The verb to be is one of the most extensively used verbs in the English language and is one of the first

verbs ESL students should learn. The verb to be allows students of English to create simple sentences

to communicate. This freebie is a

list of all the conjugations of the most common verbs! -- can be easily printed and hung in the ESL
classroom for reference during writing centers / activities. I know my students need constant reminders!
ESL World."
 How To Proceed

1. 1
Warm up
For this first lesson, it is best to focus on only the I, You, He/She/It
structureswhich you can build upon in later classes. If students have not
really done a lot of activities with the words he, she, and it, you may want
to consider simply using names in the practice activities. Once you have
determined what you would like to cover in the first lesson, use the warm
up activity to review the vocabulary students will need later on in the
lesson. A short simple drill activity would be ideal.

2. 2
Introduce Vocabulary
During the introduction section of your lesson, introduce any new
vocabulary you plan to use in this lesson. Some emotions and
adjectives would be good because students will then be able to form
complete meaningful sentences. Introduce words such
 as happy and sad if students have not yet learned them. Use flashcards
to drill vocabulary and have students complete some simple worksheet
activities for further practice.

3. 3
Introduce to be

Show students how to make sentences such as I am happy. You are

happy. Jenny is happy. Ensure that students understand how the
subject and forms of the verb are paired. You can practice this before
introducing the full sentence structure you would like students to learn.
Call on students to make sentences choosing a subject, verb, and
adjective from columns on the board. Without introducing the question
form Is she happy? you can use such questions to test comprehension
and students should understand what you are asking. Have them answer
by saying Yes, she is happy. so that they continue to practice saying
the target structure.

4. 4
Practice Simple

You can use worksheets for practice. Have students complete a fill in the
blank exercise where they must choose am, is, or are to complete
sentences to ensure that they understand which form of the verb agrees
with certain subjects. You can also have students match sentences with
images or with translations for practice and to test comprehension. As a
class check the answers before continuing on.

5. 5
Practice Complex
 Students can then complete an activity such as Battleship for
further practice. You can adapt this classic game for use in the
classroom. While it can be time consuming to explain, especially to
beginners, your students will enjoy playing and it can be used to practice
a wide variety of topics. To play Battleship students should work in pairs
using a worksheet. For this class, the grids on the worksheet might have
I, You, He, She, Jenny, Ms. Smith in the first column and happy, fun,
from Korea, sad, silly, from America in the first row. Students then
practice sentences such as I am silly. to try to locate and sink all of
their opponents ships first. There may not be enough time in the first
lesson to begin this activity but devoting the second lesson entirely to
Battleship would give your students lots of speaking practice. For a
third class, introduce the question that goes along with this target
structure and have students play using the same worksheet but by
making questions such as Is Ms. Smith from America? The really great
thing about this activity is that students essentially have to speak in order
to play whereas with board games students may be tempted to simply
roll the dice and move their pieces around the board without really
practicing English.

6. 6
Review
As a general review activity you can divide students into groups and play
Hangman with sentences or words from their textbook. It is perhaps not
appropriate to play the original game in your classroom so you can just
adapt it so that no one actually hangs. One adaptation is to simply have
a very large fish where when students guess incorrectly, a little fish gets
closer and closer to being eaten. This is not very accurate as you can
either draw the game out or end it whenever you choose. Another
method of playing is to assign a point value to certain things. For
example, if a group guesses the letter a and there are three in the
sentence, the group would get three points. A correct guess of the entire
 sentence would be five points while there should be a penalty for
guessing the entire phrase incorrectly but no penalty for guessing a letter
that is not used. You can alter the scoring anyway you would like to
make it more appropriate for your class.
Once your students are quite confident with making the sentences
practiced in this lesson, you should include the plural we, you, they as
well. As the first verb they study, to be is very important for your
students and it is essential to get them to understand that the form of the
verb is affected by the subject of the sentence.
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teach English.
The verb be has the following forms:

I am We are
Present simple: Affirmative You are You are
He/She/It is They are

Am I? Are we?
Question form: Are you? Are you?
Is he/she it? Are they?

