Auxiliary Verb - Basic Examples

Basic Examples

Some sentences containing representative auxiliary verbs from English, German, and French follow, with the auxiliary verb marked in bold:

a. Do you want tea?

b. He had given his all.

c. Das wurde mehrmals gesagt.

That became many.times said = "That was said many times."

d. Sie ist nach Hause gegangen.

She is to home gone = "She went home/She has gone home."

e. J'ai vu le soleil.

I have seen the sun = "I have seen the sun/I saw the sun."

f. Nous sommes aidés.

We are helped = "We are being helped."

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.