Helping Verbs

Like you just heard, there are 23 helping verbs. They do JUST that; they help the main verbs when creating sentences. Oh! By the way! Just listen to the audio again and try singing it to the tune of jingle Bells. That way, you can remember them.

Let’s see what they are and how to use them.

I read the story on the internet long back and then I revisited it.

Here goes:

There was a Mr. Do, a very wealthy Mr. Do. He was old and almost on his death bed… and poor Mr. Do passed away one day, leaving behind all this wealth. His greedy relatives gathered in his house and began looking for a will… they searched and searched and searched but could not find the will…

They were perplexed and shouted in unison:

MAY BE MR. DO SHOULD HAVE A WILL!

Let’s now categorise all the helping verbs in the categories.

MAY	BE	DO	SHOULD	HAVE	WILL
MIGHT	IS, AM, ARE	DOES	WOULD	HAS	SHALL
MUST	WAS, WERE	DID	COULD	HAD	CAN
	BEING, BEEN

We shall now look at each category in detail:

May/Might/Must

May

Used to ask for formal permission

For example: May I come in?

Used to suggest something that is probable

For example: It may rain today.

Might

Used to suggest a remote probability

For example: It might rain today. (The weather is sunny but since it rained yesterday, there is a remote possibility of rain today)

Must

Used to express something that is a necessity

For example: I must prepare the presentation today.

Used to show very high probability

For example: It must rain today. (The weather is windy and there is a strong probability of raining)

Is/Am/Are/Was/Were/Being/Been/Be

Is/Am/Are/Was/Were as an auxiliary verb

Used to make sentences in continuous form

For example:

He is making a presentation.

I am working right now.

They are really trying their best.

She was wearing a red dress yesterday.

We were playing chess last night.

Being/Been/Be as helping verbs

“Being” used in passive voice to make continuous tense

For example:

Active Voice- He is writing a book.

Passive Voice- A book is being written by him.

Active Voice- She was playing a piano.

Passive Voice- A piano was being played by her.

“Been” used in passive voice to make perfect tense

For example:

Active Voice- He has polished his shoes.

Passive Voice- His shoes have been polished by him.

Active Voice- I had done the work.

Passive Voice- The work had been done by me.

“Be” used with modals to make passive voice

For example:

Active Voice- He must learn English.

Passive Voice- English must be learnt by him.

Active Voice- The team should win the match.

Passive Voice- The match should be won by the team.

Do/Does/Did

Used in negative sentences

For example:

I do not know him.

She does not do her job properly.

They did not blame each other for the loss.

Used to form closed-ended questions

• Do you want to have a pen?
• Did he finish his work?
• Does he need to prepare for the interview?

Should/Would/Could

Should

Often used to express an opinion, suggestion, preference, or idea

For example: You should sleep for eight hours for a healthy mind and body.

Used to express that you wish something had happened but it didn’t (past form of shall)

For example: I should have waited for my turn to speak.

Used to ask for someone’s opinion through a question

For example: What should I wear for the interview?

Used to say something expected

For example: He should be here in ten minutes.

Would

Often used to express preference followed by ‘rather’

For example: I would rather go swimming than eating junk food.

Used to express a wish or desire followed by ‘like to’

For example: I would like to have one more pizza.

Used to express possibility in the ‘if’ statements

For example: If I were you, I would learn new things every day.

Used to express routine in the past

For example: I would often go out with my friends on weekends.

Could

Describes an ability that someone had in the past (past form of can)

For example: I could ride a bicycle when I was a kid.

Often used to express permission politely

For example: Could you please shut the door?

Used to express possibility

For example: You could always come to me with grammar issues.

Have/Has/Had

Used to form sentences in the perfect tense

For example:

I have worked really hard for this promotion.

He has polished his shoes.

She had done painting when her mother called her for dinner.

Will/Shall/Can

Will

Used to express desire, preference, choice, or consent

For example: I will take this assignment up.

Used to express the future

For example: The boys will continue to work tomorrow.

Used to express determination, insistence, or persistence

For example: I will meet you this weekend.

Shall

Used to express the future in British English

For example: We shall continue to serve you.

Used to express formal obligation or requirement in future

For example: There shall be no glitches on our part.

Can

Used to express ability (to be able to do something)

For example: I can speak French.

Used to make requests or suggestions

For example: Can I have the bill please?

Verbs

Verbs are the actions performed by the noun or a pronoun, as also the state of the noun or a pronoun.

Here are the explanations for both the categories.

VERBS- ACTION AND STATE
ACTION	Action verbs (also called dynamic verbs) express activities, processes, momentary actions or physical conditions	call change speak talk throw	Who was he dancing with? Someone's knocking at the door. I've been reading this book for weeks.
STATE	State verbs express states or conditions which are relatively static. They include verbs of perception, cognition, the senses, emotion and state of being	believe belong consider suspect understand	I am needing a new phone. I need a new phone. Who is this bag belonging to? Who does this bag belong to? They are seeming tired. They seem tired.

