Helping Verbs Examples and Exercises

Helping Verbs Exercises

These exercises focus on helping verbs.

What Are Helping Verbs?

A helping verb (also called an auxiliary verb) works with a main verb to express tense, mood, or voice. It helps form different verb phrases.

💡 Example:

She is studying. ("Is" helps the verb "studying")
They have finished. ("Have" helps the verb "finished")

Helping verbs do not work alone—they must be used with a main verb.

Types of Helping Verbs

Helping verbs can be divided into two main types:

1️⃣ Primary Helping Verbs

These verbs come from "to be," "to have," and "to do." They change form based on tense and subject.

Helping Verb	Forms	Use
To Be	am, is, are, was, were, being, been, will be	Forms continuous (progressive) tenses and passive voice
To Have	has, have, had, having, will have	Forms perfect tenses
To Do	does, do, did, will do	Forms negatives, questions, and emphatic statements

💡 Examples:

She is running. (Progressive tense)
They have eaten. (Perfect tense)
He does not like coffee. (Negative sentence)

2️⃣ Modal Auxiliary Verbs

Modal verbs are special helping verbs that express possibility, necessity, ability, or permission. These verbs do not change their form based on the subject.

Modal Verb	Use	Example
Can / Could	Ability / Possibility	She can swim.
May / Might	Permission / Possibility	You may leave.
Must	Necessity	We must study.
Shall / Should	Advice / Future intention	You should sleep early.
Will / Would	Future / Hypothetical situations	I will call you.
Ought to	Moral obligation	You ought to apologize.

💡 Examples:

You should eat more vegetables. (Advice)
He must finish his work. (Necessity)
They might come to the party. (Possibility)

Helping Verbs in Tenses

Helping verbs are essential for forming different tenses in English.

Tense	Helping Verb	Example
Present Continuous	am / is / are + verb-ing	She is studying.
Past Continuous	was / were + verb-ing	They were running.
Future Continuous	will be + verb-ing	He will be working.
Present Perfect	has / have + past participle	We have finished.
Past Perfect	had + past participle	She had left.
Future Perfect	will have + past participle	They will have arrived.
Present Perfect Continuous	has / have been + verb-ing	She has been studying.

Helping Verbs in Passive Voice

Helping verbs also create the passive voice, where the subject receives the action instead of doing it.

💡 Examples:

The book was written by a famous author.
The cake is being baked right now.
The work will be completed soon.

Helping Verbs in Questions & Negatives

Helping verbs help form questions and negatives:

💡 Examples:

Do you like pizza? (Question)
He does not understand. (Negative sentence)
Has she finished her homework? (Question with perfect tense)

Common Mistakes & How to Avoid Them

🚫 Mistake 1: Using "could of," "should of," or "would of."
✅ Fix: The correct form is "could have," "should have," "would have."

❌ I could of helped.
✅ I could have helped.

🚫 Mistake 2: Confusing can and may.
✅ Fix: Use "can" for ability and "may" for permission.

❌ Can I leave early? (Ability)
✅ May I leave early? (Permission)

🚫 Mistake 3: Forgetting the helping verb in questions.
✅ Fix: Always include the correct helping verb.

❌ You like pizza?
✅ Do you like pizza?

FAQs

What is a helping verb?

👉 A helping verb is a verb that supports the main verb to express tense, mood, or voice (e.g., is, have, do, will, should).

Can a sentence have more than one helping verb?

👉 Yes! Example: She will have been studying. ("Will," "have," and "been" are all helping verbs!)

How do I know if a verb is helping or main?

👉 A main verb shows action or a state (e.g., run, eat, sleep). A helping verb assists it (e.g., is running, has eaten, will sleep).

What are the most common helping verbs?

👉 Forms of be (is, am, are), have (has, have, had), do (do, does, did), and modal verbs (can, must, should, will).

Do all sentences need a helping verb?

👉 No! Some sentences only need a main verb (e.g., "She runs."). Helping verbs are needed for tenses, questions, negatives, and passive voice.