University of Bejaia Level: L1 - Groups: 1, 3, 4, 7

Faculty of Arts and Languages Module: Grammar S2

Department of English Teacher: A. Benkhider
E-mail: [email protected]

Auxiliaries
I – Auxiliary verbs
Auxiliary / helping verbs are so called because they help to form the various tenses, moods and voices of other
verbs. They are: be, do and have.
The auxiliary “be” is used with other verbs to form continuous tenses and the passive voice:
- She is reading a magazine. - We were talking to them for ages.
- England were beaten by Germany in the final.
The auxiliary “have” is used to make perfect tenses:
- I have never seen you before. - The judge had asked her to speak up.
- In two years, they will have completed their studies.
The auxiliary “do” is used:
a) For emphasis:
- He did look tired. - I do know him. - He does speak German.
b) To make questions:
- Do you want a coffee? - Does he know you very well? - Did you come yesterday?
But when the question asks for the subject of the sentence, the auxiliary "do" is not used.
- Who plays the guitar well? - Who bought the bread yesterday? - What helps you find your way?
c) To form negative statements or questions:
- I don’t like meat. - Didn’t he know how to play football?
d) To form the negative imperative.
- Please, don’t leave me. - Don’t be so shy.

Exercise: Use the correct auxiliary (be, have, do) in the correct form.
1. I will go to Chicago after I ——————– finished my work here.
2. She ——————– playing the piano when I entered her room.
3. The patient ——————- died before the doctor came.
4. —————— you ever been to Kashmir?
5. That is what he ——————— not seem to understand.
6. She asked where I ——————- going.
7. —————— you know where John lives?
8. After he ——————- finished school, he went to England.
9. Why ______n’t you be a good boy and sit down?
10. Tell me, _______ you coming to the party?
11. They _______ finished the job.
12. What ________you do every Sunday?
13. She _______ not want to stay at home. She wants to go out with her friends.
14. He _______called me twice this morning.
15. What ________ she do in her free time?
16. Where ________ they go yesterday?
17. She ________always wanted to meet him.
18. What _______ they doing when you came in?

e) To form question tags: Positive/negative statements

1°) With auxiliary verbs
- They’ve gone away for a few days, haven’t they? - They weren’t here, were they?
- He had met him before, hadn’t he? - You work in a bank, don’t you? - This isn’t working, is it?
- I said that, didn’t I? - You don’t recognize me, do you? - She eats meat, doesn’t she?

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2°) With modal verbs
- They couldn’t hear me, could they? - You won’t tell anyone, will you? - They will do it, won’t they?
3°) With ‘I am’
- I’m the fastest, aren’t I? NOT amn’t I - it’s incorrect

Exercise: Complete the sentences with the correct tag questions.

- He really hurt her, ____________
- His parents spoil you, _____________
- You were using your pen a minute ago, ____________
- He took a photograph of you, ____________
- You don’t like to get up early on Friday, ____________
- You eat so much chocolate, ______________
- It’s not good for you, ___________
- I’ve got a dentist appointment, _____________
- The test starts at 10.30, __________
- Students can borrow up to 6 books at any time, ____________

Modal auxiliaries
There is a further set of auxiliary verbs known as modals, modal verbs or modal auxiliary verbs. These combine
with other verbs to express necessity, possibility, intention, or ability. The modal auxiliary verbs are; must,
shall, should, will, would, ought to, can, could, may, and might. They are always followed by a bare infinitive.
E.g. You must act promptly.
Can you speak Spanish? No I can’t. (= I cannot)
I would go if I could afford it.
He said he might reconsider his decision.
I ought to visit my family.
We should get to London before midday.
May I come in?
Below is a list showing the most useful modals and their most common meanings:
Modal Meaning Example
can to express ability I can speak a little Russian.
can to request permission Can I open the window?
may to express possibility I may be home late.
may to request permission May I sit down, please?
must to express obligation I must go now.
must to express strong belief She must be over 90 years old.
should to give advice You should stop smoking.
would to request or offer Would you like a cup of tea?
would in if-sentences If I were you, I would say sorry.

