Helping Verbs?

Helping verbs are paired with verbs to “help” it.

She -is- cooking dinner. (is = the helping verb, cooking = main verb)

Lizzie -has been- reading a magazine. (has, been = helping verbs, reading = main verb)

There are 23 helping verbs in the English language.

They are: may, might, must;

be, being, been, am, are, is, was, were;

do, does, did;

should, could, would;

have, had, has;

will, can and shall.

Sometimes you can find them in a sentence, by looking at the last part of a word that ends in, “ing.”

The verb before it is a helping verb.

She was walking. She will be walking. She could have been walking.

I hope this helps you. Good Luck!!

Let me add that modal verbs have no meaning when put in a sentence on their own, without a main verb. However, the verb “to be” and “have” have a meaning of their own when alone in a sentence.

Auxiliary and modal verbs just help form specific tenses, the negative and interrogative form and they aren’t usually translated in other languages.

may

might

must

be

being

been

am

are

is

was

were

do

does

did

should

could

would have

had

has

will

can

shall

are all helping verbs. I’ve always just memorized them!

Be, Have and Do (in various forms) are helping verbs.

I have to run.

I do like chocolate.

I am taking a class.