Helping Verbs worksheet for students to practice identifying and using helping verbs in sentences.

Absolutely! Let’s solve this “Helping Verbs” worksheet step by step. The goal is to:

1. Underline the main verb in each sentence.
2. Choose the correct helping verb from the word box to complete the sentence.
3. Make sure the sentence makes sense grammatically.

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## ✔ PART 1: Using “am, are, is, was, were”

These are forms of the verb “to be,” used as helping verbs with main verbs (often in -ing form) to show ongoing actions or states.

1. Emma __________ going to her grandmother’s house on Saturday.

- Main verb: going (underlined)
- Subject: Emma → singular → needs “is”
✔ Answer: is

> *Emma is going to her grandmother’s house on Saturday.*

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2. The twins __________ having their birthday party at the pizza place.

- Main verb: having (underlined)
- Subject: The twins → plural → needs “are”
✔ Answer: are

> *The twins are having their birthday party at the pizza place.*

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3. By five o’clock it __________ getting dark.

- Main verb: getting (underlined)
- Subject: it → singular → needs “was” (since “by five o’clock” suggests past time)
✔ Answer: was

> *By five o’clock it was getting dark.*

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4. At the car show yesterday, all the antique cars __________ parked in a row.

- Main verb: parked (underlined — note: this is a past participle, not -ing; still needs helping verb “were” for plural subject + past tense)
- Subject: all the antique cars → plural → needs “were”
✔ Answer: were

> *At the car show yesterday, all the antique cars were parked in a row.*

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5. I __________ going to bake enough cookies for my whole class!

- Main verb: going (underlined)
- Subject: I → needs “am”
✔ Answer: am

> *I am going to bake enough cookies for my whole class!*

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## ✔ PART 2: Using “have, has, had”

These are forms of “to have,” used as helping verbs with past participles to form perfect tenses.

1. Jean and Eric __________ gone to the library every day this week.

- Main verb: gone (past participle — underlined)
- Subject: Jean and Eric → plural → needs “have”
✔ Answer: have

> *Jean and Eric have gone to the library every day this week.*

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2. __________ you finished your homework yet?

- Main verb: finished (past participle — underlined)
- Subject: you → needs “have” (question form: “Have you...?”)
✔ Answer: Have

> *Have you finished your homework yet?*

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3. Shelley __________ helped her mom cook dinner three nights this week.

- Main verb: helped (past participle — underlined)
- Subject: Shelley → singular → needs “has”
✔ Answer: has

> *Shelley has helped her mom cook dinner three nights this week.*

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4. I __________ arrived at school late last Tuesday.

- Main verb: arrived (past participle — underlined)
- Subject: I → but “last Tuesday” = past time → needs “had” (past perfect — though simple past “arrived” alone would also work, here we’re forced to use helping verb “had” to match structure)
✔ Answer: had

> *I had arrived at school late last Tuesday.*
*(Note: Grammatically, “I arrived...” is simpler and more common, but since the worksheet requires a helping verb, “had” is correct for past perfect tense.)*

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5. The migrating birds __________ flown south already.

- Main verb: flown (past participle — underlined)
- Subject: The migrating birds → plural → needs “have”
✔ Answer: have

> *The migrating birds have flown south already.*

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## 📝 Final Answers Summary:

Part 1 (am, are, is, was, were):

1. is
2. are
3. was
4. were
5. am

Part 2 (have, has, had):

1. have
2. Have
3. has
4. had
5. have

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## 💡 Teaching Tip:
Helping verbs (auxiliary verbs) support the main verb to show tense, voice, or mood. In these sentences, they help show:
- Present continuous (“is going”, “are having”)
- Past continuous (“was getting”)
- Passive voice (“were parked”)
- Present perfect (“have gone”, “has helped”)
- Past perfect (“had arrived”)

Always match the helping verb to the subject (singular/plural) and the time frame (present/past).

Let me know if you’d like this turned into a printable answer key! 🖊️📚