Common uses of auxiliary verbs
Common auxiliary verbs
Auxiliary verbs are helping verbs that accompany the main verb to provide additional information about tense, mood, or voice. Some common auxiliary verbs include "be," "have," "do," "will," "can," "may," "might," "must," "shall," "should," and "could."
Auxiliary verbs in negative forms
Negative forms of auxiliary verbs like "should," "can," "have," and "must" are often used. Learn to form negative sentences using contractions (e.g., shouldn't, can't, haven't, mustn't) or the correct placement of "not" (e.g., should not, cannot, have not, must not).
Examples:
- I can't swim.
- They haven't finished their homework.
- She mustn't tell anyone.
Expressing interest or surprise using auxiliary verbs
Use auxiliary verb phrases such as "you have?", "it is?", "he can't?", "you do?", "you did?" to express interest or surprise.
Examples:
- A: I've just seen Bob. B: You have? This is interesting.
- A: They're moving? B: They are? What a surprise!
Tag questions
Tag questions are added to the end of sentences to confirm or check information. Use affirmative tag questions with negative sentences and negative tag questions with affirmative sentences.
Examples:
- You're coming to the party, aren't you?
- She isn't studying English, is she?
Using "too," "either," "so," and "neither" in sentences
Learn to use "too" and "either" at the end of sentences, as well as "so" and "neither" in dialogues with various verbs (e.g., am, is, are, was, were, do, does, did, have, has, can, will, should).
Examples:
- I like pizza, too.
- She doesn't like coffee, either.
- I am tired, and so is she.
- He can't swim, and neither can I.
Remember that these examples and explanations are just a starting point.
Try the challenge to practice using auxiliary verbs in different contexts!
Correct Answers
The correct answer is "have they" because it follows the rule: we have a negative sentence, so we use an affirmative tag question.
The correct answer is "either" because the sentence is negative, and we use "either" after a negative verb.
Which sentence correctly uses the negative form of "have"?
Answers:
The correct sentence uses "haven't" (have not) as the negative form of "have."
The correct answer is "did you" because it follows the rule: we have a negative sentence, so we use an affirmative tag question.
B: He _________________________, but he probably _________________________.
The correct answer is "should, won't" because "should" is used to express obligation or a good idea, while "won't" is the contraction of "will not," which is the negative form of "will."
B: She _________________________? Really?
The correct answer is "She did?" expressing interest.
The correct answer is "too" because the sentence is affirmative, and we use "too" after an affirmative verb.
The correct sentence uses the contraction "shouldn't" (should not) to form the negative of "should."
B: They _________________________, but they aren't now.
The correct answer is "were," which is the past tense form of the verb "to be" for the third person plural pronoun "they."
The correct answer is "isn't he" because it follows the rule: we have an affirmative sentence, so we use a negative tag question.
B: "_________________________."
The correct answer is "So was I" because the first speaker uses an affirmative verb "was," and we use "so" to agree with an affirmative verb.
Select the correct negative form of "can" in the sentence.
Answers:
The correct sentence uses "can't" (cannot) as the negative form of "can."
The correct answer is "cannot," which is another way to express the negative form of "can." It is used to express inability or lack of permission.
The correct sentence uses "mustn't" (must not) to form the negative of "must."
The correct answer is "is" because it is the third person singular form and agrees with the subject "her friend." According to the rule, we can't use the contracted form "'s" in such short clauses.
The correct auxiliary verb is "has" because it is the third person singular form of "have" and agrees with the subject "her brother."
B: "_________________________."
The correct answer is "Neither can I" because the first speaker uses a negative verb "can't," and we use "neither" to agree with a negative verb.
B: He _________________________? Which ones?
The correct answer is "He does?" expressing surprise.
The correct answer is "can't she" because it follows the rule: we have an affirmative sentence, so we use a negative tag question.
