Auxiliary verbs: do, be and have
Master the helper verbs used to make questions, negatives, and complex tenses.
- check_circleI can use 'do' to make questions and negative sentences.
- check_circleI can use 'be' for continuous tenses and passive voice.
- check_circleI can use 'have' to form perfect tenses.
Discover
Meet today's English in a real situation — no rules yet. Read it once and try to guess the pattern in the words in bold. Underlined words open a short definition.
Anna: Have you finished the report yet?
Tom: No, I haven’t. I am still working on it. I didn’t realize the deadline was today!
Anna: Do you need some help?
Tom: Yes, please! I have been working since 8 AM and I am exhausted.
Anna: Don’t worry, we can do this together. Does the report include the new data?
Tom: It does, but I am having trouble formatting the tables.
Anna: Okay, let’s finish this. Once we are done, we should celebrate!
Learn
Now the rules behind what you just saw — explained simply, with examples. Underlined words open a short definition — hover on desktop, tap on a phone.
Auxiliary verbs are often called “helper verbs”. They don’t have a meaning on their own, but they help the main verb show tense (time) or form questions and negatives. The three most common auxiliary verbs in English are do, be, and have.
1. The auxiliary verb “Do” (do / does / did)
We use do to make questions and negative sentences in the Present Simple and Past Simple tenses.
- Present Simple Question: Do you play tennis?
- Present Simple Negative: She doesn’t like coffee.
- Past Simple Question: Did they arrive on time?
Common mistake: Do not use the verb “be” to make questions with regular action verbs.
Are you like pizza?- Do you like pizza?
2. The auxiliary verb “Be” (am / is / are / was / were)
We use be to form continuous tenses (actions happening right now or at a specific time in the past) and for the passive voice.
- Present Continuous: I am studying English.
- Past Continuous: They were sleeping when the phone rang.
- Passive Voice: The house was built in 1990.
When you struggle to remember which auxiliary to use for an action in progress, remember that verbs ending in “-ing” always need a form of “be”.
3. The auxiliary verb “Have” (have / has / had)
We use have to create perfect tenses, which connect the past to the present or one past event to another.
- Present Perfect: We have visited Paris three times.
- Past Perfect: She had already left when I arrived.
To achieve a perfect tense, always use a form of “have” plus the past participle (the 3rd column of irregular verbs, or -ed).
- Do / Does / Did: For Simple Present and Simple Past (questions and negatives).
- Am / Is / Are / Was / Were: For Continuous tenses (with -ing verbs) and Passive Voice.
- Have / Has / Had: For Perfect tenses (with past participle verbs).
Practice
Try it yourself. You'll see right away whether you got it right, plus a short explanation of why.
Use It
Now make the language yours in a real task. Use the prompt below — the editor keeps a simple word count, and nothing is saved or graded.
Before you finish — be honest. Can you do these now?