auxiliary verb
Verb supporting another
An auxiliary verb is a verb that combines with another verb to express tense, mood, or voice.
In English, the primary auxiliaries are be, have, and do: She is running, They have finished, Do you understand?
Modal auxiliaries like can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, and would express possibility, necessity, or permission: You should call her.
Also called a helping verb.
Have actual existence
- haveKeep in possession
- doPerform an action
- shallModal verb of futurity
- willFaculty of deliberate choice
would · can · could · may · might · must · ought to · used to
Time already gone
- presentGift or current moment
- futureTime still to come
- perfectWithout any flaw
- progressiveFavoring reform and innovation
pluperfect · preterite · simple · continuous · sequence of tenses · anteriority · simultaneity · temporal
Aspect showing completion
- progressiveFavoring reform and innovation
- habitualDone by routine
- stativeExpressing a condition
- dynamicActive and changing
punctual · iterative · continuative · prospective · retrospective
Serving as a sign
- subjunctiveVerb mood expressing unreality
- conditionalDependent on prerequisites
- imperativeUnavoidably necessary
- interrogativeAsking in nature
counterfactual · hypothetical · wish · doubt · uncertainty · politeness · hedging · tentativeness
State of being achievable
- necessityIndispensable requirement
- permissionGranted right to act
- abilityPower to do something
- obligationRequired task or commitment
probability · volition · epistemic · dynamic · hypothetical · certainty · likelihood · inference
be
Have actual existence
will · would · can · could · may · might · must · ought to · used to · dare
past
Time already gone
progressive · pluperfect · preterite · simple · continuous · sequence of tenses · anteriority · simultaneity · temporal · had
perfective
Aspect showing completion
- progressiveFavoring reform and innovation
- habitualDone by routine
- stativeExpressing a condition
dynamic · punctual · iterative · continuative · prospective · retrospective
indicative
Serving as a sign
- subjunctiveVerb mood expressing unreality
- conditionalDependent on prerequisites
- imperativeUnavoidably necessary
interrogative · counterfactual · hypothetical · wish · doubt · uncertainty · politeness · hedging · tentativeness
possibility
State of being achievable
- necessityIndispensable requirement
- permissionGranted right to act
- abilityPower to do something
obligation · probability · volition · epistemic · dynamic · hypothetical · certainty · likelihood · inference · prediction
- grammardeclension, pronouns, adjectives, conjugation, nouns
- grammar partsnoun, adjective, adverb, pronoun, preposition
- grammar termsnoun, adjective, adverb, pronoun, preposition
- modalitycan, modals, could, may, might
- verb grammarconjugation, tense, infinitive, participle, past tense
- verb inflection-ed, -ing, conjugation, inflection, past tense