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Principal and Auxiliary Verbs

Principal or main verbs

These verbs can stand alone. For example,
• He wrote a letter.
• She arrived at 10 a.m.
• They have a big house.

In these sentences, the highlighted verbs express a complete meaning. They agree
with the person and number of the subject of the sentence and also show the time of
the activity.

Auxiliary verbs

These verbs are often used with other verbs to complete the meaning
of a sentence. However, they sometimes stand alone and give
meaning to a sentence as the main verb. For example,
• The dog is barking.
• He is writing a letter.
• She will come at 10 a.m.

In these sentences, the highlighted verbs do not express a complete meaning. They
help the main verbs (the underlined verbs) to complete the meaning of the sentence.

Auxiliary verbs are of two kinds—primary auxiliaries and modal auxiliaries.

Primary auxiliaries
These are the primary auxiliary verbs in English.

Primary auxiliary verb Present tense Past tense

be am, is, are was, were

do do, does did

have has, have had

When the verb be, do or have is followed by Note
the principal verb, it is an auxiliary verb. When Primary auxiliaries change their
these verbs occur alone in a sentence, they become form according to the number
the principal verb. For example, and person of the subject.
• Rohan is a good student. (main verb) For example,
• Rohan is writing a letter. (helping verb) • Dev is playing.
• The puppy is naughty. (main verb) • I am playing.
• She was playing.

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