{"id":62,"date":"2017-07-20T16:28:11","date_gmt":"2017-07-20T16:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-styleguide2\/chapter\/helping-verbs\/"},"modified":"2017-07-20T16:28:11","modified_gmt":"2017-07-20T16:28:11","slug":"helping-verbs","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-styleguide2\/chapter\/helping-verbs\/","title":{"raw":"Helping Verbs","rendered":"Helping Verbs"},"content":{"raw":"<img class=\"alignright wp-image-2326\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2232\/2017\/07\/20162810\/Screen-Shot-2016-06-21-at-12.31.26-PM-300x297.png\" alt=\"Icon of one figure helping another up stairs\" width=\"152\" height=\"150\"\/>Helping\u00a0verbs (sometimes called\u00a0<em>auxiliary\u00a0verbs<\/em>)\u00a0are, as the name suggests, verbs that help another verb. They provide support and add additional meaning.\u00a0Here are some examples of helping\u00a0verbs in sentences:\n<ul><li>Mariah\u00a0<strong>is<\/strong>\u00a0looking for her keys still.<\/li>\n \t<li>Kai <strong>had<\/strong> checked the weather three times already, but he looked one more time to see if the forecast <strong>had<\/strong> changed.<\/li>\n \t<li>What ever happens, <strong>do<\/strong> <em>not<\/em> let the water level drop below this line.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nAs you just saw, helping verbs are usually pretty short, and they include things like <em>is<\/em>,\u00a0<em>had<\/em>, and <em>do\u00a0<\/em>(we'll look at a more complete list later). Let's look at some more examples to examine exactly what these verbs do. Take a look at the sentence \"I have finished my dinner.\" Here, the main verb is <em>finish<\/em>, and the helping\u00a0verb\u00a0<em>have<\/em> helps to express tense. Let's look at two more examples:\n<ul><li>By 1967, about 500 U.S. citizens <strong>had<\/strong> received heart transplants.\n<ul><li>While <em>received<\/em>\u00a0could function on its own \u00a0as a complete thought here, the helping verb <em>had<\/em>\u00a0emphasizes the distance in time of the date in the opening phrase.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n \t<li><strong>Do<\/strong> you want tea?\n<ul><li><em>Do<\/em> is a\u00a0helping\u00a0verb accompanying the main verb <em>want<\/em>, used here to form a question.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n \t<li>Researchers <strong>are<\/strong>\u00a0finding\u00a0that propranolol is\u00a0effective in the treatment of heartbeat irregularities.\n<ul><li>The helping verb <em>are<\/em>\u00a0indicates the present tense, and adds a sense of continuity\u00a0to the verb <em>finding<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n \t<li>He <strong>has<\/strong> given his all.\n<ul><li><em>Has<\/em> is a\u00a0helping\u00a0verb used in expressing the tense of\u00a0<em>given<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThe following table provides a short list of some verbs that can function as helping\u00a0verbs, along with examples of\u00a0the way they function. <a href=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/textimgs\/Developmental+Reading+and+Writing\/Helping_Verbs.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">A\u00a0full list of\u00a0helping verbs can be found here.<\/a>\n<table><tbody><tr><th style=\"width: 10%;\">Helping\u00a0Verb<\/th>\n<th style=\"width: 45%;\">Function<\/th>\n<th style=\"width: 45%;\">Examples<\/th>\n<\/tr><tr><td rowspan=\"2\">be<\/td>\n<td>Express tense (the tense depends on the conjugation of <em>to be<\/em>;\u00a0<em>is<\/em> is present, <em>was<\/em>\u00a0is past, <em>will be<\/em> is future, etc.)\u00a0and a sense of continuity.<\/td>\n<td>He <b>is<\/b> sleeping.<\/td>\n<\/tr><tr><td>Express\u00a0tense (the tense depends on the conjugation of <em>to be<\/em>;\u00a0<em>are<\/em>\u00a0is present, <em>were<\/em>\u00a0is past, <em>will be<\/em> is future, etc.)\u00a0and indicate the passive voice<\/td>\n<td>They <b>were<\/b> seen.<\/td>\n<\/tr><tr><td>can<\/td>\n<td>Express ability<\/td>\n<td>I <b>can<\/b> swim.\u00a0Such things <b>can<\/b> help.