If were using have as a full verb, we need the auxiliary verb do for negations and questions.

We use auxiliary verbs to conjugate negative sentences and questions in simple tenses and to form the progressive and perfect tenses.

Verbs exercises: be - can - do - have - present and past. She has finished.) ', however, this particular phrase as a whole has become a fixed phrase and is somewhat commonly used, even though overall this structure is uncommon. If the verb in the previous sentence is positive, the reply question is positive and if the verb in the previous sentence is negative, the reply question isalso negative. Are you listening to me? Compare: Main verb: I am tall. Most common auxiliary verbs are: To be, have, do, will. Is she your sister? past, present, or future) Your email address will not be published. Have is used as an auxiliary verb for perfect tenses in the active and the passive voice. The past modals 'could have + past participle', 'should have + past participle' and 'would have + past participle' can be confusing. When I lived in Italy, we would often eat in the restaurant next to my flat.We can use 'will' and 'would' to talk about habits or things we usually do, or did in the past. We also use modal verbs to say something is not allowed. We can use verbs such as 'can', 'could' and 'may' to ask for and give permission. We can use verbs such as 'must' or 'should' to say when something is necessary or unnecessary, or to give advice.Ĭlick here to find out more about obligation Permission My grandfather could play golf very well.Ĭlick here to find out more about ability.We use 'can' and 'could' to talk about a skill or ability. £200 for two cups of coffee!Ĭlick here to find out more about probability. It's snowing, so it must be very cold outside.We often call these 'modals of deduction' or 'speculation' or 'certainty' or 'probability'. Probability:įirst, they can be used when we want to say how sure we are that something happened / is happening / will happen. Here's a list of the modal verbs in English: canġ: They don't use an 's' for the third person singular.Ģ: They make questions by inversion ('she can go' becomes 'can she go?').ģ: They are followed directly by the infinitive of another verb (without 'to'). Click here to download this explanation as a pdf.Ĭlick here for all the exercises about modal verbs

Modal auxiliary verbs exercises