Verbs may also be more than one word. If a verb is more than one word, it is a verb phrase. Verb phrases contain words that help describe what's going on in the sentence.

• Melissa has written a letter today.

• Melissa is writing a letter.

• Melissa will be writing a letter tomorrow.

• Melissa had already written the letter before I got to work.

• Melissa will have written the letter before the end of the day.

In the above sentences, the word write is a verb. But the words before the verb that are also underlined are part of the verb too. These words help with the meaning of the verb. A verb may have two, three or four words in it.

However, the words that form the verb may not be right beside it. Often when “not” is in a sentence, it separates the parts of the verb. For example:
He could not eat the worm.

Following is a list of words that may be used as helping verbs.