These modals can be replaced by expressions.

1. They can speak English well. They are able to speak English well.
2. Steve may not stay out late. Steve is not allowed to stay out late.
3. Must I clean the kitchen? Am I obliged to clean the kitchen?
4. Can you drive a tractor? Are you able to drive a tractor?
5. We must not swim when the red flag is flying. We are not allowed to swim when the red flag is flying.
6. She cannot read Chinese. She is not able to read Chinese
7. Do you think we may park here? Do you think we are allowed to park here?
8. You need not do this exercise. You aren't obliged to do this exercise.
9. We must stop when the traffic lights are red. We are obliged to stop when the traffic lights are red.
10. May I ask a question? Am I allowed to ask a question?
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 Semi-Modal Auxiliary Verbs
Semi-modal auxiliary verbs, often simply called semi-modal verbs, are verbs that sometimes behave
like modal auxiliary verbs. (They are also sometimes known as marginal modal verbs.) Like the “proper”
modal verbs, they are used with the base form of verbs (the infinitive without to).
Dare, need, used to, and ought to
Not all sources agree on the complete list of semi-modal verbs, but there are four that are widely considered as
the standard set: dare, need, used to, and ought to.
Dare and need are considered semi-modal because they can also function as main verbs, able to take nouns
and infinitives as objects and to conjugate for person, tense, and number. Ought to and used to, while unable to
be main verbs, are considered semi-modal because they are always followed by infinitives (compared to “true”
modals, which can never be followed by infinitives).
As semi-modal verbs, these verbs are used in conjunction with “main” verbs to create a complete verb
expression; they do not conjugate for third-person singular subjects; they do not have a simple past tense; and
they cannot form infinitives, present participles, or past participles.
We’ll look at each of these verbs individually, examining when and how they function as semi-modal verbs.
Dare
When dare is used as a semi-modal verb, it means “to be brave, reckless, or rude enough to do or try
something.” Remember, when functioning modally, it does not conjugate for person or tense. For example:
“If he dare cross me again, I’ll make sure he pays dearly for it.”
As a semi-modal verb, dare more often takes not to form a negative statement (very rarely contracted
as daren’t), or is inverted with the subject to form an interrogative sentence. For example:
“I dare not press the issue any further.”
“How dare she talk to me like that?”
“Dare he say such a word?”
“They daren’t give him a reason to be angry.”
However, with the exception of the now idiomatic phrase “How dare (someone),” the use of dare as a modal
verb has become rare in modern English.
As a main verb, dare can also be used as an intransitive main verb with the same meaning as the modal version.
When it functions as a main verb, however, it is able to conjugate for person and tense, and it can be followed
by a verb in either its base or infinitive form (to becomes optional). For example:
“I can’t believe he dared (to) stand up to the boss.”
“No one dares (to) question my authority!”
When dare is used as a main verb, it must take the auxiliary verb “do” to form questions or be made negative.
As we saw in the section on primary auxiliary verbs, it is do, rather than the main verb, that conjugates for
tense, person, and number in this case. For example:
“Did they dare (to) go through with it?”
“He doesn’t dare (to) argue with the principal.”

Modal verb Lexical verb

1. She daren't phone her mother 6. She doesn't dare (to) phone her mother
2. She dared not phone her mother 7. She didn't dare (to) phone her mother
3. Dare she phone her mother? 8. Does she dare (to) phone her mother?
4. She wouldn't dare phone her mother 9. She wouldn't dare (to) phone her mother
5. I wonder if she dare phone her mother 10. I wonder if she dares (to) phone her mother

