Identifying and Understanding Helping Verbs

GrammarSongs by Melissa

This educational video provides a clear, step-by-step guide to understanding, identifying, and using helping verbs (also known as auxiliary verbs). It begins by reviewing action and linking verbs before introducing helping verbs as words that support the main verb to indicate time, mood, or tone. The video acknowledges that memorizing a list of verbs can be overwhelming and instead offers a logical three-step process for identifying them within sentences: find the subject, find the main verb, and look at the words in between. Through illustrated examples, the narrator demonstrates how changing or removing helping verbs drastically alters the meaning of a sentence. For instance, the difference between "Sam cleaned his room" and "Sam should have cleaned his room" is explored to show how helping verbs convey obligation and past tense. Similarly, the difference between playing games and "might" play games illustrates the concept of uncertainty. This resource is highly valuable for elementary and middle school language arts instruction. It moves beyond simple definition to practical application, helping students understand not just what helping verbs are, but why they matter in communication. The visual "hand-drawn" style keeps students engaged, while the repetitive application of the three-step identification method provides a scaffolded learning experience ideal for grammar lessons.