There are three forms of the verbs used in various tenses to depict whether the action was done in the past, present or future.

THREE FORMS OF A VERB
	Base Form (1st Form of the Verb)	Past Form (2nd Form of the Verb)	Past Participle Form (3rd Form of the Verb)
Meaning	The forms of a verb group indicating that an action or event happens regularly or is taking place now, or that a situation exists or is true now.	The form of a verb used to express what existed or happened in the past. (Usually formed by adding –ed to the base form of the regular verb)	The form of a verb, that is used for forming that perfect tenses, in the passive, and as a modifier. (Usually formed by adding –ed to the base form of the regular verb)
Example (Regular Verbs)	Create Impact Worry	Created Impacted Worried	Created Impacted Worried
Example (Irregular Verbs)	Rise Write Come	Rose Wrote Came	Risen Written Come

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Adjectives are a Noun's Best Friends!

Simply put, adjectives describe nouns.

They are usually used before a noun. But sometimes, they follow liking verbs as well.

For example:

This is a beautiful house (the adjective ‘beautiful’ is followed by the noun ‘house’).

This house is beautiful (the adjective ‘beautiful’ follows the verb ‘is’).

Order of Adjectives

Consider this: The nice handsome 6 feet tall slim 30 year old white German man gifted me a silk gown.

In this sentence (let me warn you: this sentence is unusual and I hope you do not construct sentences like this!), there are eight adjectives. At first, they appear to be placed randomly. But they are not! There is an order that adjectives follow.

Here it is:

General Opinion	Specific Opinion	Size	Shape	Age	Colour	Nationality	Material
The word can be used for all or most kinds of nouns	The word can be used only for specific kinds of nouns	The word can be used to describe the size of a noun	The word can be used to describe the shape of a noun	The word can be used to describe the age of a noun	The word can be used to describe the colour of a noun	The word can be used to describe the nationality of a noun	The word can be used to describe the material of which the noun is made
nice	handsome	6 feet tall	slim	30 year old	white	German	silk

We shall try another funny sentence, just to understand the correct order of the adjectives.

The beautiful sumptuous large round freshly made red Italian cheesy pizza was delicious!

Phew!! So you see, use your adjectives in the order so that your sentence doesn’t sound funny.

Positives, Comparatives and Superlatives

There are three degrees to adjectives: Positives, Comparatives and Superlatives.

Positives are normal adjectives used to describe nouns.

Comparatives are used to compare the degree to which the description of one noun differs from another; or one state of a noun to another state of the same noun.

For example:

Robert is taller than Tom.

Robert is 8 inches taller since I last met him.

General rule: Comparatives are formed generally by adding –er to the positive form of the adjective; or used by adding ‘more’ to the adjective.

Now how do we decide whether to add –er or to prefix ‘more’?

Simple, count the number of vowel sounds in the adjective (not the vowels!)

A)     If the number of vowel sounds is two or less, add –er

B)      If the number of vowel sounds is three or more, prefix ‘more’.

For example:

Tall- taller (one vowel sound in ‘tall’)

Expensive- More expensive (three vowel sounds in ‘expensive’)

‘Superlatives’ means the best in the category and the comparison in made among numbers more than two.

General rule: They are usually formed by adding –est to the positive form of the adjective or by adding ‘most’ before the adjective. We add the definite article ‘the’ before superlatives.

Now how do we decide whether to add –est or to prefix ‘most’?

Simple, count the number of vowel sounds in the adjective (not the vowels!)

A)     If the number of vowel sounds is two or less, add –est

B)      If the number of vowel sounds is three or more, prefix ‘most’.

For example:

C)      Tall- taller (one vowel sound in ‘tall’)

D)     Expensive- More expensive (three vowel sounds in ‘expensive’)

Intensifiers and Adding Adverbs to Enhance Adjectives

Consider this: The beautiful girl from Venezuela was crowned Ms. Universe. Vs. The extremely beautiful girl from Venezuela was crowned Ms. Universe.

The second sentence sounds more impactful because of the word ‘extremely’.

Adding an adverb to an adjective can enhance the adjective. However, there are certain adjectives that can create an even better impact without using the adverb.

For example:

The stunning girl from Venezuela was crowned Ms. Universe.

Intensifiers are the adjectives that intensify the description of a noun without generally using an adverb.

Mitigators

The opposite of intensifiers are mitigators. They make the adjective less intense.

This is usually done by adding pretty, fairly, quite, rather before the adjective.

For example:

I didn’t like the movie, but the plot was pretty interesting.

The interview was fairly decent.

However, please remember that ‘quite’ can be used as a synonym for ‘absolutely’ as well and there it acts as an intensifier rather than a mitigator.

For example:

The meal was quite awful!

Any questions?

Well, please go through the concepts once again and then try this test to check how much you have grasped.

