GRAMMAR IN USE:PRIMARY AUXILIARIES Notes, Quizzes & Revision
๐ Revision Notes โข ๐ Quizzes โข ๐ Past Papers available in app
GRAMMAR IN USE: PRIMARY AUXILIARIES
Topic: Pollution โ Subject: English (Kenya) โ Age: 13
Primary auxiliaries are the helping verbs: be, do and have. They help form questions, negatives, continuous (โing) forms and perfect (have + past participle) forms.
1) BE โ forms and uses
- Forms: am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been.
- Use 1 โ continuous (progressive): shows actions in progress. Structure: be + verbโing.
- Use 2 โ passive: shows who/what receives the action. Structure: be + past participle.
โข The factory is making smoke right now. ๐๐ญ (present continuous)
โข The river was polluted by dumped plastics. โป๏ธ (passive, past)
โข Trees are being planted to reduce air pollution. ๐ณ (present progressive passive)
2) DO โ forms and uses
- Forms: do, does, did.
- Use 1 โ questions in simple tenses: Do/Does/Did + subject + base verb.
- Use 2 โ negatives in simple tenses: do/does/did + not + base verb (contractions: don't, doesn't, didn't).
- Use 3 โ emphasis: We use do to stress a verb (I do care!).
โข Do people recycle in your town? โ
โข Many people do not pick up litter. ๐ฎ (donโt pick up)
โข Did the school clean the playground yesterday? โ
3) HAVE โ forms and uses
- Forms: have, has, had, having, (have + past participle forms perfect tenses).
- Use โ perfect tenses: show completed actions with a connection to now (present perfect) or earlier actions (past perfect).
โข The community has planted trees to reduce dust. ๐ฟ (present perfect)
โข We have not solved plastic pollution yet. (havenโt)
โข By the time the team arrived, the rubbish had been removed. (past perfect passive)
How to make negatives and questions
- Negative with BE: subject + am/is/are/was/were + not. Example: The sky is not clear.
- Question with BE: am/is/are + subject + verb-ing or complement. Example: Is the air clean?
- Negative with DO (present simple): subject + do/does + not + base verb. Example: They do not recycle (They don't recycle).
- Question with DO: Do/Does + subject + base verb? Example: Does your town collect rubbish?
- Negative with HAVE (present perfect): subject + have/has + not + past participle. Example: We have not fixed the leak.
- Question with HAVE: Have/Has + subject + past participle? Example: Have they cleaned the river?
Contractions you will see
don't = do not, doesn't = does not, didn't = did not, isn't = is not, aren't = are not, haven't = have not, hasn't = has not
Short practice โ choose the correct auxiliary
- People ______ burning plastic near the river. (is / are / do)
- ______ your school collect plastic bottles? (Do / Have / Is)
- We ______ planted new trees this year. (do / have / was)
- The factory ______ closed last month. (did / was / have)
- They ______ not recycle their bags. (do / are / have)
- are โ (People are burning plastic near the river.)
- Do โ (Do your school collect plastic bottles?) โ note: better: "Does your school collect...?" if subject is 'school' as singular noun.
- have โ (We have planted new trees this year.)
- was โ (The factory was closed last month.)
- do โ (They do not recycle their bags.)
Tip: Check the subject (I, you, we, they, he, she, it) to choose the right form: e.g., he/she/it + is/was/has/does.
Quick cheat sheet
Use: continuous, passive. Examples: is eating, was polluted.
Use: questions/negatives in simple tenses, emphasis. Examples: Do you recycle? They don't.
Use: perfect tenses. Examples: have cleaned, has reduced.
Practice using these auxiliaries with sentences about your neighbourhood: make one question, one negative and one perfect sentence about pollution. Keep them short and clear!