Basic Examples
Some sentences containing representative auxiliary verbs from English, German, and French follow, with the auxiliary verb marked in bold:
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- a. Do you want tea?
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- b. He had given his all.
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- c. Das wurde mehrmals gesagt.
- That became many.times said = "That was said many times."
- c. Das wurde mehrmals gesagt.
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- d. Sie ist nach Hause gegangen.
- She is to home gone = "She went home/She has gone home."
- d. Sie ist nach Hause gegangen.
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- e. J'ai vu le soleil.
- I have seen the sun = "I have seen the sun/I saw the sun."
- e. J'ai vu le soleil.
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- f. Nous sommes aidés.
- We are helped = "We are being helped."
- f. Nous sommes aidés.
These auxiliaries help express a question, show tense/aspect, or form passive voice. Auxiliaries like these typically appear with a full verb that carries the main semantic content of the clause.
Read more about this topic: Auxiliary Verb
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