Need
“Need” as a semi-modal verb is almost always used in negative sentences to express a lack of obligation or
necessity, either taking the adverb not (usually contracted as” needn’t”) or paired with a negative word or
phrase, such as never, no one, nothing, etc. For example:
“No one need know about this.”
“He needn’t have called; I told him I would be late.” “have called” is a perfect infinitive without “to”.
“You needn’t worry about my grades.”
“Nothing need change simply because my father is no longer here.” (“change” is a verb)
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It can also be used to form interrogative sentences by inverting with the subject, as in:
“Need we be concerned?”
“Need I go to the market later?”
Like dare, though, the modal use of need has become quite uncommon in modern English, except in very
formal speech or writing.
As a main verb Need is much more common as a main verb. This means it conjugates for person
(becoming needs in the third-person singular) or tense (becoming needed), and it uses auxiliary did to form
negatives and questions. As a main verb, “need” can be followed by nouns, noun phrases, pronouns, gerunds, or
infinitives. For example:
“He needs that report by tomorrow.” “Does she need to know where the house is?”
“You have plenty of time, so you don’t need to rush.” “He needed a place to stay, so I offered him one.”

Used to
When we speak about a past habit, condition, or fact that is no longer the case, we can use the semi-modal
“used to” with the base form of the verb. For example:
“I used to get up early when I lived in New York.” = Now I don’t.
“She used to live in Ireland.” Now she doesn’t.
“We used to be in a band together.” Now we aren’t?
“This watch used to belong to my father.” Now it doesn’t.
Uniquely among the modal and semi-modal verbs, we form the question and negative of “used to” the same
way as for main verbs in the past tense – i.e., by using the auxiliary “did” for the question and “did not" for the
negative.
Example: “Did you use to live in Manchester?” “I didn’t use to like coffee.”
(Technically speaking, we should remove the “-d” from used to when forming questions and negatives, as the
auxiliary verb did takes the past tense. Because of to immediately following use, however, the pronunciation
stays the same.

As a main verb
A large source of confusion arises around the difference between the semi-modal verb “used to” and two
similarly structured main verbs — “be used to” and “get used to”.
Be used to
When we use be used to with a noun, noun phrase, or the gerund of a verb, it means “to be accustomed to
something.” For example:
“I am used to getting up at 7 AM every morning.”
“She was used to noise.”
To form the negative of be used to, we add not after the auxiliary verb be, which can be contracted to isn’t,
aren’t, wasn’t, or weren’t. To form interrogative sentences, we invert be with the subject. For example:
“I am not used to living in the city.”
“He wasn’t used to so much work.”
“Are you used to living with roommates?”

Get used to
“Get used to” has a slightly different meaning from be used to; “get” here means “become”. In fact, in more
formal English, it is considered preferable to say “become used to” instead. In everyday speech and writing,
however, “get used to” is perfectly acceptable.
We often use get used to in the present continuous tense. For example:
“I am getting used to living in the city.” (I am becoming accustomed to living in the city.)
“He is getting used to public speaking. (He is becoming accustomed to the act of public speaking.)
We can also use “get used to” in the past simple tense, but usually in negative constructions with the
word “never”, as in:
“She never got used to the silence of the countryside.”
Often, we use “get used to” with the modal verbs could, will, and cannot (or can’t). “Could” is used to create a
hypothetical scenario, will creates the future tense (often paired with never), and “cannot” is used to mean
“unable.” For example: 4
“I can’t get used to working so many hours. I am so tired.” (I am unable to become accustomed to this.)
“I could get used to doing nothing all day.” (This is something that I could find easy to do.)
“I will never get used to these conditions.” (At no point in the future will I become accustomed to this.)
“Ought to” is a semi-modal verb because it is in some ways like a modal verb and in some ways like a main
verb. For example, unlike modal verbs, it is followed by “to”, but like modal verbs, it does not change form for
person: - I ought to phone my parents. - It ought to be easy now.

Affirmative
“Ought to” comes first in the verb phrase (after the subject and before another verb):
We ought to do more exercise.
“Ought to” cannot be used with another modal verb: Medicine ought to be free.

