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Helping Verbs in English: Verb Function Examples

This document provides a list of common helping verbs in English along with their basic functions. It includes 14 helping verbs such as be, can, could, do, have, may, might, must, need, ought, shall, should, will, and would. For each verb, it gives examples of how they are used to express ideas like tense, ability, possibility, negation, commands, and other grammatical concepts.

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Kishore nawal
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605 views1 page

Helping Verbs in English: Verb Function Examples

This document provides a list of common helping verbs in English along with their basic functions. It includes 14 helping verbs such as be, can, could, do, have, may, might, must, need, ought, shall, should, will, and would. For each verb, it gives examples of how they are used to express ideas like tense, ability, possibility, negation, commands, and other grammatical concepts.

Uploaded by

Kishore nawal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Helping Verbs in English

This table includes a list of the helping verbs in English, as well as the basic function
they each perform:

Verb Function Examples


Express tense and a sense of continuity He is sleeping.
be
Express tense and indicate the passive voice They were seen.
I can swim.
can Express ability
Such things can help.
Express ability (in the past tense) I could swim.
could
Express possibility That could help.
dare Express willingness Who dares enter here?
Express negation (requires the word not) You do not understand.
do
Ask a question Do you want to go?
have Express tense and a sense of completion They have understood.
Ask permission May I stay?
may
Express possibility That may take place.
might Express possibility We might give it a try.
Express a command You must not mock me.
must
Express confidence in a fact It must have rained.
need Express command/request You need not water the grass.
ought Express a command/request You ought to play well.
shall Express commitment You shall not pass.
Express a request You should listen.
should
Express likelihood That should help.
Express future tense We will eat pie.
will
Express confidence in a future occurrence He will make that mistake every time.
Express future likelihood Nothing would accomplish that.
would Express "future-in-the-past" After 1990, we would do that again.
Express habitual actions in the past Back then we would always go there

Modification of Auxiliary verb by Wikipedia. Lumen Learning, CC BY-SA.

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