We are not/arent
I am not/ Im not
You are not/arent
Negative: You are not/ arent
They are not/aren't
He/She/It is not/ isnt

I was We were
Past simple You were You were
He/She/It was They were

The past participle: been.

Present perfect: has/have been

Past perfect: had been

The verb be is used in the following patterns:

1. with a noun:

My mother is a teacher.
Bill Clinton was the president of the US.

2. with an adjective:

This soup is very tasty.

The children were good.

2.1 with the -ing form to make the continuous aspect

We were walking down the street.

Everything was wet. It had been raining for hours.

2.2 with the -ed form to make the passive voice

The house was built in 1890.

The street is called Montagu Street.
This car was made in Japan.

3. with a prepositional phrase:

John and his wife are from Manchester.

The flowers are on the table.
. First of all, youre right, the verb to be is unique in a number of ways. For a start, it has the most forms of any verb in
English: eight in all be, being, been, am, is, are, were, was. (Compare this to the four of have and the three of set, say).
Together, these eight forms constitute the most frequent verb family in English. There are also some curious irregularities of
form, as in the question tag arent I? rather than amnt I? (in Standard English at least), and the use of do and dont in the
imperative (Do be seated; Dont be stupid) but not in the indicative (*I dont be stupid). (The asterisk indicates a non-standard
form).This use of dont overflows into if-clauses in spoken language, as in If you dont be quiet, Ill send you to your
room! The verb to be is also subject to a great deal of regional and social variation. Even within England the following forms
are used in the first person singular: am, are, be, been, is. And what is called invariant be to talk about temporary states is a
distinctive feature of American Black English, as in she be sad and how you be doing? (Be is omitted completely when
talking about permanent states: she a nice person).But what IS the verb to be? It is two things, as this mini-corpus of film
titles should demonstrate:

exical verbs
Its a wonderful life.

Tender is the night.

I was a teenage werewolf.

Let there be light.

*Chan is missing.

Im all right Jack.

Whats up, Doc?

Whos afraid of Virginia Woolf?

I am Sam.

Auxiliary verbs
The whole towns talking.

How the west was won.

Guess whos coming to dinner?

*A star is born.

The Russians are coming, the Russians are coming.

In the first group, be (and its derived forms) are lexical verbs that is, the verb to be is the main verb of its clause. It links two
ideas: it is therefore classified as a linking verb. (Other linking verbs are seem and appear). Linking verbs link the subject of
the clauses with its complement by, for example, identifying a quality of the subject, as in Im all right or Tender is the night.
Because be often identifies a state rather than event (Its a wonderful life; I am Sam), it is classified as a stative verb. But,
less commonly, it can be used, in the continuous form, to identify changing or temporary situations, as in Youre being
naughty.

In the second group of film titles above, the verb be (and its derived forms) is not the main verb of its clause, but instead
functions as an auxiliary verb. That is, it has an entirely grammatical function. (Only two other verbs - do and have - can be
both lexical and auxiliary verbs). As an auxiliary, the forms of be are used to form continuous verb phrases (e.g. The whole
towns talking) and passive ones (How the west was won). It is therefore a very important grammatical tool, and this in part
accounts for its frequency: in every 50 running words of any text you are likely to come across a was or a be or an are at
least once or twice.
*Actually, the distinction between lexical and grammatical uses of be is less black-and-white than all this may indicate. Look
at the following examples:

Chan is missing

Is this a case of subject + main verb + complement, or a case of subject + auxiliary verb + main verb? (Probably the former).

What about A star is born? (Probably the latter).