Negative
The negative is formed by adding ‘not’ after “ought” (ought not to). It can be contracted to “oughtn’t to”. We
ought not to have ordered so much food.
You oughtn’t to have said that about his mother.
The negative of “ought to” is not common. We usually use “shouldn’t” or “should not” instead:
“You shouldn’t speak to your father like that” is preferred to “You oughtn’t to speak …”)

Questions
The subject and “ought to” change position to form questions.
Ought she to call the police?
Ought we to be more worried about the environment?
Warning: The question form of “ought to” is not very common. It is very formal. We usually use “should”
instead.

Ought to: uses

a) What is desired or ideal.
We use “ought to” when talking about things which are desired or ideal:
They ought to have more parks in the city centre.
We ought to eat lots of fruit and vegetables every day.
We use “ought to have + -ed” form to talk about things that were desired or ideal in the past but which didn’t
happen. It can express regret:
We ought to have locked the gate. Then the dog wouldn’t have got out. (The ideal or desired thing was that we
locked the gate, but we didn’t.)
I often think that I ought to have studied medicine not pharmacy. (I would be happier now if I had studied
medicine.)
b) What is likely
We can use “ought to” when we talk about what is likely or probable:
The concert ought to only take about two hours so we’ll be home by 12 pm.
There ought to be some good films at the cinema this weekend.

Ought to or should?
“Ought to” and “should” are similar in meaning. “Should” is more common than “ought to”. “Ought to” is more
formal than “should”:
There ought to be more street lights here. (means the same as There should be more street lights here.)
I really ought to walk my dog more. He’s so fat. (means the same as I really should walk my dog more. He’s so
fat.)

Spoken English:
In speaking, we normally use “should” as a tag for clauses with “ought to”:
There ought to be a speed limit here, shouldn’t there? (is preferred to: There ought to be a speed limit here,
oughtn’t there?)
We ought not to have to pay for basic medicines, should we? (preferred to : We ought not to have to pay for
basic medicines, ought we?)
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Quiz
1. Which of the following is not one of the semi-modal verbs?
a) dare b) should c) ought to d) need
2. Which of the following is something that semi-modal verbs cannot do?
a) Conjugate for third-person singular subjects b) form the past tense c) become negative with the
word “not” d) a& b e) a & c f) b & c
3. In which of the following sentences is “need” used as a semi-modal verb?
a) “Nobody need hear about this disaster.” b) “He needs to learn some respect.”
c) “I think you need a haircut.” d) “Does she need to study more?”
4. Which is the only semi-modal verb that takes the auxiliary verb “do” to become negative?
a) dare b) need c) used to d) ought to
5. Which of the following sentences does not use a semi-modal verb?
a) “Need I ask why this report is late?” b) “We’d all like some more, but who dares ask?”
c) “We all used to live here when we were younger.” d) “You oughtn’t to concern yourself with this matter.”

Had better
“Had better” is used to issue warning, give advice, make suggestion, recommend an action that will
avoid something bad that is likely to happen, or to say something that should be done or is worth doing in a
particular situation. The verb “had” of “had better” cannot be changed to “have”. It is always “had”. It can be
contracted to: ’d better . . .

We use “had better” for the present and future, but not the past. The present continuous tense is not used
with had better.
Examples:
You had (or you’d) better go now before the store is closed. (Present)
We had better get up early tomorrow. We are going to leave early. (Future)

The verb that follows the modal verb “had better” is always in the stem form.
Examples:
We had better stay at home.
You had better clear up the mess before mum returns.
At your age, you had better have regular check-ups.

The main modal verbs “should” and “ought to” can be used to replace had better without affecting the
meaning.
Examples:
You are coughing loudly.
You had better see a doctor. Or : You should / ought to see a doctor.
I think I'm overeating.
I think I had better go on a diet. Or I think I should/ought to go on a diet.
We tell her not to befriend him. He's a drug addict.
We tell her she had better not befriend him. He's a drug addict. Or
We tell her she should not / ought not to befriend him. He's a drug addict.

Negations using ‘had better’ which means ‘it’s not a good idea’
I had better not arrive late if I want to have a seat.
You had better not use the device without reading the instructions.
We had better not drink too much tonight.

