1. Main and Helping Verbs
Let’s clear this up!

2. Main Verb
The main verb is also called the lexical verb or the principal verb. This term refers to the important verb in the sentence, the one that typically shows the action or state of being of the subject. Main verbs can stand alone, or they can be used with a helping verb, also called an auxiliary

3. Helping Verb
Helping verbs help or support the main verb in different ways. For instance, they can show tense (which indicates when an action happened), ability, intention, or possibility. The primary helping verbs are to be, to do, and to have.

4. Consider example #1: “I am driving.”
Here, the auxiliary verb “am” (a form of to be) lets the reader or listener know that the main verb in the sentence—in this case, “driving” is happening continuously in the present. Different forms of to be could be used as a helping verb to explain when the driving is occurring (e.g., was driving, will drive, or had been driving).

5. Example #2: “I did empty the trash.”
In this sentence, the helping verb “did” (a form of to do) emphasizes the main verb, which is “empty.” For instance, if your mother instructed you to take out the trash and you already did it, you wouldn’t likely say, “I emptied the trash.” Instead, you would say, “I did empty the trash!”

6. Example #3: “I have seen the movie before.”
Here, the auxiliary verb “had” (a form of to have) is used to express the past perfect tense, which indicates that the action of the sentence occurred at an earlier time in the past. For example, if someone told you they “saw” a movie, you may think they just finished watching it recently. If they say they “had seen” it, however, you would know that they went to the movies at some earlier time. The verb “seen” is the main verb in this case.