Helping Verbs Study Guide

What are Helping Verbs?

Helping verbs, also known as auxiliary verbs, are used in combination with main verbs to express shades of time and mood. They "help" the main verb in a sentence by adding meaning to it.

Examples of Helping Verbs

Be: am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been
Have: have, has, had
Do: do, does, did
Modals: can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would

Usage of Helping Verbs

Helping verbs are used to form tenses, to create questions and negative statements, and to express possibility, necessity, ability, and more.

Study Tips

Practice identifying helping verbs in sentences.
Learn the different forms of the helping verbs (be, have, do, modals).
Understand the various ways helping verbs can be used to express different meanings.