Auxiliary verb list

  • Is: Auxiliary verb used with 3rd person singular, in present tense
  • Am: Auxiliary verb used with 1st person singular, in present tense
  • Are: Auxiliary verb used with 2nd person singular and all plural forms, in present tense
  • Was: Auxiliary verb used with 1st and 3rd person singular, in past tense
  • Were: Auxiliary verb used with 2nd person singular and all plural forms, in past tense
  • Been: Past participle of 'be'
  • Being: Present participle of 'be'
  • Do: Auxiliary verb used to express negative statements, questions, and for emphatic affirmation
  • Does: Auxiliary verb used in the same way as 'do' but with 3rd person singular subjects
  • Did: Auxiliary verb used for past tense negative statements, questions and emphatic affirmation
  • Have: Auxiliary verb used to form present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect tenses
  • Has: Same as 'have' but used with 3rd person singular subjects
  • Had: Auxiliary verb used to form past perfect and future perfect tenses
  • Having: Present participle of 'have'
  • Had Been: Used with the past perfect continuous tense
  • Been Being: Expressed the state of something that was ongoing and is still ongoing till now
  • Will: Auxiliary verb used to form future tenses
  • Would: Auxiliary verb used to form conditional and future-in-the-past tense
  • Will Have: Used with the future perfect tense
  • Would Have: Used with the conditional perfect tense
  • Would Have Been: Used with the conditional perfect continuous tense
  • Will Have Been: Used with the future perfect continuous tense
  • Will Be: Used with the future progressive tense
  • Would Be: Used with conditional and future-in-the-past progressive tenses
  • Could: Auxiliary verb used to express possible and hypothetical conditions
  • Can: Auxiliary verb used to express ability, permission or possibility
  • May: Auxiliary verb used to express possibility or permission
  • Might: Auxiliary verb used to express possible conditions or uncertain events, often in hypothetical situations
  • Should: Auxiliary verb used to express advisability, likely conditions or expectations
  • Ought to: Auxiliary verb used to advise or recommend actions
  • Must: Auxiliary verb used to express obligation or necessity
  • Shall: Auxiliary verb traditionally used with 1st person to form the future (rarely used in modern English)
  • Could Have: Used to express a missed opportunity in the past
  • Could Have Been: Used to speculate about something in the past that did not happen
  • Should Have: Used to indicate regret, or that something did not happen that was supposed to
  • Must Have: Used to express a strong belief about a past fact
  • May Have: Used to show possibility of an event which has probably happened
  • Might Have: Expression of past possibilities
  • Can't: Negative auxiliary verb used to express inability or impossibility
  • Won't: Negative form of 'will'
  • Wouldn't: Negative form of 'would'
  • Shan't: Negative form of 'shall', rarely used in modern English
  • Shouldn't: Negative form of 'should'
  • Can't Have: Used to express something that was not possible in the past
  • Could Not Have: Used to express a missed opportunity in the past
  • Mustn't: Negative form of 'must', expresses prohibition
  • Needn't: Negative form of 'need', expresses needless action
  • Oughtn't: Negative form of 'ought to', rarely used in modern English

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