In English there are two types of auxiliary verb, primary auxiliaries and modal auxiliaries. There are ten common modal auxiliary verbs and they are ‘can’, ‘could’, ‘will’, ‘would’, ‘shall’, ‘should’, ‘may’, ‘might’, ‘must’ and ‘ought’. Modal auxiliary verbs often express the ideas of necessity and possibility.

Examples of Adjectives of Number

• She sang five songs on the annual function ceremony.
• Most girls participate in a knitting competition.
• You can learn twenty-four hours a day from this site.
• There are several things to learn.
• She has learnt something.
• He has bought many notebooks from the mall.
• You should take some rice.

Rule: Generally, hyphenate between two or more adjectives when they come before a noun and act as a single idea. This rule can also be applied when a number and a measurement unit taken together form an adjective, that is, when they describe another object. Examples: A 22-inch monitor is too big for my desk.

An adjective is a word that tells us more about a noun. It “describes” or “modifies” a noun (The big dog was hungry). In these examples, the adjective is in bold and the noun that it modifies is in italics. An adjective often comes BEFORE a noun: a green car.

Be, do, have, will, shall, would, should, can, could, may, might, must, ought, etc. Auxiliary verbs are used to enhance a main verb’s meaning by giving us more information about its tense.

Writing and produced each has another verb before it. These other verbs (is and was) are known as AUXILIARY VERBS, while writing and produced are known as MAIN VERBS or LEXICAL VERBS. Auxiliary verbs are sometimes called HELPING VERBS. This is because they may be said to “help” the main verb which comes after them.

English has three primary auxiliary verbs: do, be, and have. For example, the primary auxiliary be is used to form the progressive, as in: Bill is dancing. However, it makes very little sense to ask what is means in this sentence.

Topic 20 – Auxiliary and modal verbs: Forms and functions

• Primary auxiliaries: DO, HAVE and BE.
• Modal auxiliaries: CAN, COULD, MAY, MIGHT, MUST, SHALL, SHOULD, OUGHT TO and WILL.

The following examples show these verbs used as auxiliary verbs.

1. ” Be” as an auxiliary verb. a. Used in progressive sentences: I am taking a bath. She is preparing dinner for us.
2. ” Do” as an auxiliary verb. a. Used in negative sentences: I do not know the truth.
3. ” Have” as an auxiliary verb.

The verb have has the forms: have, has, having, had. The base form of the verb is have. The present participle is having. The past tense and past participle form is had.

The following is a list of verbs (and their derivatives) that require être:

• aller > to go.
• arriver > to arrive.
• descendre > to descend / go downstairs. redescendre > to descend again.
• entrer > to enter. rentrer > to re-enter.
• monter > to climb. remonter > to climb again.
• mourir > to die.
• naître > to be born.
• partir > to leave.

être

Dire is one of the most important French verbs – here’s how to conjugate it into every tense and mood. Dire is an irregular -re verb. Je te dis la vérité !

Dire = to say / to tell I said “hello” three times. Elle a quelque chose à dire. She has something to say. Je te dis non !