<\/td>\n<\/tr><tr><td>could<\/td>\n<td>Express possibility<\/td>\n<td>That <b>could<\/b> help.<\/td>\n<\/tr><tr><td rowspan=\"2\">do<\/td>\n<td>Express negation (requires the word\u00a0<em>not<\/em>)<\/td>\n<td>You <b>do<\/b>\u00a0not understand.<\/td>\n<\/tr><tr><td>Ask a question<\/td>\n<td><strong>Do<\/strong> you want to go?<\/td>\n<\/tr><tr><td>have<\/td>\n<td>Express tense (the tense depends on the conjugation of <em>to be<\/em>; <em>are<\/em> is present, <em>were<\/em> is past, <em>will be<\/em> is future, etc.)\u00a0and indicate a sense of completion<\/td>\n<td>They <b>have<\/b> understood.<\/td>\n<\/tr><tr><td>might<\/td>\n<td>Express possibility<\/td>\n<td>We <b>might<\/b> give it a try.<\/td>\n<\/tr><tr><td>must<\/td>\n<td>Express confidence in a fact<\/td>\n<td>It <b>must<\/b> have rained.<\/td>\n<\/tr><tr><td rowspan=\"2\">should<\/td>\n<td>Express a\u00a0request<\/td>\n<td>You <b>should<\/b> listen.<\/td>\n<\/tr><tr><td>Express likelihood<\/td>\n<td>That <b>should<\/b> help.<\/td>\n<\/tr><tr><td>will<\/td>\n<td>Express future tense<\/td>\n<td>We <b>will<\/b> eat pie.\u00a0The sun <b>will<\/b> rise tomorrow at 6:03.<\/td>\n<\/tr><tr><td>would<\/td>\n<td>Express future likelihood<\/td>\n<td>Nothing <b>would<\/b> accomplish that.<\/td>\n<\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\nThe negative forms of these words (<i>can't<\/i>, <i>don't<\/i>, <i>won't<\/i>, etc.) are also helping\u00a0verbs.\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\"><strong>Note:<\/strong> The helping verbs\u00a0<em>to be<\/em>,\u00a0<em>to have<\/em>, and\u00a0<em>would<\/em> are used to indicate tense. We'll discuss exactly how they function in more depth in\u00a0<a href=\".\/chapter\/advanced-verb-tenses\/\" target=\"_blank\">Text: Complex Verb Tenses<\/a>.<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\nIdentify the helping\u00a0verbs in the sentences below:\n<ol><li>Damian can't work tonight.\u00a0Do you want his\u00a0shift?<\/li>\n \t<li>Cassandra couldn't afford to give up.<\/li>\n \t<li>Richard\u00a0was exercising when\u00a0Barbara finally found him.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n[reveal-answer q=\"893071\"]Show Answer[\/reveal-answer]\n[hidden-answer a=\"893071\"]\n<ol><li>Damian can't work tonight. Do you want\u00a0his shift?\n<ul><li><em>Can't<\/em> helps\u00a0<em>work<\/em>. In this sentence it is used to express ability (in this case, the not turns it into\u00a0a lack of ability).<\/li>\n \t<li><em>Do<\/em>\u00a0helps <em>want<\/em>. In this sentence, it is used to make a question.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n \t<li>Cassandra <strong>couldn't<\/strong> afford to give up.\n<ul><li><em>Couldn't<\/em> helps\u00a0<em>afford<\/em>. In this sentence, it indicates how possible the verb\u00a0<em>afford<\/em> is.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n \t<li>Richard\u00a0<strong>was<\/strong> exercising when\u00a0Barbara finally found him.\n<ul><li><em>Was<\/em> accompanies\u00a0<em>exercising<\/em>. In this sentence, it is used to indicate the tense.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n[\/hidden-answer]\n\n<\/div>\n\u00a0","rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-2326\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2232\/2017\/07\/20162810\/Screen-Shot-2016-06-21-at-12.31.26-PM-300x297.png\" alt=\"Icon of one figure helping another up stairs\" width=\"152\" height=\"150\" \/>Helping\u00a0verbs (sometimes called\u00a0<em>auxiliary\u00a0verbs<\/em>)\u00a0are, as the name suggests, verbs that help another verb. They provide support and add additional meaning.\u00a0Here are some examples of helping\u00a0verbs in sentences:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Mariah\u00a0<strong>is<\/strong>\u00a0looking for her keys still.<\/li>\n<li>Kai <strong>had<\/strong> checked the weather three times already, but he looked one more time to see if the forecast <strong>had<\/strong> changed.<\/li>\n<li>What ever happens, <strong>do<\/strong> <em>not<\/em> let the water level drop below this line.