AUXILIARY & MODAL VERBS

AUXILIARY & MODAL VERBS

• Auxiliary or helping verbs are verbs which help to form tenses, voices or moods.

• There are primary auxiliaries: be, have and do and modal auxiliaries: shall, should, will, would, may, might, can, could, must, ought to, used to, need and dare

AUXILIARY & MODAL VERBS

USES:

1.In short answers

2.To avoid repetition

3.With so & neither

4.With “echo” questions

5.To show emphasis

6.With question tags

SHORT ANSWERS

• We use them instead of answering just YES or NO. It sounds more polite and natural.

Examples:• Do you speak German? No, I don’t.• Are they at home? Yes, they are.• Can we stay here? Yes, you can.

TO AVOID REPETITION

• To avoid repeating the main verb / verb phrase:

Examples:• I love comedies, but my husband

doesn’t.• Erin is studying, but John isn’t.• They can say what they want, but we

can’t.

SO & NEITHER• We use SO and NEITHER to agree with

what someone has just said.

• If someone says something positive and we agree with them we can use SO + aux/modal + pronoun.

• If someone says something negative and we agree with them we can use NEITHER + aux/modal + pronoun.

SO & NEITHER

Examples:• A:I love comedies. • B: So do I.• A: Shhh! Erin is studying.• B: So am I.• A: I can’t open the door.• B: Neither can I• A:I won’t say anything• B: Neither will I.

TO SHOW EMPHASIS• It is common to use auxiliary verbs in

positive sentences when we contradict or deny what someone has said or when we want to give extra emphasis.

• In these sentences the auxiliary is stressed strongly.

Examples:• A: Are you a vegetarian?• B: I do eat meat, but I prefer fish.• A: You didn’t lock the door.• B: I did lock the door.

“ECHO” QUESTIONS

• We make “echo” questions to show an interest in what someone is saying.

• They’re called “echo” questions because they repeat a part of what the other speaker has said.

• They have a rising intonation. Examples:• A: I love Coldplay.• B: Do you?• A: They don’t eat meat.• B: Don’t they?

Tag questions are used:• To ask another person to agree with you

It’s a nice day, isn’t it?(Intonation goes down)It’s not really a question.

•To check something which you think is trueJack isn’t your brother, is he?(Intonation goes up)It’s a real question.

QUESTION TAGS

QUESTION TAGS

They are formed by an auxiliary verb and a pronoun.

Examples:•Jack isn’t your brother, is he?•Mabel lives in Cardiff, doesn’t she?•They have finished their homework, haven’t they?

Add a negative question tag (-) to a positive statement (+)

•We get too much homework, don’t we?

Add a positive question tag (+) to a negative statement (-)

•The police don’t have many clues, do they?

QUESTION TAGS

1) Question tags with the verb To BeHe’s a painter, isn’t he?I’m clever, aren’t I?

2) Question tags with a full verbYou prefer tea, don’t you?He doesn’t work any more, does he?

QUESTION TAGS

3) Question tags with modal verbs

We should write our report today, shouldn’t we?We can’t take pictures of the room, can we?You won’t forget it, will you?They’ve already finished it, haven’t they?

QUESTION TAGS

4) After an order or request with imperatives

Close the door, will you?Don’t make so much noise, will you?

5) After let’s, we use shall we? to make suggestions

Let’s go for a swim, shall we?Let’s get something to eat, shall we?

QUESTION TAGS

ANSWERING TAG QUESTIONS

You have coffee every morning, don’t you?

Agree Disagree

Yes, I do. No, I don’t.

You don’t like classical music, do you?

Agree Disagree

No, I don’t. Yes, I do.

AUXILIARY & MODAL VERBS

• By Fernanda González