the verbs ‘be’, ‘do’, and ‘have’ in English, when they are used with another verb to form tenses, questions, question tags, and the passive. For example in the sentences ‘I am listening’, ‘Are you working?’, ‘You don’t like her, do you?’ and ‘The bill has been paid’, ‘am’, ‘are’, ‘do’, and ‘has been’ are all auxiliaries.
Synonyms and related words
Verb forms and tenses
aspect
auxiliary verb
conjugation
auxiliary verb
noun countable linguistics
US
or auxiliary
US /ɔɡˈzɪljəri/
Word Forms
singular
auxiliary verb
plural
auxiliary verbs or auxiliaries
DEFINITIONS1
1
the verbs ‘be’, ‘do’, and ‘have’ in English, when they are used with another verb to form tenses, questions, question tags, and the passive. For example in the sentences ‘I am listening’, ‘Are you working?’, ‘You don’t like her, do you?’ and ‘The bill has been paid’, ‘am’, ‘are’, ‘do’, and ‘has been’ are all auxiliary verbs.