The Verb To Be

Probably the best known verb in the world: "To be or not to be..."
Forms of To Be
Presen
Perfect
Past
t
Form

Continuous
Form

am

was have / had been am / was being

he / she / it

is

was has / had been

you / we / they Are

is / was being

were have / had been are / were being

Normally we use the verb to be to show the status or characteristics of

something or someone (as a stative verb). It says what I am, what
you are or what something is.
PRESENT SIMPLE (STATIVE)
He
I am a You are
/She is It is a
teach a
a
car.
er.
student.
student.

We are a
They are stude
ll
nts.
teachers.

PAST SIMPLE (STATIVE)

It was
I was
He
You wer
a nice
a
/She wa
ea
day
stude
sa
student.
yesterd
nt.
student.
ay.

We were
all
They were stu
students dents.
once.

FUTURE SIMPLE (STATIVE)

I will
You will
be a
be a
stude
teacher.
nt.

He /
It will We will
She will
They will
be nice be teach
be a
bestudents.
later.
ers.
teacher.

When used with the present participle of other verbs it describes actions
that are or were still continuing - auxiliary verb be [+ ing form of the
main verb].
PRESENT CONTINUOUS (ACTIVE)
He
They ar
I am
You are
It is
We are
/She is
e
being si being si
being sillybeing silly
being sill
being si
lly.
lly.
.
.
y.
lly.
PAST CONTINUOUS (ACTIVE)
I was

You wer He

It was

We were They we

e
/She was
re
being si
being sillybeing silly
beingsil being sill
being si
lly.
.
.
ly.
y.
lly.
Am/Is/Are
The verb to be is used to create simple yes/no questions by simply inverting
the order of subject and the To be verb.
For example:I am a teacher. (Statement)
Am I a teacher? (Question)
Positive Statement

Negative Statement (possible

short forms)

Am I ...?

I am ... (I'm ...)

I am not ... (I'm not ...)

Is he / she /
it ...?

He / She / It is ...
(He's/She's/It's ...)

He / She / It is not (He / She / It

isn't... // He's / She's / It's not ...)

Are you ...?

You are ...(You're...)

You are not (You're not ...// You

aren't...)

Question
Singular

Am I being ...? I am being ...

I am not being ... (I'm not being...)

He / She / It is being ... He / She / It is not being ... (He / She /

Is he / she / it
(He's/She's/It's
It isn't being...// He/she/it's not
being...?
being ...)
being...)
Are you
being ...?

You are being ...

(You're being ...)

You are not being ... (You're not

being ... // You aren't being...)

Was I ...?

I was ...

I was not. ..

Was he / she /
He / She / It was ...
it ...?

He / She / It was not ... (He / She / It

wasn't)

Were you ...? You were ...

You were not ... (You weren't ...)

Was I
being ...?

I was not being (I wasn't being...)

I was being ...

Was he / she / He / She / It was

it being...?
being ...

He / She / It was not being ... (He / She

/ It wasn't being... )

Were you
being ...?

You were being ...

You were not being ... (You weren't

being ...)

Will I be ...?

I will be ... (I'll be ...)

I will not be ... (I'll not be ...)

Will he / she / He / She / It will be ... He / She / It will not be (He / She / It
it be ...?
(He'll / She'll / It'll
won't be ... // He'll not be / She'll not

be ...)

be / It'll not be ...)

You will be ...(You'll

be ...)

You will not be (You won't be ... // You'll

not be ...)

We / You / They are

Are we / you /
(We're / You're /
they?
They're)

We / You /They are not (We're / You're /

They're not // We / You / They aren't)

Will you be ...?

Plural

We / You / They are

We / You /They are not being (We're /
Are we / you /
being ... (We're / You're You're / They're not being // We / You /
they being ...?
/ They're)
They aren't being)
Were we / you We / You / They
/ they ...?
were ...

We / You / They were not ... (We / You /

They weren't ...)

Were we / you
We / You / They were
/ they
being ...
being ...?

We / You / They were not being ... (We /

You / They weren't being ...)

We / You / They will

Will we / you /
be ...(We'll / You'll
they be ...?
They'll be ...)

We / You / They will not be (We / You /

They won't be ... // We'll / You'll They'll
not be ...)

Examples
Am/Are

Is

Question - ?

"Am I disturbing you?"

"Is this your coat"

Positive Answer
- Yes

"Yes you are."

"Yes it is"

Negative Answer
- No

"No you're not."

"No it isn't"

Was / Were

Was

Question - ?

"Was I disturbing you?" "Was that your old house?"

Positive Answer
- Yes

"Yes you were ."

"Yes it was "

Negative Answer
- No

"No you weren't."

"No it wasn't."

!Note - The verb to be is also used when forming the passive voice.
- See more at:
http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/verbtobe.html#sthash.gggNqDrP.dpuf