How many helping verbs?

[Naeem Afzal]

Hi teachers,

How many helping verbs are there in English? Some say "15", some say "23", "24" or "27". Can you please tell me? I have searched a lot on the Internet but unfortunately couldn't reach a conclusion.

Many thanks.

 

[bhaisahab]

Hi teachers,

How many helping verbs are there in English? Some say "15", some say "23", "24" or "27". Can you please tell me? I have searched a lot on the Internet but unfortunately couldn't reach a conclusion.

Many thanks.

There are 15 auxilliary (heping verbs) including modals.

 

[5jj]

I'd go for:

three primary auxiliary verbs: DO, BE, HAVE;
nine core modals: can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, wouldthree near modals: dare, need, ought.

That's 15, which are possibly the same 15 that bhai had in mind.

I'd add​: have to, am/are/is/was/were to, BE going to and used to

 

[Raymott]

You can certainly get more if you list all the conjugations, as such sites as this do:
http://taft.cr.k12.ia.us/departments/6g/S V i.d. steps_files/23HV.htm

If you add "dare, need ought", as well as the 4 basic forms in 5jj's last line, you'll get 30.
If you allow conjugations of the above additions ... well you can work it out.