Helping and Main Verbs
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Hi! I'm Harry Helping Verb and I'm so helpful I will help you learn the 23 Helping Verbs by telling you a story. The title of the story is Old Mr. Do.  Like some stories, this story has a moral. The moral is: "Maybe Mr. Do should have a will". Read on and you will see why!

Old Mr. Do

   Once upon a time there was a wealthy merchant named Mr. Do. Mr. Do was very old and very rich. His many relatives were dreaming of the day the old man would die. They wondered which one of them would inherit his money. Finally, one day Mr. Do did die. All the relatives searched his house for a will. They didn't find one. They searched his house three times. They still did not find a will. The relatives did not get one dime of Mr. Do's fortune.

 The moral: Maybe Mr. Do should have a will. 

    Just remember this sentence and you will know how to set up a chart of the 23 helping verbs!  The largest "family" is the "BE" family with eight members. The other five families have three members each.

Helping Verbs

may
might
must 

be
being
been
am
are
is
was
were


(main)

do
does
did







(main)

should
could
would

have
had
has







(main)

will
can
shall


Notice that verbs in three of the families may also stand alone and be the main verb of a sentence.  For example:

  • We are teaching you about helping verbs.  ("are"-helping verb,    "teaching"-main verb)
  • We are in the fourth grade at Brisas Elementary.    ( "are" is the main verb)

Other things to keep in mind:

  • Not every sentence will have a helping verb with the main verb.
  • When you see an "ing" verb such as "running", be on the lookout for a helping verb also.
  • Sometimes there is another word which separates the helping verb from the main verb. One common example is "not", as in: The boy couldn't find his socks. The helping verb is could and the main verb is find.
  • A sentence may contain up to three helping verbs to the main verb. An example would be: The dog must have been chasing the cat. The helping verbs are: must, have, and been; the main verb is chasing (See Rule #2 above!).

Now, test your knowledge of helping verbs by taking our little test! Or learn about Action Verbs or State-of-Being Verbs.

Artwork and story retold by Jake

Presented by Mrs. Sunda's 4th Grade Gifted Resource Class