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As you just saw, helping verbs are usually pretty short, and they include things like <em>is<\/em>,\u00a0<em>had<\/em>, and <em>do\u00a0<\/em>(we&#8217;ll look at a more complete list later). Let&#8217;s look at some more examples to examine exactly what these verbs do. Take a look at the sentence &#8220;I have finished my dinner.&#8221; Here, the main verb is <em>finish<\/em>, and the helping\u00a0verb\u00a0<em>have<\/em> helps to express tense. Let&#8217;s look at two more examples:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>By 1967, about 500 U.S. citizens <strong>had<\/strong> received heart transplants.\n<ul>\n<li>While <em>received<\/em>\u00a0could function on its own \u00a0as a complete thought here, the helping verb <em>had<\/em>\u00a0emphasizes the distance in time of the date in the opening phrase.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Do<\/strong> you want tea?\n<ul>\n<li><em>Do<\/em> is a\u00a0helping\u00a0verb accompanying the main verb <em>want<\/em>, used here to form a question.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Researchers <strong>are<\/strong>\u00a0finding\u00a0that propranolol is\u00a0effective in the treatment of heartbeat irregularities.\n<ul>\n<li>The helping verb <em>are<\/em>\u00a0indicates the present tense, and adds a sense of continuity\u00a0to the verb <em>finding<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>He <strong>has<\/strong> given his all.\n<ul>\n<li><em>Has<\/em> is a\u00a0helping\u00a0verb used in expressing the tense of\u00a0<em>given<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The following table provides a short list of some verbs that can function as helping\u00a0verbs, along with examples of\u00a0the way they function. <a href=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/textimgs\/Developmental+Reading+and+Writing\/Helping_Verbs.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">A\u00a0full list of\u00a0helping verbs can be found here.<\/a><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th style=\"width: 10%;\">Helping\u00a0Verb<\/th>\n<th style=\"width: 45%;\">Function<\/th>\n<th style=\"width: 45%;\">Examples<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td rowspan=\"2\">be<\/td>\n<td>Express tense (the tense depends on the conjugation of <em>to be<\/em>;\u00a0<em>is<\/em> is present, <em>was<\/em>\u00a0is past, <em>will be<\/em> is future, etc.)\u00a0and a sense of continuity.<\/td>\n<td>He <b>is<\/b> sleeping.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Express\u00a0tense (the tense depends on the conjugation of <em>to be<\/em>;\u00a0<em>are<\/em>\u00a0is present, <em>were<\/em>\u00a0is past, <em>will be<\/em> is future, etc.)\u00a0and indicate the passive voice<\/td>\n<td>They <b>were<\/b> seen.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>can<\/td>\n<td>Express ability<\/td>\n<td>I <b>can<\/b> swim.\u00a0Such things <b>can<\/b> help.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>could<\/td>\n<td>Express possibility<\/td>\n<td>That <b>could<\/b> help.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td rowspan=\"2\">do<\/td>\n<td>Express negation (requires the word\u00a0<em>not<\/em>)<\/td>\n<td>You <b>do<\/b>\u00a0not understand.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Ask a question<\/td>\n<td><strong>Do<\/strong> you want to go?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>have<\/td>\n<td>Express tense (the tense depends on the conjugation of <em>to be<\/em>; <em>are<\/em> is present, <em>were<\/em> is past, <em>will be<\/em> is future, etc.)\u00a0and indicate a sense of completion<\/td>\n<td>They <b>have<\/b> understood.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>might<\/td>\n<td>Express possibility<\/td>\n<td>We <b>might<\/b> give it a try.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>must<\/td>\n<td>Express confidence in a fact<\/td>\n<td>It <b>must<\/b> have rained.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td rowspan=\"2\">should<\/td>\n<td>Express a\u00a0request<\/td>\n<td>You <b>should<\/b> listen.