This blurring at the margins of lexis and grammar may attest to a common ancestor a verb to be that was once purely
lexical but has, over time, become grammaticised. Nevertheless, for teaching purposes, the distinction between bes
grammatical and lexical functions is a useful even necessary one. It should certainly help our teacher whose students still
regard the different forms of be as separate items of vocabulary. One simple exercise might be to give them the film titles
above jumbled up and ask them to sort them into two groups.

VERBO TO BE
The verb 'To be ' is particularly important in English. Corresponds to the Spanish verbs"ser" and "estar.
" Depending on the meaning of the phrase deduce which of the two in question

Structure: Pronoun + Verb To-Be + Complemen

EXAMPLE

I am English / Soy ingls

Mary is 20 years old / Maria tiene 20 aos
Are you hungry? / Tienes hambre?

To-Be is the verb more typical in English. It has three conjugations in the present

TO BE Infinitivo
It's a way to give instructions or orders so impersonal .

EXAMPLE

She is to stay here till we return / Ella debe quedarse aqu hasta que volvamos
She is to be married next year / Ella va a casarse el ao prximo
TO BE + GOING TO

Expresses a form of future. Spanish equivalent expressions "ir a..., estar punto de... tener la intencin
de..., etc.

EXAMPLE

We are going to the theatre tonight / Vamos al teatro esta noche

I am going to travel to Buenos Aires next Monday / Tengo la intencin de viajar a Buenos Aires el
prximo lunes.

used to say something about a person, thing, or state, to show

apermanent or temporary quality, state, job, etc.:

He is rich.

It's cold today.

I'm Andy.

That's all for now.

What do you want to be (= what job do you want to do) when you grow up?

These books are (= cost) $3 each.

Being afraid of the dark, she always slept with the light on.

Never having been ill himself, he wasn't a sympathetic listener.

Be quiet!

[ + -ing verb ] The problem is deciding what to do.

[ + to infinitive ] The hardest part will be to find a replacement.

[ + that ] The general feeling is that she should be asked to leave.

It's not that I don't like her - it's just that we rarely agree on anything!

A1 [ I usually + adv/prep ] used to show the position of a person or thing in space ortime:

The food was already on the table.

Is anyone there?

The meeting is now (= will happen) next Tuesday.

There's a hair in my soup.

 [L] used to show what something is made of:

Is this plate pure gold?

The Verb To Be
Using the Most Basic Verb in English
The verb to be is a key verb in English, playing a major part in many types of
constructions, as in all other European languages ( etre in French, sein in
German, ser/estar in Spanish). It has many usages and meanings, both as
a main verb and as an auxiliary verb. It also acts differently in negative sentences and
questions. To know more, read these sections of our review on the verb to be in
English.

1. Forms
2. Meaning
3. Uses
4. In negative sentences.
5. In questions
6. With time expressions
7. Summary
1. Forms
The verb to be has the most forms in English (8 forms):

Base form Present Participle Past Participle

be being been

Present Simple Tense Past Simple Tense

I am I, He, She, It was

He, She, It is We, You, They were
We, You, They are

2. Meaning
As a main verb in a sentence, to be is a stative verb serving as a copula (a verb
linking the subject with its complement). As every sentence in English must have a
verb, to be is used in many cases where there is no action described in the sentence.

I am Dan Smith. She is a doctor. We are from Spain.

[Existence, identity]

He was with his sister in Madrid while we were at home.

[Location]

I will be 32 in December.
[Age]

This dress is size 9. Her last apartment was very small.

[Size]

The sky is blue, and so is my favorite color.

[Color]

We are from Italy.

[Origin]

How are you today ? I m fine, thanks.

[Mood]

My new teacher is very nice.

The results of our research are very promising.
[copula]

To be is also part of many commonly used verb phrases, such as the following:
to be afraid, to be aware of, to be happy, to be derived from
3. Uses
As an auxiliary verb, to be is used to create progressive verb forms and passive constructions.

The general formula for progressive forms is:

Auxiliary verb + Main verb

Be + Present Participle (Ving)

Donna is reading her new book.

