I told a group of trainees during a session on ‘Time and Tense’ today that there are 6 troublesome words in English that cause confusion as a result of their two-faced nature: have, has, had, do, does and did. The problem is that sometimes they function as auxiliaries and other times they are main verbs.

Here is an exercise to raise awareness of this problem:

Decide if the words in bold are auxiliaries or main verbs:

• Every cloud has a silver lining
• I did not have sexual relations with that woman (Bill Clinton)
• I have a dream (Dr Martin Luther King Jnr.)
• But I do know that I love you (Sam Cooke)
• I know what you did last summer (Film)
• I wish the ring had never come to me (Frodo Baggins)
• Just do it (Nike)
• Mary had a little lamb (Nursery Rhyme)
• Nobody does it better (Theme to James Bond - the Spy that loved me)
• The piano has been drinking (Tom Waits)
• What difference does it make? (The smiths)
• You have got a friend (Carol King)

(Trainees - session handout can be downloaded here: tense-structure.doc)