- Can you hear me?
- His girlfriend wants to sell her condo.
- Do you have to work every day?
When you use some of the auxiliaries with a verb, you tell to what degree of obligation someone
has to carry out the action of the verb. Look at the sentences below. The first one shows the least
degree of obligation. This is something someone doesn’t have to do. The last sentence shows the
greatest degree of obligation. This is something that someone absolutely must do.
“We may return the books.” (Least obligation. It’s our choice.)
“We can return the books.” (Little obligation. It’s our choice.)
“We are able to return the books.” (Little obligation. We have the ability to do this.)
“We need to return the books.” (Slight obligation.)
“We ought to return the books.” (Little obligation, but this would be a good idea.)
“We should return the books.” (Little obligation, but this would be a good idea.)
“We are supposed to return the books.” (Some obligation. Someone has suggested we
do this.)
“We must return the books.” (Greatest obligation. It is our duty to do this.)
“We have to return the books.” (Greatest obligation. It is our duty to do this.)When you add an auxiliary to a sentence, use the same tense for the auxiliary as that of the orig-
inal verb. For example: “Celeste found (past tense) a recent biography.” When you add have toto
that sentence, you say, “Celeste had to (past tense) find a recent biography.”Rewrite the following sentences with the auxiliary shown in parentheses. Be sure to keep the same tense as in the
original sentence.- Mr. Weston drives to Arizona. (to have to)
- We borrowed some tools from him. (to need to)
- I left for Mexico on the tenth of May. (to want to)
- Ms. McAdam will help you. (to be able to)
exercise 6-3
Auxiliary Verbs 4703 (044-061) Units 6-9 11/3/04 1:41 PM Page 47