Auxiliary verbs (SVFL)

Here's Jenny. She has a brush and a bucket of paint. That garage is in need of some paint. Jenny borde måla garaget. Jenny ska måla garaget.

Jenny verkar vilja börja måla garaget. Jenny har målat garaget. Eller har Jenny låtit måla garaget? In all these clauses, it's Jenny who's doing something, and all the clauses are about painting a garage. But they mean different things.

Paint is the main verb. But then there are one or several other verbs too, in each of the clauses. These verbs change the meaning of the main verb. They are called: auxiliary verbs. Some auxiliary verbs place the action in time: these are the temporal auxiliary verbs.

Jenny ska måla garaget. Jenny kommer att måla garaget. Jenny har målat garaget. Auxiliaries can change other things than time, like this: Jenny borde måla garaget. Jenny kan måla garaget.

Jenny verkar måla garaget. Jenny brukar måla garaget. These auxiliaries modify the meaning of the clause in various other ways. They are modal auxiliaries. Auxiliary verbs can also assist when we switch a clause around, like this: Garaget blir målat av Jenny.

Garaget är målat av Jenny. Here, the auxiliary verb puts the clause in the passive voice. It is a passive forming auxiliary. So, we have three groups of auxiliary verbs in Swedish: Those affecting time: temporal auxiliaries. Those affecting the contents or meaning of the clause: modal auxiliaries.

And the auxiliary verbs used with the passive voice: passive forming auxiliaries. If you find it hard to decide which auxiliary verb to use, fret not... You can squeeze in several auxiliaries, like this: Jenny verkar ha kunnat börja måla garaget. This is a verb chain. The main verb is always last in the chain.

Here come a few other verb chains, to work with. Consider how each of the auxiliaries here influences the meaning of the clauses. Kirurgen ska söva patienterna. Kirurgen borde ha sövt patienterna. Kirurgen kan tänkas vilja sövda patienterna.

Patienterna var sövda. Pause and write these down. Mark which are auxiliaries and which are main verbs. Here are few more: Chelsea borde kunna slå Aston Villa i finalen. Chelsea måste slå Aston Villa.

Chelsea blev slagna av Aston Villa. Chelsea skulle kunna ha slagit Aston Villa. Pause, write down, and mark the main and auxiliary verbs. Auxiliary verbs - help to modify another verb.