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HOW are different tenses formed by using auxiliary or helping verbs, for example, “have”, “was”, “shall”, and “will”.
The future tense is formed by using the future tense of the verb “to be”, as an auxiliary/helper verb, with an infinitive, for instance, I shall go.
You will go.
The verb “to be” and the verb “to have” are used as auxiliary verbs to make verb tenses.
Here are examples of different tenses: Simple present — I walk, you sing, they run.
These are formed through the use of the infinitive without the verb “to be”. Continuous present — I am walking, you are singing.
This is formed by the present tense of the verb “to be” with the present participle — ‘ing’.
Simple past: I walked, you sang, they ran. This is formed by the past participle — “ed”/ irregular past participle.
Continuous past: I was walking, you were singing. Formed from the past tense of verb “to be” with present participle –”ing”.
Perfect past I have walked; you have sung. Formed from present tense of verb “to have” with past participle – “ed”/irregular.
Future: I shall walk, you will walk, formed from the future tense of verb “to be” with infinitive.
The infinitive is that part of the verb which you find listed in a dictionary.
For example, you can have such verbs: to talk, to write, to swim, to read, to ride, to break, to laugh and many more.
Sentences in the future tense: I will laugh.
You will walk.
You will read. She will play. She will growl.
We shall/will watch.
They will draw.
You can tell from these few sentences that the future tense is formed by this: verb “to be” + infinitive.
The verb “to be” and the verb “to have” are often used as auxiliary verbs.
Note that there are other auxiliary verbs apart from those we have worked on, such as: could, should, would, might, must.
Auxiliary verbs in this group we are told they usually signal either a “condition” that is, where the action is dependent on something else, or the imperative, that is, some degree of being ordered to do something.
Let us look at the following examples: You could do the cleaning for me. I should do the cleaning today.
We would do the cleaning today. She might do the cleaning today. They must do the cleaning today.
From this you can investigate how changing the auxiliary verb changes the intended meaning.
How could the sentences be extended to make the meaning clear? For example: You could do the cleaning for me today if you would like to.
I should do the cleaning today because the place is filthy.
We would do the cleaning today if were not busy.
She might do the cleaning today if I ask her nicely.
You must do the cleaning today because it is your turn.
Underline the auxiliary verbs in each of the following sentences.
Write past, present or future for of the word chosen.
She was looking for her bag before she went to school.
You shall plant more trees.
Use the auxiliary verbs am, are or were to fill the gaps.
The crows — flying around the garden. I — hoping to go to town this afternoon.
You — looking in the wrong place.
The sheep — huddled in the corner of the field.
Select an auxiliary verb in each of the following sentences:
The curtains would fit the windows in the other room.
I might go swimming today.
Everyone must arrive at school by 7:00.
We should visit our friends in the holidays.
You could tidy the kitchen for me.
Active and passive verbs: Let us examine the following sentences: Frost covered the path.
Frost is the subject in this sentence.
Path is the object. Father bought a car. Subject = father. Object = car.
When the action of the verb is done by the subject, we say the verb is active.
The boy caught the fish. Boy is the subject. Fish is the object.
The girl covered the book. Girl = subject.
Covered = active verb. Book is object. Sarah is reading a book.
She is writing a story.
Examples where we identify the agent: The cup was broken by the boy. Subject = cup, that is the subject in active sentence.
Agent = boy.
The cup was broken by the boy.
The path was covered by frost.
The path is the subject. Was covered is the passive verb.
Frost is the agent. Identify active and passive verbs in the following sentences: The army surrounded the town.
The youngest swimmer won the race. Our house was hit by lightning.
The mirror was broken by the fall. A clumsy waitress spilled the drink.
The manager calmed the angry customer.
The magician was booed by the audience.
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