Verb
A verb is a word that expresses an action, a state, or an occurrence — the engine of every English sentence. Most verbs have five forms: base (go), -s form (goes), past tense (went), past participle (gone), and -ing form (going). The verb be is the major exception with eight forms; modal verbs like can and must have fewer.
Verbs carry tense (when), aspect (how it unfolds), mood (the speaker's attitude), and voice (active vs passive). Mastering them is foundational — virtually every other grammar topic depends on getting verbs right.
Auxiliary verb
An auxiliary verb (or "helping verb") is a verb that combines with a main verb to add grammatical meaning — questions, negation, tense, aspect, voice, or modality. The English auxiliaries are forms of be, have, do, plus the modal verbs (can, could, will, would, should, may, might, must).
Auxiliaries are what let you build past tense (have gone), continuous aspect (is going), passive voice (was eaten), and questions (Do you know?). Without them, you can't form most of the structures you need beyond the simple present and past — they're the engine that powers half the tense system.
Ellipsis
The ellipsis ( … ) is a punctuation mark — a series of three dots — that signals an intentional omission. In quoted text, it shows where words have been cut: "To be… is the question." In informal writing or dialogue, it suggests trailing off, hesitation, or an unfinished thought (Well, I suppose…).
Two everyday slips: using two or four dots instead of three, and overusing ellipses in formal writing where a comma or full stop would do better. The mark adds atmosphere quickly — too quickly, if you reach for it every other sentence.
Adverb
An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb — adding information about how, when, where, how often, or to what degree something happens: she sings beautifully, unbelievably fast, we go there often. Many adverbs end in -ly, but plenty don't (well, fast, hard, almost).
Adverbs matter because they're how you add nuance without piling on extra clauses. Used well, a single adverb can sharpen a vague sentence (she answered → she answered honestly), but misplace one and the meaning drifts in a way native speakers immediately notice.
Negation
Negation in English usually places not after the auxiliary or modal verb: I am not going, She does not know, You must not go. When there's no auxiliary, you add do-support: I go → I do not go. Most combinations contract: don't, can't, won't, isn't.
The trickiest rule for many learners: double negatives are not standard English. I didn't see nothing is non-standard; the standard forms are I saw nothing or I didn't see anything. Negative words like never, nobody, nothing already carry the negation — adding not on top doubles up.
Questions
Questions in English are typically formed by inverting the subject and an auxiliary verb: She can dance → Can she dance?. When there's no auxiliary present, English adds do-support: The milk goes in the fridge → Does the milk go in the fridge?. The same pattern handles wh-questions (Where do you live?) and negative questions (Doesn't he know?).
The trickiest variant is indirect questions — I wonder where he is, not where is he. The inversion drops because the question is embedded inside another clause. Getting this right is one of the bigger jumps from A2 to B1 fluency.
English Grammar Basics
The English Grammar Basics tag marks quizzes and explainers covering the foundations of English grammar — nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, tenses, voice, mood, and basic sentence structure.
If you're starting out or rebuilding from scratch, this is the tag to follow: every challenge under it is designed to land the core rules without burying you in exceptions. Get the basics solid here and the more advanced topics — conditionals, reported speech, inversion — stop looking like a wall of new rules and start looking like extensions of what you already know.
A1 | Elementary | Beginners
A1 is the starting level of the CEFR framework — the entry point into English. At A1 you can introduce yourself, ask and answer simple personal questions, recognise common signs and instructions, and have short slow-paced conversations on very familiar topics.
Grammatically, A1 covers the building blocks: present-tense forms of be, have, and do; basic word order; simple questions; and the most common determiners, pronouns, and prepositions. Knowing your level matters — A1 material teaches the foundations every later level builds on, while a B1 textbook will overwhelm you. Start here and progress is fast.
Difficulty: Easy
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Filter by Easy when you're rebuilding fundamentals, warming up before harder material, or testing whether you've truly internalised a basic rule before moving on. Easy doesn't mean trivial — it means the rule itself is unambiguous and the context doesn't pile on extra complications.