List of auxiliary verbs

This is a list of English auxiliary verbs:

be (am, are, is, was, were, being)

can, could
do, does, did, doing
have, has, had, having
may, might, must,
shall, should,
will, would

An auxiliary verb is helping verb

 To Be: am, is, are, was, were, being, been, will be

 To Have: has, have, had, having, will have
 To Do: does, do, did, will do

Uses of Shall and Will and Should

In England, shall is used to express the simple future for first person I and we, as
in "Shall we meet by the river?" Will would be used in the simple future for all other
persons. Using will in the first person would express determination on the part of the
speaker, as in "We will finish this project by tonight, by golly!" Using shall in second
and third persons would indicate some kind of promise about the subject, as in "This
shall be revealed to you in good time." This usage is certainly acceptable in the U.S.,
although shall is used far less frequently. The distinction between the two is often
obscured by the contraction 'll, which is the same for both verbs.

In the United States, we seldom use shall for anything other than polite questions
(suggesting an element of permission) in the first-person:

 "Shall we go now?"
 "Shall I call a doctor for you?"

(In the second sentence, many writers would use should instead, although should is
somewhat more tentative than shall.) In the U.S., to express the future tense, the
verb will is used in all other cases.
Shall is often used in formal situations (legal or legalistic documents, minutes to
meetings, etc.) to express obligation, even with third-person and second-person
constructions:

 The board of directors shall be responsible for payment to stockholders.

 The college president shall report financial shortfalls to the executive director each
semester."

Should is usually replaced, nowadays, by would. It is still used, however, to mean

"ought to" as in

 You really shouldn't do that.

 If you think that was amazing, you should have seen it last night.

In British English and very formal American English, one is apt to hear or
read should with the first-person pronouns in expressions of liking such as "I should
prefer iced tea" and in tentative expressions of opinion such as

 I should imagine they'll vote Conservative.

 I should have thought so.

Uses of Do, Does and Did

In the simple present tense, do will function as an auxiliary to express the
negative and to ask questions. (Does, however, is substituted for third-person,
singular subjects in the present tense. The past tense did works with all persons,
singular and plural.)

 I don't study at night.

 She doesn't work here anymore.
 Do you attend this school?
 Does he work here?

These verbs also work as "short answers," with the main verb omitted.

 Does she work here? No, she doesn't work here.

With "yes-no" questions, the form of do goes in front of the subject and the main verb
comes after the subject:

 Did your grandmother know Truman?

 Do wildflowers grow in your back yard?
Forms of do are useful in expressing similarity and differences in conjunction
with so and neither.

 My wife hates spinach and so does my son.

 My wife doesn't like spinach; neither do I.

Do is also helpful because it means you don't have to repeat the verb:

 Larry excelled in language studies; so did his brother.

 Raoul studies as hard as his sister does.

The so-called emphatic do has many uses in English.

a. To add emphasis to an entire sentence: "He does like spinach. He really does!"
b. To add emphasis to an imperative: "Do come in." (actually softens the command)
c. To add emphasis to a frequency adverb: "He never did understand his father." "She
always does manage to hurt her mother's feelings."
d. To contradict a negative statement: "You didn't do your homework, did you?" "Oh,
but I did finish it."
e. To ask a clarifying question about a previous negative statement: "Ridwell didn't
take the tools." "Then who did take the tools?"
f. To indicate a strong concession: "Although the Clintons denied any wrong-doing,
they did return some of the gifts."

In the absence of other modal auxiliaries, a form of do is used in question and

negative constructions known as the get passive:

 Did Rinaldo get selected by the committee?

 The audience didn't get riled up by the politician.

Uses of Have, Has and Had

Forms of the verb to have are used to create tenses known as the present
perfect and past perfect. The perfect tenses indicate that something has happened in
the past; the present perfect indicating that something happened and might be
continuing to happen, the past perfect indicating that something happened prior to
something else happening. (That sounds worse than it really is!) See the section
on Verb Tenses in the Active Voice for further explanation; also review material in
the Directory of English Tenses.

