The use of auxiliaries and their differentiation from lexical verbs (verbs that

have a central role in establishing the relationship between the participants) is

pretty straightforward.
The are characterized by so called NICE properties: negation, inversion, code and
emphasis. This means that we use auxiliaries but not lexical verbs to:1. negate (I
can't, I wouldn't etc. but not I swimn't or I take not etc) 2. to ask questions
(Can I, Would I.. but not Bring I?, Take I?) 3. Avoid repetition
of the previously said, like in agreeing with someone for example: I didn't ask
her any questions. ...Neither did I! I would like to visit Japan...So would I! I
don't like truffles... I don't either etc) 4. When we want emphasize something we
often use auxiliaries like: Why don't you like oranges? .. But, I do like oranges!

The property of auxiliaries that they have to be followed by a lexical verbs is not
included in these NICE properties but I suggest you think of auxiliaries as verbs
which are followed by lexical verbs, because they are almost always are (the only
exception is the use of "be" as a linking verb: He is at home. He isn't at home. Is
he home? He is not at home, but Mary is. He IS home. This means that "be" is an
auxiliary as it behaves the same as other auxiliary verbs, the only difference
being that it is not followed by a lexical verb.
But in other uses of "be" and other auxiliaries they are always followed by a
lexical verb. These are the other auxiliary verbs (from a grammar book by
R.Huddleston:

1. have -- used to mark perfect tense ---- Sue has written the preface.
2. be -- use to mark progressive aspect ---Sue is writing the preface.
3. may, can, must etc ---modal verbs, used to mark mood --- Sue may write the
preface.
4. be ---- used to mark passive --- The preface was written by Sue.

The author doesn't provide "do" in the list which is of course the only remaining
auxiliary. It is probably to say that these four are used in declarative sentence,
which is taken to be default form of a sentence, from which negation, questions,
echoing or emphasis are derived from. So, we have those four in the declarative
sentence, and when we want to negation, inversion etc we see it in relation to the
declarative form (for example, when we say "inversion" , it means that we inverted
the normal order of the declarative sentence: subject + auxiliary to auxiliary +
subject, in order to form a question: I can swim. Can I swim?)
Anyway, the sixth auxiliary (linking be and those four above being the first five)
is "do". When we don't have an auxiliary in the declarative sentence, we will
supply "dummy" for negation, questions, echoing, emphasis. This "do" will serve the
same purpose and be used in absolutely the same way as the other auxiliaries. (I
like cheese. (we don't have auxiliaries in the declarative form, which means we'll
supply "do" to negate, question etc. Do I like cheese? I don't like cheese. So do
I! I DO like cheese!
Those are the basic and the most important facts about the auxiliaries. So, for us
there are two crucially important things about them:

First, they are used to negate, question, avoid repetition, emphasize. T

Second: each of the auxiliaries negate, question, avoids repetition, emphasize in
ONE specific construction. In other words they first mark the specific grammatical
construction and are used to negate, question, avoid repetition and emphasize the :
have is used so mark "perfect tenses", be is used to mark "progressive aspect"
(progressive be), or "passive clause" (passive be) , while can, may, must etc are
used to mark "mood" in language. This is their syntax - how they are used in the
sentence.
For now, I wouldn't get into the details of their uses, because this is the part
which is important for the syntax and details would be more about their semantics.
I want us to be absolutely clear how and why we use auxiliary verbs, how they are
different from lexical verbs and to achieve automation in their four uses for the
specific purposes I mention.
Another reason why it is good to mentally separate the linking "be" and "do"
auxiliaries from the others is that these two are not used to mark specific
categories in language. (do performs functions of auxiliaries but we does not have
specific meaning related to it, which is why we call it "dummy" do). The other
auxiliaries are used to MARK specific category : "have" marks perfect TENSE, "be"
marks PROGRESSIVE aspect, "be" marks "PASSIVE" clause, modals may, can, etc mark
MOOD (have to do with probability or permission).

I suggest you go through these and we talk about it some more in the lesson :)