[ is reading is in the Present Progressive Tense]

Her Parents have been working in book publishing for years.

[ have been publishing is in the Present Progressive Tense]

Ron may be traveling in India next month.

[ may be traveling is a modal progressive form]

The general formula for passive forms is:

Auxiliary verb + Main verb

Be + Past Participle

English is spoken around the world.

[ is spoken is in the Present Simple Passive]

While the new airport was being built, my parents decided to move.
[ Was being built is in the Past Progressive Passive]

This story could have been written differently.

[ could have been written is in a modal perfect passive form]

4. In negative sentences
When a sentence in either the Present Simple or Past Simple tenses has to be as a
main verb, then no auxiliary verb is needed for negation. The word not is simply
added after the verb. In other words, the verbs to be and to do do not appear in one
verb phrase together.

Positive sentence She is from Spain.

Negative sentence She is not from Spain.
[ to be is the main verb, no auxiliary verb needed]

Positive sentence She works in Madrid.

Negative Sentence She doesnt work in Madrid.
[ to be is not he main verb, auxiliary verb needed]
5. In questions
When a sentence in either the Present Simple or Past Simple tenses has to be as a main verb,
then no auxiliary verb is needed for forming questions. The be verb form is inverted before
the subject. In other words, the verbs to be and to do do not appear in one verb phrase
together.

Positive sentence She is from Spain.

Yes/No question Is she from Spain ?
[ to be is the main verb, no auxiliary verb needed]

Positive sentence She works in Madrid.

Yes/No question Does she work in Madrid ?
[ to be is not he main verb, auxiliary verb needed]

Positive sentence She is from Spain.

Wh question Where is she from ?
[ to be is the main verb, no auxiliary verb needed]

Positive sentence She works in Madrid.

Wh question Where does she work in ?
[ to be is not he main verb, auxiliary verb needed]

Positive sentence She is my friend from Spain.

Wh Subject question Who is she ?
[ to be is the main verb, no auxiliary verb needed in a Wh subject question]

Positive sentence My Spanish friend works in Madrid.

Wh Subject question Who works in Madrid ?
[ to be is not he main verb, no auxiliary verb needed in a Wh subject question]
6. With time expressions
Frequency adverbs appear after the verb to be and not before, as with other verbs.
She is usually on time and always works very well.
[ usually appears after is, always appears before works]
7. Summary
The verb to be has a variety of usages and forms in the English language. Make sure
you are using the correct form and positioning it correctly in the sentence according to
the grammar rules presented here.

Grammar Guide Index

Be can have many different forms depending on its subject and on its tense:
present tense
I am
he/she/it is
we/you/they are
past tense
I/he/she/it was
we/you/they were
past participle
been
present participle
being
Be can be used in the following ways:
as an auxiliary verb in progressive verb tenses or in passive forms (followed by a present participle or a past
participle):The train is leaving.A window was broken.
as a verb (followed by an infinitive with to):She is to marry Lord Stanhope.All books are to be returned by
Friday.The party was to be a surprise.
as a linking verb (followed by an adjective or noun complement):Dad was ill.His wife is a doctor.(followed by
an adverb or preposition):The children are in bed.
Questions and negatives that are formed without do:Are you busy?The book was not expensive.
Be is often used in question tags:You werent listening, were you?Its cold, isnt it?

1. 1
[AUXILIARY VERB] used for forming the progressive tenses of verbs, that are used for showing actions that are
in progress at a particular point in time
Is everyone listening?
 Im studying English Literature.

We were having breakfast when Terry phoned.

Synonyms and related words

1. Auxiliary verbs:be, do, had someone/something done something......

Explore Thesaurus

2. 2
[AUXILIARY VERB] used for forming the passive form of verbs

Her husband was killed in a car accident.

The orchestra will be conducted by David Norton.

Synonyms and related words

Auxiliary verbs:be, do, had someone/something done something......

