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4th Grade Helping Verbs Worksheets

By 4th grade, helping verbs carry real grammatical freight: has confirmed, were monitoring, might extend, will evaluate. Students identify the helper and the main verb as a team, and start noticing what each helper adds: time, possibility, or permission.

Free printable PDF. One skill per page, answer key on page two.

Every sheet is one of a kind and prints with a version code, so you can reprint the exact same one later. New version every click.

A sample 4th grade sheet. Yours will have different sentences. Click it to print your own.

The kind of sentences you'll get

Underline the helping verb in each sentence.

  1. Theo is growing bean plants beside the sunny window.

    Answer: is

  2. The archivists are digitizing the fragile letters.
  3. The referees must review the disputed play.

Every print draws a fresh mix of sentences at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling gets a different sheet.

What's on each sheet

Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key on the last page.

How to teach this

Ask what the helper is doing for the sentence: has confirmed places it in the past with lasting effect; might extend floats it in maybe-land. When a sentence stacks a helper with a rich main verb, have your student swap helpers (will/might/should extend) and say how the meaning shifts. That swap test is the grade-4 insight.

Watch for: The helping verb always has a partner: is running, have finished, will visit. If is stands alone before a describing word, it's a linking verb instead. Helping verbs carry the time of the sentence: was jumping is past, is jumping is now, will jump is future.

Common questions about helping verbs

What's new about helping verbs in 4th grade?
The helpers themselves become interesting. Might, must, should, and will each tint the main verb differently, and grade-4 writing standards start expecting those shades on purpose. Identifying the pair is now the warm-up; hearing what the helper contributes is the skill.
How do I explain might versus will to a 4th grader?
Certainty. Will promises, might hedges, must insists. Say one sentence three ways (the team will win, might win, must win) and ask which speaker sounds most sure. Ranking helpers by confidence turns an abstract list into something kids can feel.

Related worksheets

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Reviewed by the One More Sheet curriculum team. Content version 68, updated July 2026.