Auxiliaries are helping verbs. They are often used to make questions and negative sentences. Additionally, auxiliaries show tense and number. Here are the 4 different types of auxiliaries, the types of auxiliaries that you will use, and example sentences:
| Auxiliary type | The verb: be |
| Example Auxiliaries that are used | am, are, is , was, were |
| Sentence | Tina and Jesse are best friends! |
| Auxiliary type | The verb: do |
| Example Auxiliaries that are used | do, does, did |
| Sentence | Does this car run on electricity? |
| Auxiliary type | The verb: have |
| Example Auxiliaries that are used | have, has, had |
| Sentence | Kristina has never liked dogs. |
| Auxiliary type | Modal verbs (please refer to Grammar unit 3 for review) |
| Example Auxiliaries that are used | can, could, shall, should, will, would, may, might, must, ought to |
| Sentence | We might go to Florida for a summer vacation! |
Let's take a look at the 4 different ways auxiliaries such as am, are, do, has, can, and could are used in the English language. Refer back to this table if you forget what auxiliaries are.
References to Preceding Information
Auxiliaries can be used to refer to verbs or verb phrases that have been mentioned in a previous sentence. By using auxiliaries, we can avoid repeating the verb or verb phrase.
Is it raining outside? It is. ("Is" refers to the fact that it's raining outside. Since you already mentioned "raining" earlier in the sentence, this does not have to be repeated in the sentence that follows.)
Do you think you can ace the math test? I'm sure you can! ("Can" refers to "ace the math test." This does not have to be repeated, as it has already been mentioned in the previous sentence.)
Tag Questions and Short Answers
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