Explore Thesaurus

3. 3
used for giving information about someone or something, by giving their
[LINKING VERB]
name, job, position etc, describing them, or saying where they are
Calvin Schultz is our Marketing Director.

He wants to be an actor when he leaves school.

It was a cold frosty morning.

Baltimore is not far from Washington.

Toms from a small town in Canada.

Whos in charge of the Finance Department?

Nancy is tall and very thin.

Synonyms and related words

Linking verbs:appear, be, become...

Explore Thesaurus

4. 4
[LINKING VERB] used for saying how someone behaves, or for tellingthem how to behave
Be quiet! I cant hear what theyre saying.

Hes just being silly again pay no attention.

Synonyms and related words

Linking verbs:appear, be, become...

Explore Thesaurus

5. 5
[INTRANSITIVE] FORMAL to exist
a way of life that has long since ceased to be
Synonyms and related words

To exist:exist, operate, live...

Explore Thesaurus
 Cultural note: be
The most famous speech in Shakespeares Hamlet begins with the words To be or not to be, in which
Hamlet considers the possibility of killing himself.

The verb "to be" has a complex history.

2down There were four different verbs in Old English: 1. "Beon" meaning to exist 2. "eom" meaning to remain,
vote
(mostly used in the present tense) and 3. "wesan" (which tended to be used in the past tense) and meant
dwell 4. "earun" (A northern dialect word meaning to exist) There was also a prefix "es-" that also could
be used to indicate that something existed.

These four expressions have become mixed and tangled into what we now think of as being a single
irregular verb, with the following forms:

infinitive to be
present participle being
past participle been

present past
first person present I am I was
second person present you are you were
third person present it is it was
plural we/you/they are we/you/they were
It is a mess: five different words mixed into one. But you have to choose the correct form, based on the
grammar of the sentence. When asked to pick a form of "to be" it is asking for one of these

Lesson 6.2

To Be
Ser/Estar

Compartir

24

El verbo to be es el verbo ms importante del ingls y al mismo tiempo, el ms complicado. Se utiliza tanto como un
verbo principal como un verbo auxiliar y es irregular en el presente y el pasado.

Grammatical Rules (Reglas gramaticales)

Affirmative (Afirmativo)

Sujeto Presente Simple Forma corta

 Im
I am
yo soy/estoy

youre
you are
t eres/ests

hes
he is
l es/est

shes
she is
ella es/est

its
it is
es/est

were
we are
nosotros somos/estamos

theyre
they are
ellos son/estn

Negative (Negativo)

Sujeto Presente Simple Forma corta

Im not
I am not
yo no soy/estoy

youre not/you arent

you are not
t no eres/ests

hes not/he isnt

he is not
l no es/est

shes not/she isnt

she is not
ella no es/est

its not/it isnt

it is not
no es/est

we are not
were not/we arent
 nosotros no somos/estamos

theyre not/they arent

they are not
ellos no son/estn

Interrogative (Interrogativo)

Nota: En preguntas con el verbo to be, el sujeto y el verbo cambian posiciones.

Presente Simple

Am I?
Yo soy/estoy?

Are you?
Tu eres/ests?

Is he?
El es/est?

Is she?
Ella es/est?

Is it?
Es/est?

Are we?
Nosotros somos/estamos?

Are they?
Ellos son/estn?

Uses (Usos)

1. Se utiliza to be como verbo principal para mostrar el estado o las caractersticas de alguien o algo (como un
verbo de estado). Tambin se puede utilizar con las preposiciones de lugar para indicar donde algo est localizado.

Ejemplos:
Con un sustantivo:

I am a teacher. (Soy profesor.)

You arent a student. ( No eres estudiante.)

Is he a doctor? ( l es mdico?)

Con una preposicin de lugar + un sitio:

She is in New York. (Ella est en Nueva York.)

They arent at home. (Ellos no estn en casa.)

Is the book on the table? (El libro est en la mesa?)

Con un adjetivo:

We are happy. (Nosotros estamos contentos.)

