Instructions: Read, study, and learn this lesson.  Then do the exercise.  When you are satisfied that you understand the lesson, take the test.

Sometimes action verbs need other verbs known as helpers to express the meaning more clearly.

Helping verbs make up five families: be, have, do, will, and may.

a.  is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been

b. has, have, had

c. do, does, did

d. will, shall, should, would

e. may, might, must, can, could

Helping verbs such as .can., .may., .should., .might., and .mus., do not have the same characteristics as other verbs.  They are usually followed by the base form of a verb as in Joe .can go., but Dan .must stay.  The verbs .do., .be., and .have. serve a double function. They may be used as independent verbs “She .has. it” and also as helping verbs “He .has tried.”

 Any verb that consists of more than one verb is called a verb phrase. When a verb of action or condition is combined with one or more helping verb, they form a verb phrase. 

1. An action verb may have one, two, or three helping verbs.  If a verb has more than one word, all but the last word will be helping verbs.

Dave .has lost. his job.  The door .should be shut.

The play .is being rehearsed.  We .should have been. happy.

2.  Verb forms made by adding ing to a word never stand alone as a verb.  They always need one or more helping verbs.

The car .is rolling. down the hill.  The canary .has been singing.

3. State-of-being verbs (is, am, was, were, be, being, and been) can be used alone or as part of a verb phrase. When used with action verbs, they make up verb phrases.

 The woman over there .has. a sister (no action).

 Mary .has lived. in the same place for many years (action).

4. The verbs has, have, had, do, does, and did may be used alone as verbs.

Example: Jim .has. two cars.  She .does. the dishes after dinner.

5.  The verbs .have., had., and .do. may have helping verbs placed before them to form verb phrases.

We .must have. more money.

6. Sometimes the parts of a verb are separated by other words.

The team .had. {already} .been playing. {for ten minutes}.

.Has. Susan .found. [her] /car/?  Dad .has.n’t .been .playing. [much] /golf/ {lately}.

 Exercise, Lesson 11

Instructions: Read, study, and memorize the key teaching points regarding this lesson.  When you can recall and discuss the information with understanding, take the test.

What to learn about helping verbs:

1. Sometimes action verbs need helping verbs to express their meaning more clearly.

2. Helping verbs do not have the same characteristics as other verbs.  They are usually followed by a base verb.

3. An action verb may have one, two, or three helping verbs.

4. If a verb has more than one word, all except the last verb will be helping verbs.

5. Verb forms made by adding ing to a word never stand alone as a verb.  They always need one or more helping verb.

6. State-of-being verbs can be used alone or with action verbs as a part of a phrase.

7. The verbs .has., .have., .had., .do., .does., and .did. may be used alone as verbs.

8. The verbs .have., .had., and .do. may have helping verbs placed before them to form verb phrases.

9.  Sometimes the parts of a verb are separated by other words.

Learn to recognize helping verbs:

Instructions: Memorize the five groups.

Verbs of:

Be       1. is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been

Have  2. has, have, had

Do       3. do, does, did

Will    4. will, shall, should, would

May    5. may, might, must, can, could

 Lesson 11, Test

Instructions: Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper. Be sure to answer all of the questions.

1. How are helping verbs related to other verbs?

2.  Write two sentences using helping verbs.

3. What are the two functions of the following verbs: .do., .be., and .have?

4.  What is a verb phrase?

5.  Write two sentences using verb phrases.

6.  How are verb phrases formed?

7.  In verbs with more than one word, which will be the main verb?

8.  How are ing verbs different from other verbs?

9.  Write two sentences using ing verbs.

10. What are the state-of-being verbs?

11. Write two sentences using state-of-being verbs.

12. What are the five groups of helping verbs?

 Marking Sentences

Instructions: Mark verbs and subjects in the following sentences.

1. Mom .must have baked. a /pie/.

2. Where .did. Jerry .go. yesterday?

3. Many donations are received daily.

4. All [of the] letters should have been mailed.

5. The move can hardly be avoided.

6. Marty is not going {to the movies}.

7. The board did not select a committee.

8. In the distance, music was being played.

9. Does the salesman know your client?

10. Were some boys [in your group] invited?

11. My brother is spending the night {with his friends}.

12. This section [of the mall] has had plenty {of business} lately.

13. Isn’t your sister coming {for the summer}?

14. Will Dan wait for you?

15. Jane has never forgotten that argument.

16. The test couldn’t have been very long. {n’t}

17. Would your mother have let you go?

18. Can Mary come {with us}?

19. The guests have already been standing {for thirty minutes}.

20. The water has been boiling.