Understanding the English Auxiliary Structure

Simple tenses have ONE verb piece.

- Simple present: He eats a lot.

- Simple past: He ate a lot.

The perfect tenses ALWAYS have a form of "have" and the past participle form of the verb.

- Present perfect: He has seen her lately.

- Past perfect: He had seen her for a while.

- Present progressive: I am teaching.

- Past progressive: I was teaching

The Future

Technically the future is NOT a "tense." It is formed by using a modal (will or shall) + the simple form of the verb (the form AFTER the word "to" in the infinitive form). It follows a VERY BASIC MODAL RULE:

AFTER A MODAL, THE VERB IS ALWAYS IN THE SIMPLE FORM.

I will return.

He will marry her.

The English Auxiliary Rule can help you make correctly formed verb phrases:

(Modal) + (Perfect) + (Progressive) + Main Verb.

Tense is always marked on the FIRST WORD of the verb phrase.

Here's an example:

I teach + Progressive (+be with correct tense / V-->ing form) =

I am teaching + Perfect (+have with correct tense/ be --> past participle form / V --->ing form) =

I have been teaching + Modal (+modal/

have ---> simple form / be ---> past participle form / V --->ing form) =

I will have been teaching for twenty two years in June.

Here's another example. Notice that the progressive was not chosen here.

She wanted a cookie + perfect (+ have/ V---> past participle form) =

She had wanted a cookie + modal (+ modal/ have --> simple form/ V--->past participle form) =

She must have wanted a cookie.

Forming Correct Verbs Forms in English:

1. Start by getting the verb into the correct affirmative form using the English Auxiliary Rule.

2. Make the passive.

3. Add the negative as needed.

Here's an example. Change:

To the same idea expressed in the negative passive form of the past perfect progressive.

1. Put it in the past perfect progressive:

The couple bought that house --->

The couple was buying that house --->

The couple had been buying that house.

2. Make the passive.

A. had been being (past perfect progressive

of "be")

B. + bought (past participle of "buy")

C. had been being bought

D. invert subject and object

The house had been being bought

E. add "by"

3. Add the negative.

English negative rule:

A. If the verb phrase has more than one

piece (all passives fall into this category)

just add "not" after the first piece.

The house had NOT been being bought by

Now practice rendering these into the correct form of the passive. Remember, they are already negative, so you have to start by GOING BACK to the affirmative form.

A scientist didn't perform this experiment.

A scientist isn't performing this experiment.