HACER (normal)

Presente: (afirmativo)1 (negativo) (interrogativo)

I do I do not / don’t Do I…?

You do You do not / don’t Do you…?

He does He, She, It does not / doesn’t Does he, she, it…?

We do We do not / don’t Do we…?

You do You do not / don’t Do you…?

They do They do not / don’t Do they…?

Pasado: (afirmativo) (negativo) (interrogativo)

I did I did not / didn’t Did I…?

You did You did not / didn’t Did you…?

He, She, It did He, She, It did not / didn’t Did he, she, it…?

We did We did not / didn’t Did we…?

You did You did not / didn’t Did you…?

They did They did not / didn’t Did they…?

Presente Perfecto: I have done / I haven’t done / Have I done…? (Yo he hecho)

Pasado Perfecto: I had done / I hadn’t done / Had I done…? (Yo había hecho)

Futuro: I will do / I won’t do / Will I do…? (Yo haré)

Condicional: I would do / I wouldn’t do /Would I do…? (Yo haría)

- I do homework: El verbo DO no es auxiliar porque no va seguido de otro verbo y por lo tanto significa
HACER (Yo hago deberes).
- I don’t sing: El verbo DO sí es auxiliar porque va seguido de otro verbo y por lo tanto no tiene significado,
sino que niega al verbo (Yo no canto).
- I don’t do homework: Aunque sea el mismo verbo, el primero es auxiliar sin significado y el segundo es
normal que signifca hacer (Yo no hago deberes). 234

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Tanto en Presente como en Pasado afirmativo, el do sólo se usa para respuestas cortas, para dar énfasis o para no repetir el
verbo, pero NO tiene significado:
- Do you want to come? - Yes, I do (sí, - quiero-) and my friend does too (y mi amigo también –quiere-).
- I think he doesn’t want to come. - He does want to come (el sí quiere venir).
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Contracciones: She’s puede ser She is (She is studying / She is tired) o She has + verbo participio (She has woken up). We’d puede ser We
would + verbo infinitivo sin to (We would go) o We had + verbo participio (We had spoken). Por lo tanto, para saber a qué auxiliar o modal
se refieren hay que mirar el verbo que les sigue.
3 El auxiliar DO siempre debe ir seguido de verbo infinitivo sin to. El auxiliar HAVE siempre debe ir seguido de verbo en participio. El

auxiliar BE puede ir seguido de verbo –ing (continuo) o de participio (pasiva).

4 Si el verbo TO BE no va seguido de ningún verbo, se sigue negando a sí mismo y poniéndose delante del sujeto para preguntar, por lo que

la estructura sería TO BE + SUJETO + RESTO DE LA FRASE. (Errores en este tipo de frases son muy comunes, ya que es el único caso en el
que detrás del sujeto no hay ningún verbo. Ej: Were you at home?).
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Ejercicios:

1. Señala los verbos auxiliares y los normales y traduce las frases.

- We have a lot of friends here.
- She didn’t say anything.
- We are always thinking about it.
- When is your friend at home?
- I think they are being serious.
- They must have gone there before.
- You never do anything for us.
- When did she do the dishes?
- Have you ever had a car?
- If we had money we would travel everywhere.
- If we had had money we would have travelled everywhere.
- Are you tired? Or are you just being annoying?
- Why had Mary bought the onions yet?

2. Traduce:
- Yo estoy comiendo.
- Mi hermano ha ganado la carrera.
- Él no quería venir con nosotros.
- ¿Por qué estás llorando?
- Tus amigos no han llegado todavía.
- Anthony ya había limpiado su casa.
- ¿Cuándo estuvo tu madre en la tienda?
- Ellos no estaban hablando mucho.
- Alice dice que tú has nadado esta mañana.
- Yo no tengo dinero pero he viajado varias veces.
- John siempre hace deberes los viernes pero no hace nada los lunes.
- Ellos no habían tenido un perro antes pero ahora tienen dos.
- El diccionario está siendo muy útil en la clase.
- ¿Qué estás diciendo?