1.1 Main verbs and auxiliary verbs
Examples of main verbs are:
 | talk, go, include, correspond |
Main verbs can take different forms, e.g.:
| talk, talks, talking, talked; go, goes, going, went, gone |
Auxiliary verbs are (1) be, (2) have, (3) the modal auxiliaries and (4) do, does and did.
1. Be:
We use am, is, are to make the present continuous and was and were to make the past continuous; we use am, is, are, was, were, be, been and being to make passive verb forms.
2. Have:
We use have, has and had to make perfect forms, (see present perfect simple, past perfect simple, etc.).
3. Modal auxiliaries:
The modal auxiliaries are: can, could, will, would, shall, should, may, might, must and ought. These verbs do not have different forms.
All of these auxiliaries are used in positive statements, negative statements and questions:
| |
Statement |
Negative |
Question |
|
be (continuous) |
He was sitting. |
He wasn't sitting. |
Was he sitting? |
|
be (passive) |
It is made. |
It isn't made. |
Is it made? |
|
have |
She has come. |
She hasn't come. |
Has she come? |
|
modal |
She can come. |
She can't come. |
Can she come? |
4. Do, does, did:
In the present simple, we use do and does in negative statements and questions; in the past simple we use did in negative statements and questions.
We use all of the auxiliary verbs, including do, does and did, to make short answers and short statements, e.g.:
| A: Is he working? (Treballa?) |
| | B: Yes, he is. / No, he isn't. (Sí./No.) |
| C: Has he been there? (Ha estat allà?) |
| | D: Yes, he has. / No, he hasn't. (Sí./No.) |
| E: Did she come? (Va venir?) |
| | F: Yes, she did. / No, she didn't. (Sí./No.) |
| Jane is eating and so is Tom (or and Tom is, too).
(La Jane menja i en Tom també.) |
| Sally has finished and so have Peter and Bill (or and Peter and Bill have, too).
(La Sally ha acabat i en Peter i en Bill també.) |
| Tim works and so does Pam (or and Pam does, too).
(En Tim treballa i la Pam també.) |
| Jill is playing but Ken isn't.
(La Jill juga però en Ken, no.) |
| Ken isn't playing but Jill is.
(En Ken no juga, però la Jill, sí.) |
| Sam works but Ann doesn't.
(En Sam treballa, però l'Ann, no.) |
| Ann doesn't work but Sam does.
(L'Ann no treballa, però en Sam, sí.) |
| Ken isn't playing and neither/nor is John (or and John isn't, either).
(En Ken no juga i en John tampoc.) |
| Ann doesn't work and neither/nor does Larry (or and Larry doesn't, either).
(L'Ann no treballa i en Larry tampoc.) |
| We can use all of the auxiliary verbs, including do, does and did, in emphatic statements (where the auxiliary is stressed in speech and writing), e.g.:
| A: Jane isn't helping. (La Jane no ajuda.) |
| | B. That's not true. She is helping. (No és cert. Sí que ajuda.) |
| C: Jane can't swim. (La Jane no sap nedar.) |
| | D: That's not true. She can swim. (No és cert. Sí que sap nedar.) |
| E: Jane doesn't work. (La Jane no treballa.) |
| | F: That's not true. She does work. (No és cert. Sí que treballa.) |
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