Below are explanations for the two Auxiliary Samples:

Auxiliaries from The Brothers Karamazov

It came to pass that, settling permanently in Paris he, too, had forgotten the child, especially when the Revolution of February broke out, making an impression on his mind that he would remember all the rest of his life.

As the interactive exercise instructs, the first step is to highlight any words that could be auxiliaries:

It came to pass that, settling permanently in Paris he, too, had forgotten the child, especially when the Revolution of February broke out, making an impression on his mind that he would remember all the rest of his life.

There appear to be two auxiliaries in this sentence:

1. HAD: Have Auxiliary; precedes (and inflects upon)the main verb FORGOT
2. WOULD: Modal Auxiliary; precedes main verb REMEMBER

Challenge Sample from Robinson Crusoe

I told my mother that my thoughts were bent upon seeing the world that I should never settle to anything with resolution enough to go through with it, and my father should be giving me his consent than force me to go without it.

Again, the first step is to highlight any words that might be auxiliaries:

I told my mother that my thoughts were bent upon seeing the world that I should never settle to anything with resolution enough to go through with it, and my father should be giving me his consent than force me to go without it.

For this sample, there appears to be three auxiliaries in this sentence:

1. WERE: Be Auxiliary; precedes (and inflects upon)the main verb BEND; passive construction
2. SHOULD: Modal Auxiliary; precedes the auxiliary BE and the main verb GIVE
3. BE: Be Auxiliary; precedes (and inflects upon)the main verb GIVE; active construction

Tips to Keep in Mind

The KEY MARKERS for auxiliaries is the limited number of auxiliaries (12), and if it precedes another verb (either another auxiliary or a main verb). If the word you are analyzing is the main verb (and stands alone), then it is NOT an auxiliary. We will discuss the interplay of verbs in a lot more detail when we examine the Main Verb Phrase Formula.

If you have questions about these sample analyses, please contact your instructor or start a conversation in your work group.