Questions using ‘had better’

Had you better write down my phone number before you forget it?
Had we better stop arguing so much over such a small matter?
Hadn’t they better let us know if they are coming?
Hadn’t we better inform them where we are going?
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Exercise: Circle or underline the right answer which best complete the sentence.
Q1. I didn’t feel very well yesterday. I ..... eat anything.
cannot couldn’t mustn’t
Q2. You ..... look at me when I am talking to you.
could should would
Q3. I was using my pencil a minute ago. It ..... be here somewhere!
can could must would
Q4. You really ..... be late again.
must not don’t have to be
Q5. If you don’t start working harder, you ..... repeat the course next year.
have to must will have to
Q6. His parents spoil him. He’s always ..... to do whatever he wants.
been able been allowed
Q7. Phone her now. She ..... home by now.
has to be must be would be
Q8. You ..... forget your sun cream. It’s going to be very hot!
don’t have to mustn’t needn’t
Q9. I ..... be able to help you, but I’m not sure yet.
might would
Q10. Entrance to the museum was free. We ..... pay to get in.
needn’t didn’t need to
Q11. Already as a child Mozart ..... play the piano beautifully.
could should would
Q12. Which sign are you more likely to see at an airport: Bags ..... not be left unattended.
can must may
Q13. I really ..... try to get fit.
may must would
Q14. ..... take a photograph of you?
Am I allowed to May I
Q15. Students ..... borrow up to 6 books at any time.
are allowed to could
Q16. Whose is this bag? - I don’t know, but it ..... belong to Yuta.
could may should would
Q17. ..... I go to the bathroom, please?
May Must Would
Q18. His excuse ..... be true, but I don’t believe.
can may
Q19. It’s very important to ..... speak more than one language.
can be able to
Q20. I don’t like ..... get up early on a Sunday.
being able to being allowed to having to
Q21. ..... you speak French? - Only a few words, but my Russian is pretty good.
Can Could
Q22. ..... you help me move this table?
Can Could
Q23. I ..... talk already before I was two years old.
Could should would
Q24. I ..... help you, but I don’t want to.
can could would
Q25. ..... you open the window, please.
Can May
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Q26. I ..... move the table. It was too heavy.
couldn’t mustn’t shouldn’t wouldn’t
Q27. You ..... not put your feet on the cafeteria tables.
must not do not have to
Q28. If you continue to practise so hard, you ..... beat me before too long!
can could will be able to
Q29. ..... you swim? (Both are possible. Which is better?)
Are you able to Can
Q30. You ……eat so much chocolate. It’s not good for you.
shouldn’t can’t don’t have to
Q31. I’m afraid I ..... play tennis tomorrow. I’ve got a dentist appointment.
can’t couldn’t would not be able to
Q32. You can come to the meeting if you want but you ......
have to don’t have to mustn’t
Q33. What do you want to do? - Well, we ..... have a picnic, but it looks like rain.
Can could should would
Q34. I’m so hungry I ..... eat a horse!
can could must should
Q35. The test starts at 10.30. You ..... be late.
don’t have to mustn’t
Q36. Why didn’t you tell me? I ..... you!
could help could have helped was able to help would help
Q37. How did you do in the test? - Ok. It ..... worse!
could be could have been might be would have been
Q38. He ..... broken the classroom window. He wasn’t even in school today.
couldn’t have mustn’t shouldn’t have
Q39. You ..... tired. You’ve only just got out of bed!
don’t have to be can’t be mustn’t be
Q40. She ..... be very pleased with herself. She got the best grades.
has to must cannot

Note : For any question, contact me at my e-mail address written above.

Your jokes:
Session1: Don’t worry, my dear students, the corona won’t last long. It was made in China.
___________________

Session2: Nurse comes in and tells the doctor, “there’s a man in the waiting room that says he
is invisible. What should I tell him?
Doctor replies, “tell him I can’t see him today.”