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Express likelihood<\/td>\n<td>That <b>should<\/b> help.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>will<\/td>\n<td>Express future tense<\/td>\n<td>We <b>will<\/b> eat pie.\u00a0The sun <b>will<\/b> rise tomorrow at 6:03.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>would<\/td>\n<td>Express future likelihood<\/td>\n<td>Nothing <b>would<\/b> accomplish that.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>The negative forms of these words (<i>can&#8217;t<\/i>, <i>don&#8217;t<\/i>, <i>won&#8217;t<\/i>, etc.) are also helping\u00a0verbs.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\"><strong>Note:<\/strong> The helping verbs\u00a0<em>to be<\/em>,\u00a0<em>to have<\/em>, and\u00a0<em>would<\/em> are used to indicate tense. We&#8217;ll discuss exactly how they function in more depth in\u00a0<a href=\".\/chapter\/advanced-verb-tenses\/\" target=\"_blank\">Text: Complex Verb Tenses<\/a>.<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\n<p>Identify the helping\u00a0verbs in the sentences below:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Damian can&#8217;t work tonight.\u00a0Do you want his\u00a0shift?<\/li>\n<li>Cassandra couldn&#8217;t afford to give up.<\/li>\n<li>Richard\u00a0was exercising when\u00a0Barbara finally found him.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"qa-wrapper\" style=\"display: block\"><span class=\"show-answer collapsed\" style=\"cursor: pointer\" data-target=\"q893071\">Show Answer<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q893071\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">\n<ol>\n<li>Damian can&#8217;t work tonight. Do you want\u00a0his shift?\n<ul>\n<li><em>Can&#8217;t<\/em> helps\u00a0<em>work<\/em>. In this sentence it is used to express ability (in this case, the not turns it into\u00a0a lack of ability).<\/li>\n<li><em>Do<\/em>\u00a0helps <em>want<\/em>. In this sentence, it is used to make a question.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Cassandra <strong>couldn&#8217;t<\/strong> afford to give up.\n<ul>\n<li><em>Couldn&#8217;t<\/em> helps\u00a0<em>afford<\/em>. In this sentence, it indicates how possible the verb\u00a0<em>afford<\/em> is.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Richard\u00a0<strong>was<\/strong> exercising when\u00a0Barbara finally found him.\n<ul>\n<li><em>Was<\/em> accompanies\u00a0<em>exercising<\/em>. In this sentence, it is used to indicate the tense.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-62\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Revision and Adaptation. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Auxiliary verb. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Wikipedia. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Auxiliary_verb\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Auxiliary_verb<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Basic Patterns and Elements of the Sentence. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: David McMurrey. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.prismnet.com\/~hcexres\/textbook\/twsent.html\">https:\/\/www.prismnet.com\/~hcexres\/textbook\/twsent.html<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Image of helping figures. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: BenPixels. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: The Noun Project. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thenounproject.com\/search\/?q=help&#038;i=462225\">https:\/\/thenounproject.com\/search\/?q=help&#038;i=462225<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":19,"menu_order":20,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Revision and Adaptation\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Auxiliary verb\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Wikipedia\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Auxiliary_verb\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Basic Patterns and Elements of the Sentence\",\"author\":\"David 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