Auxiliary Verbs (be, have, do) | English Grammar Guide for French Students

• 1 Support main verbs in forming tenses
• 2 Enable creation of questions and negatives
• 3 Form passive voice constructions
• 4 Assist with emphasis and focus

1 Present tense: am, is, are
2 Past tense: was, were
3 Future tense: will be, shall be
4 Perfect forms: has been, have been, had been

1 Continuous tenses: "I am studying", "She was reading"
2 Passive voice: "The book was written", "Letters are delivered"
3 Linking verb: "She is happy", "They are students"
4 States and conditions: "I am tired", "The door is open"

1 Present tense: have, has
2 Past tense: had
3 Future tense: will have, shall have
4 Perfect tenses: has/have/had + past participle

1 Perfect tenses: "I have finished", "She had eaten"
2 Perfect continuous: "I have been studying", "She had been working"
3 Questions and negatives: "Have you done it?", "I haven't seen it"
4 Emphasis: "I do have a car" (emphatic form)

1 Present tense: do, does
2 Past tense: did
3 Future tense: will do, shall do
4 Questions and negatives: do/does/did + base verb

1 Questions: "Do you like pizza?", "Does she work here?"
2 Negatives: "I don't know", "She doesn't understand"
3 Emphasis: "I do believe you", "She does work hard"
4 Avoiding repetition: "I like it and so do you"

Auxiliary	Primary Forms	Key Functions	Example
Be	am/is/are, was/were	Continuous tenses, Passive voice, Linking	I am studying, The book was written
Have	have/has, had	Perfect tenses, Perfect continuous	I have finished, She had eaten
Do	do/does, did	Questions, Negatives, Emphasis	Do you know?, I don't understand

1 Be + Have: "I have been studying" (perfect continuous)
2 Have + Been: "She has been seen" (perfect passive)
3 Do + Have: "I do have a car" (emphasis with perfect)
4 Modal + Auxiliary: "I can be doing", "She should have done"

• 1 Using "do" instead of "be" for continuous tenses: "I do studying" (incorrect)
• 2 Forgetting auxiliary verbs in questions: "You like pizza?" (incorrect)
• 3 Using wrong forms in perfect tenses: "I have went" (incorrect)
• 4 Mixing up auxiliary functions: "I am finished" vs "I have finished"

1. She _______ (be) reading a book.

2. They _______ (have) finished dinner.

3. _______ you _______ (do) your homework?

4. I _______ (be) going to the store.

5. He _______ (have) been waiting for hours.

1. is

2. have

3. Do

4. am

5. has

1 English: Uses auxiliary verbs extensively (I am studying)
2 French: Often uses simple tenses (Je lis = I am reading)
3 English: Requires auxiliary for questions (Do you like?)
4 French: Uses inversion (Aimes-tu?) or est-ce que (Est-ce que tu aimes?)

1 Be: Think "Being continuous" (continuous tenses)
2 Have: Think "Have got" (perfect tenses)
3 Do: Think "Do questions" (questions and negatives)
4 Practice with real sentences daily

• Be forms continuous tenses and passive voice
• Have forms perfect tenses
• Do forms questions and negatives
• All three support complex grammatical structures