名人教你讲英文：Auxiliary Verbs 助动词

名人教英文：Auxiliary Verbs 助动词

As the name itself implies, auxiliary verbs are helping verbs. (1)

There are several basic points to remember about auxiliary verbs:

a)Auxiliary verbs do not stand alone. They must be used together with the main verb to make the meaning of the action in a sentence complete.
b)There are two types of auxiliary verbs: Auxiliary verb itself and its sub-class Modal Auxiliary verbs.

c)Auxiliary verbs include verbs "to-be"; verbs "to-do" and verbs "to-have". They are used to form the present, continuous and perfect tenses. Each of these verb types has its own grammatical structure and will be discussed separately in subsequent articles in this series.

d)Modal auxiliary verbs do not inflect. That is to say, the main verbs which follow modal auxiliary verbs do not change with the tenses, or with the number.
Modal auxiliary verbs in the present and past tenses are highlighted below in bold font and underlined. The main verbs that follow are just in bold font and not underlined.

●can, could
E.g.I can sing a song for you now. 我现在可以为你唱歌.
I could sing for you, I suppose! 我想我可能唱给你听吧！

●may, might
E.g. May I help you? 我可以帮你吗？
If you were not careful, accidents might happen!
你一不小心，意外可能发生的！

●Must, must
E.g. I must see him tomorrow. 我明天一定要见他。
I must go now. 我现在一定要走了。

●shall, should
E.g. I shall go tomorrow. 我明天要走了。
I should go tomorrow. 我明天应该走了。

●will, would
E.g. I will help him. 我将会帮助他。
I would help him, if I could. (i.e. if I could help him)
如果可能的话，我会帮助他。

Passage of the Week We Are Family
我们都是一家人

The strength of any government is attested by (2) its effective management of any crisis (3). Such crises-management skills should be part of everyday training and should be an indispensable strategic planning of any organisation (4).

Late in the evening of October 1, disaster struck Hong Kong. There was a tragic ferry-collision, just off Lamma Island. Thirty nine people, including children, lost their lives and dozens were seriously wounded and hospitalised.

Within hours, led by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, all the bureau chiefs of the relevant Disciplined Services and the Civil and Medical Services, gave a detailed briefing (5) to the media. They were efficient and circumspect (6) in describing what actions they had taken and the proposed course of action they planned to take. To all intents and purposes, (7) their expert knowledge in handling such a crisis and their sense of duty attested not only to an esprit de corps(8) amongst themselves but also to their feelings of empathy and sympathy (9) for the victims and their families.

Hong Kong mourned. As people signed condolence books (10), flags were flown at half-mast. Many from big companies, small companies, schools and organisations which ranged from the HK Stock Exchange to various Government departments observed three minutes of silence (11), Within days, over thirty thousand people signed condolence books to express their heart-felt sorrow and sympathy in many different ways. Whatever our background, it does appear we care for each other and stand united as one big family even to share grief in such stressful times.
Footnotes 批注

1.As the name itself implies, auxiliary verbs are helping verbs. 照这名字所暗示的本意，“助动词”就是用来补助动词的。
2.Attested by 由此证明
3.Its effective management of any crisis 它有效的危机管理（NB crisis=singular. Crises=plural）
4.Indispensable strategic planning of any organisation 每一个机关必需要的策略
5.Detailed briefing 详细的要略介绍
6.Efficient and circumspect 能干又周全的
7.To all intents and purposes 实际上
8.Esprit de corps 团结的精神
9.Feelings of empathy and sympathy 体谅与同情之心
10.Condolence books 吊唁册
11.Three minutes of silence 三分钟默哀