“Is” is a linking verb in this sentence. Because it stands alone, it is not an auxiliary verb. At other times, an action or condition is ongoing, happening predictably, or occurring in relationship to another event or set of events. In these cases, single-word verbs like is are not accurately capable of describing what happened, so phrases that include auxiliary verbs are used instead. These can be made up of anywhere from two to four words. A main verb, also known as a base verb, indicates the kind of action or condition taking place.
An auxiliary or helping verb accompanies the main verb and conveys other nuances that help the reader gain specific insight into the event that is taking place. Read the following sentences and explanations to gain greater insight into how auxiliary verbs work.
• Jerry caught his thumb in the car door as coffee spilled from his cup onto his favorite shirt. • Jerry is always spilling things. • Since Jerry is also accident prone, he should have been drinking coffee from a mug with a lid, which would not have spilled on his favorite shirt.
In sentence one, caught and spilled, single-word verbs, describe quick, one-time actions of both Jerry and his messy coffee. This sentence does not contain an auxiliary verb. Since Jerry often has unfortunate accidents, is spilling communicates the frequency of his clumsy actions in sentence two. In sentence three, the auxiliary verbs that make up should have been drinking and would have stained express time relationships as well as an evaluation of Jerry’s actions. Three Common Auxiliary Verbs There are just three common auxiliary verbs: • Have • • Be In this section, we’ll take a closer look at how these common verbs work, plus you’ll see some examples. Have “Have” is a very important verb that can stand alone in all its tenses, including has, have, having, had, and hadn’t or had not. It is usually used to denote ownership, and it can also be used to discuss ability or describe appearance.
“Have” is also a very popular substitute for the verbs “eat” and “drink.” For example: “Let’s have dinner.” When used as an auxiliary verb, have is always teamed up with another verb to create a complete verb phrase, making it easy to differentiate between uses. You can see the difference in the sentences below: • Jerry has a large coffee stain on his shirt. → Has = action verb • Jerry has bought a new shirt to replace the one that was ruined earlier.