To have is also in combination with other modal verbs to express probability and
possibility in the past.
  As an affirmative statement, to have can express how certain you are that something
happened (when combined with an appropriate modal + have + a past participle): "Georgia
must have left already." "Clinton might have known about the gifts." "They may have voted
already."
 As a negative statement, a modal is combined with not + have + a past participle to express
how certain you are that something did not happen: "Clinton might not have known about
the gifts." "I may not have been there at the time of the crime."
 To ask about possibility or probability in the past, a modal is combined with the subject
+ have + past participle: "Could Clinton have known about the gifts?"
 For short answers, a modal is combined with have: "Did Clinton know about this?" "I don't
know. He may have." "The evidence is pretty positive. He must have."

To have (sometimes combined with to get) is used to express a logical inference:

 It's been raining all week; the basement has to be flooded by now.
 He hit his head on the doorway. He has got to be over seven feet tall!

Have is often combined with an infinitive to form an auxiliary whose meaning is

similar to "must."

 I have to have a car like that!

 She has to pay her own tuition at college.
 He has to have been the first student to try that.

Uses of Can and Could

The modal auxiliary can is used

 to express ability (in the sense of being able to do something or knowing how to do
something):
He can speak Spanish but he can't write it very well.
 to expression permission (in the sense of being allowed or permitted to do something):
Can I talk to my friends in the library waiting room? (Note that can is less formal than may.
Also, some writers will object to the use of can in this context.)
 to express theoretical possibility:
American automobile makers can make better cars if they think there's a profit in it.

The modal auxiliary could is used

 to express an ability in the past:

I could always beat you at tennis when we were kids.
 to express past or future permission:
Could I bury my cat in your back yard?
  to express present possibility:
We could always spend the afternoon just sitting around talking.
 to express possibility or ability in contingent circumstances:
If he studied harder, he could pass this course.

In expressing ability, can and could frequently also imply willingness: Can you help
me with my homework?

differences between can and could:

can could
use for present skills & abilities use for past skills &abilities
use for a real, strong possibility & general truth a weak possibility or something that only might
happen.

Can versus May

Whether the auxiliary verb can can be used to express permission or not — "Can
I leave the room now?" ["I don't know if you can, but you may."] — depends on the
level of formality of your text or situation. As Theodore Bernstein puts it in The
Careful Writer, "a writer who is attentive to the proprieties will preserve the
traditional distinction: can for ability or power to do something, may for permission to
do it.

The question is at what level can you safely ignore the "proprieties." Merriam-
Webster's Dictionary, tenth edition, says the battle is over and can can be used in
virtually any situation to express or ask for permission. Most authorities, however,
recommend a stricter adherence to the distinction, at least in formal situations.

Uses of May and Might

Two of the more troublesome modal auxiliaries are may and might. When used in
the context of granting or seeking permission, might is the past tense of may. Might is
considerably more tentative than may.

 May I leave class early?

 If I've finished all my work and I'm really quiet, might I leave early?

In the context of expressing possibility, may and might are interchangeable present
and future forms and might + have + past participle is the past form:
  She might be my advisor next semester.
 She may be my advisor next semester.
 She might have advised me not to take biology.

Avoid confusing the sense of possibility in may with the implication

of might, that a hypothetical situation has not in fact occurred. For instance, let's say
there's been a helicopter crash at the airport. In his initial report, before all the facts
are gathered, a newscaster could say that the pilot "may have been injured." After we
discover that the pilot is in fact all right, the newscaster can now say that the pilot
"might have been injured" because it is a hypothetical situation that has not occurred.
Another example: a body had been identified after much work by a detective. It was
reported that "without this painstaking work, the body may have remained
unidentified." Since the body was, in fact, identified, might is clearly called for.

Uses of Will and Would

In certain contexts, will and would are virtually interchangeable, but there are
differences. Notice that the contracted form 'll is very frequently used for will.

Will can be used to express willingness:

 I'll wash the dishes if you dry.

 We're going to the movies. Will you join us?

It can also express intention (especially in the first person):

 I'll do my exercises later on.

and prediction:

 specific: The meeting will be over soon.

 timeless: Humidity will ruin my hairdo.
 habitual: The river will overflow its banks every spring.

Would can also be used to express willingness:

 Would you please take off your hat?

It can also express insistence (rather rare, and with a strong stress on the word
"would"):

 Now you've ruined everything. You would act that way.

and characteristic activity:

 customary: After work, he would walk to his home in West Hartford.

 typical (casual): She would cause the whole family to be late, every time.

In a main clause, would can express a hypothetical meaning:

 My cocker spaniel would weigh a ton if I let her eat what she wants.

Finally, would can express a sense of probability:

 I hear a whistle. That would be the five o'clock train.