Basic – Page 2 – Fly High English

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Structure: ‘auxiliary verbs’

Using auxiliary verbs

In English, verbs do not have many forms, usually only five, so there are a limited number of things that these forms can express. In order to be able to express other ideas such as obligation, possibility, certainty etc… we have to use extra verbs. We call these verbs auxiliary verbs. Auxiliary verbs are ‘helping’ verbs that we use to help create a verb phrase with a certain idea. We often use auxiliary verbs in English to create negative statements; in the present simple for example we use the auxiliary verb ‘do’ to make negatives and questions.

I have a ticket for the flight. (no auxiliary verb)
I don’t have a ticket for the flight. (auxiliary ‘do’ in the correct form)
Do you have a ticket for the flight? (again, auxiliary ‘do’ in the correct form and position in the sentence to indicate a question here)

We also use ‘do’ as an auxiliary verb in the past simple to indicate negatives and questions.

In the continuous tenses we use the auxiliary ‘be’ to help create the tense. Let’s look at some examples from the present continuous.

We are working at the moment. (auxiliary needed in positive form)
We aren’t working at the moment. (auxiliary needed in negative form)
Are we working at the moment? (auxiliary needed in question form)

We also use the auxiliary ‘be’ to help create passive tenses.

Many planes are bought each year. (present passive with auxiliary ‘be’)
Many planes aren’t bought each year. (present passive in the negative)
Are many planes bought each year? (present passive in the question form)

In the perfect tenses we use the auxiliary ‘have’ to help create the tense. Let’s look at some examples from the present perfect.

We have taken off. (auxiliary needed in positive form)
We haven’t taken off. (auxiliary needed in negative form)
Have we taken off? (auxiliary needed in question form)

There is another groups of auxiliary verbs called modal auxiliary verbs which add meanings often related to ability, certainly, possibility and obligation. Here is a list of the modal auxiliary verbs;

can, could, may, might, must, should, ought to, shall, will & would

Again these can be used in positives, negatives and questions.

I can fly gliders. (ability)
I can’t fly gliders.
Can you fly gliders?

Be careful not to confuse auxiliary verbs with ‘verb + verb’ structures, in verb + verb structures, an auxiliary verb is necessary to make the some of the forms. Let’s look at the following example of a verb + verb structure (not an auxiliary structure).

I remembered to request the GPU.
I didn’t remember to request the GPU. (auxiliary ‘do’ necessary for a negative)
Did you remember to request the GPU? (auxiliary ‘do’ necessary for a question)

Posted on by Gareth

Structure: ‘there is / there are’

We use this structure to indicate that something (or somebody) exists (or does not exist) in a specific place at some time. There is / there are introduces the thing or things / person or people that you want to talk about.

Look at the following examples.

There are some passengers at the gate. (present)
There is a problem with the APU. (present)

We can also use this structure in other tenses, all we need to do is use the verb be in other tenses.

Look at the following examples.

There was a restaurant in terminal 1. (past simple)
There were two bags left on board the plane. (past simple)

Similarly we can use there have been / there has been / there will be etc.

Look at some more examples.

There will be a new livery for the fleet next year. (future)
There have been many delays this year. (present perfect)

Now try to write some examples of your own.

Tip: Be careful that your choice of there is / are etc… agrees with the thing / things / person / people you are taking about.

eg There is a plane on the stand. (’There is‘ agrees with ‘a plane’)

eg There are two planes on the stand. (’There are‘ agrees with ‘two planes’)

Here are all of the present and past structures for reference;
There is … (present singular positive)
There are … (present plural negative)
There isn’t … (present singular negative)
There aren’t … (present plural negative)
Is there …? (present singular question)
Are there …? (present plural question)

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Structure: ‘passive 1’

This time in our structure help we talk about the passive.

Form: Use the verb be (in the correct tense and conjugation) and a past participle.

If you want to use the present passive, use am, is and are before the past participle.

Present passive: Planes are made by Airbus and Boeing.

If you want to use the past passive, use was and were before the past participle.

Past Passive: The A300 was made by Airbus.

Look at the diagram below to find out more and then try to write some examples of your own.

Diagram of the form & use of the passive. — Form & use of the passive.

Use: We use the passive when the ‘agent’ (the person or thing that performs the action) is not known or is not important.

eg 36 people were injured.

eg The nose was damaged in the accident.

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Structure: ‘a / an / the 4’

Focusing on ‘the’

We use ‘the’ when we it’s clear (or should be clear) which thing(s) or person(s) we are talking about. There are usually a few reasons for this:

eg We’ll talk more at the hotel.
1) This hotel is the usual one the speaker and listener go to.

eg Did you find the chart?
2) The listener knows which chart because it was mentioned previously.

eg Can you pass me the red pen?
3) The speaker makes it clear which thing he’s talking about. (‘red’ here helps to make it clear)

eg Don’t open the (cockpit) door, there’s a crazy passenger trying to get in.
4) It’s clear from the situation which thing the speaker is talking about because there’s only one in the area.

Using ‘the’ helps the listener understand that he/she should know the thing or person being mentioned.

Study the situations above and try to create some of your own examples.

Posted on by Gareth

Structure: ‘a / an / the 3’

General tendencies when using articles

1) When talking in general about people or things we don’t use the with plural nouns or uncountable nouns.

eg Planes transport people huge distances in short periods of time. (not specific planes but planes in general)
eg Pilots have to do recurrent training every year. (not specific pilots but pilots in general)

2) When talking about jobs or types of things, use a / an with a singular noun to say what job a person has, what group something belongs to or what we use something for.

eg He’s a dispatcher.
eg We have a checklist to remind us of everything we need to check.

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Structure: ‘a / an / the 2’

Some rules with ‘a / an / the’

There are four basic rules to follow when using articles; ‘a’, ‘an’ and ‘the’.

Don’t use a / an with plurals.
- a cars / an eggs = INCORRECT
- a car / an egg = CORRECT
Don’t use ‘the’ to make general statements about things / people.
- The trees are good for the environment = INCORRECT
- Trees are good for the environment = CORRECT
Don’t use a / an / the with other words that make something definite or that indicate quantity.
- Look at the my car! = INCORRECT (my already makes ‘car’ definite, this sounds strange to most people too)
- Look at my car! = CORRECT
- The some people on board the plane didn’t feel well = INCORRECT
- Some people on board the plane didn’t feel well = CORRECT
Countable singular nouns always need an article or determiner.
- Plane is on its stand = INCORRECT
- The / my / his / her / our / your / their / this / that etc…. plane is on its stand = CORRECT (note: this sentences can only have ONE article or determiner)

Check out the diagram below to see a summary of the rules and try to create some of your own examples.

Diagram of how to use a, an & the. — How to use a, an & the.

Tip: It can be difficult to learn these rules and ‘use’ them when speaking. As you read and listen more in English you will naturally start to have an idea when we use a / an / the. In some situations when you’re not sure it can be useful to check the rules, but you’ll correctly use these rules unconsciously as you read and listen to more English so don’t be concerned if they seem difficult.

Tag: Basic

Structure: ‘auxiliary verbs’

Using auxiliary verbs

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Structure: ‘there is / there are’

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Structure: ‘passive 1’

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Structure: ‘a / an / the 4’

Focusing on ‘the’

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Structure: ‘a / an / the 3’

General tendencies when using articles

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Structure: ‘a / an / the 2’

Some rules with ‘a / an / the’

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Using auxiliary verbs

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Focusing on ‘the’

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General tendencies when using articles

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Some rules with ‘a / an / the’

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