Adjectives- How Well Do You Know Them?

Let us see how well you have understood the concept. It is OK if you haven't for you can always go back to the concept to understand it!

1. Choose the sentence with correct order of adjectives.

An ancient Indian bronze watch was found by archaeologists.
An Indian ancient bronze watch was found by archaeologists.


2. The world is _________ without wars.

more happy
happier


3. 'Nice' is a __________________ adjective

Specific
General


4. Which appears first in the order of adjectives?

Shape
Size


5. Which adverb should you use before the adjective 'brilliant'?

exceptionally
very


6. Which intensifier can replace 'extremely horrible'?

unpleasant
disgusting


7. I like the hues beautiful of the flowers.

Correct
Incorrect


8. Adjectives are a beautiful concept to understand.

Correct
Incorrect


9. The test was quite simple.

Mitigator
Intensifier


10. The girl was quite fast on the keyboard!

Mitigator
Intensifier

Pronouns

Pronouns are pretty simple. They are used in place of nouns.

Consider this: Ravi was an adventurous man. Ravi took Ravi's car one day and set out on a long journey. The journey was fun for Ravi because Ravi liked travelling. Ravi's car broke down on a highway but the car breakdown didn't perturb Ravi.

Now let us replace some of the nouns by pronouns and see what that does to the excerpt.

Ravi was an adventurous man. He took his car one day and set out on a long journey. The journey was fun for Ravi because he liked travelling. His car broke down on a highway but that didn't perturb him.

Now you see, the first excerpt is grammatically correct, but sounds really funny because of the repetition of nouns at various places. Thus, we can happily conclude that pronouns are used to break monotony in speech and in writing.

There are various kinds of pronouns that we shall discuss today.

Demonstrative Pronouns- Used to point towards specific nouns
Singular	Plural
This (near)	These (near)
That (far)	Those (far)

Examples:

This is a pen. These books are worth reading.

That girl is my friend. Those boys are in my class.

Indefinite Pronouns- Used for non-specific things
Singular	Plural
Any, anyone, anybody, each, either, none, one, somebody, everybody, everyone, someone, neither, every	All, some, several, both, few

Examples:

Anyone can do this work.

Several people joined the peace march.

Interrogative Pronouns- Used in asking questions

Who, which, what, where and how

Examples:

Who wrote this article?

Which phone should I buy?

What are the chances of winning the lottery?

Where did you go last weekend?

How do you plan to complete this task?

Personal Pronouns- Used to replace nouns that form the subject of a sentence
Person	Singular	Plural
1st	I	We
2nd	You	You
3rd	He, She, It	They

Examples:

I am a girl. We like spending our time together.

You work hard. You (all) need to join the training.

He/She/It likes to play with a ball. They love listening to music.

Possessive Pronouns- Used to show possession and double up as adjectives
Person	Singular	Plural
1st	My	Our
2nd	Your	Your
3rd	His, Her, Its	Their

Examples: Please note that possessive pronouns are always followed by a noun that is possessed.

My car is red. Our work was appreciated.

Your wife is my friend. Your hard work will pay.

His pen writes beautifully. Their jobs are secure.

Relative Pronouns- Used to add information about the nouns being talked about
Which, that, who, whom, whose, where
Who	Elaborates on the noun- it is a subject pronoun.
Whom	Answers which person receives the action.
Whose	Answers which person possesses something.

Examples:

The girl, who walked past me, sings quite well.
The boy, whom I was talking to, is my son.
The lady, whose bag is brown, likes expensive shoes.

Absolute Possessive Pronouns- Used to show possession
Person	Singular	Plural
1st	Mine	Ours
2nd	Yours	Yours
3rd	His, Hers, Its	Theirs

Examples: Please note that these pronouns are absolute in nature and are not followed by the noun that is possessed.

This book is mine. This house is ours.

Are those books yours?

The responsibility was his/hers. The band that won was theirs.

Reflexive Pronouns- Used to show reflection of an action on the subject
Person	Singular	Plural
1st	Myself	Ourselves
2nd	Yourself	Yourselves
3rd	Himself, Herself, Itself	Themselves

Examples: When the noun performs an action on the self.

I gave myself a pat on the back.

The dog was chasing itself.

Emphatic Pronouns- Used to emphasize that the action is performed by the subject
Person	Singular	Plural
1st	Myself	Ourselves
2nd	Yourself	Yourselves
3rd	Himself, Herself, Itself	Themselves

Examples:

Of course I did it myself!
They themselves went to buy the stuff.

Have you understood PRONOUNS?

Pronouns are pretty simple, yet we make mistakes. Let us see how clearly you have understood them!

1. The boys were doing the work themselves.

Emphatic
Reflexive


2. The books were ______________.

my
mine


3. ___________________ did you choose as your leader?

Whom
Whose


4. __________________ were going for a walk.

My friends and I
Me and my friends


5. ___________________ can work this out.

Anyone
Several

All the best!