He isnt sad. (l no est triste.)

Are you tired? (Ests cansado?)

2. To be se utiliza como un verbo auxiliar para formar el presente continuo y la voz pasiva que se introducirn en
lecciones posteriores. Para ms informacin sobre verbos auxiliares, ver la leccin de verbos.

3. Para mostrar que algo existe, combinamos is o are con la palabra there. Ver la leccin de There Be para
ms informacin.

4. To be, como muchos otros verbos, puede ser utilizado con una frase preposicional. Ver la leccin de verbos
preposicionales y phrasal verbs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH57BAO9K88

. The verb to be as a main verb

The verb to be is the fundamental verb used to indicate the existence of an entity (person, object, abstraction)
or to relate an entity to its qualities or characteristics. In linguistics, it is sometimes known as a copula.

Unlike transitive verbs, it does not take a direct object, but a complement, since the subject and complement of
the verb to be relate to the same entity. The complement of to be can be a noun, a noun group, an adjective,
or a prepositional phrase

Present
Person Present preterit Past perfect
perfect

1st sing. I am was have been had been

2nd sing you are were have been

3rd sing he, she, etc. is was has been

1st plural. we are were have been

2nd plural you are were have been

3rd plural they are were have been

Examples of usage of the verb to be as main verb

Examples
That man is the boss.
That man is the winner of last year's Nobel Prize for physics.
That man is very intelligent
That man is in rather a difficult situation
I have been here before
She was much prettier in her younger days.
The three people were all brothers.
The man had been in the water for an hour, before anyone found him.

2. The verb to be as auxiliary

2.1. Progressive forms with be
The verb to be is used as an auxiliary to denote the progressive or continuous aspect of an action; it is thus
used to form the "present progressive" and "past progressive" and other progressive tenses (also called the
present continuous and past continuous tenses, etc.). In this case, be is followed by the present participle of
a verb.

Present Preterit Present perfect pro- Past perfect pro-

Model"stand" Future progressive
progresive progresive gressive gressive

1st sing I am standing I will be standing I was standing I have been standing I had been standing

you are stand- You will be stand- You were stand- You have been stand- You had been stand-
2nd sing
ing ing ing ing ing

he / she... is He / she ... will be He/ she ... was He / she... have been he / she ... had been
3rd sing
standing standing standing standing standing

We will be stand- We have been stand- We had been stand-

1st plural we are standing We were standing
ing ing ing

you are stand- You will be stand- You were stand- You have been stand- You had been stand-
2nd plural
ing ing ing ing ing

3rd plural they are stand- They will be stand- They were stand- They have been They had been
 ing ing ing standing standing

Other tenses can be formed, including tenses with modal auxiliaries: examples
I could have been eating - They must have been telling the truth

2.2. Passive forms with be

The verb to be is also used as an auxiliary to form passive tenses. In this case, the auxiliary be is followed by
the past participle of a verb.

Present
Sample verb Present perfect
simple Future passive Preterit passive Past perfect passive
"Take" passive
passive

1st sing I am taken I will be taken I was taken I have been taken I had been taken

He / she ... will be He / she ... was He / she ... has been He / she ... had been
3rd sing It... is taken
taken taken taken taken

Etc.

Other tenses can be formed, including tenses with modal auxiliaries: examples
You could have been seriously injured. - They must have been told the truth.

2.3. Progressive tenses in the passive

As to be is used both to form passive tenses, and tenses with progressive aspect, it follows that it is used
twice in verb forms that are both passive and progressive..
While a complete range of tenses is theoretically possible, in practice English only has two passive
progressive tenses, the present progressive passive, and the past progressive passive.

Sample verb "help" Present progressive passive Past progressive passive

1st sing I am being helped I was being helped

3rd sing It... is being helped He / she ... was being helped

Etc.

Get used instead of be in passive forms :

In everyday English, the auxiliary be is often replaced by get to express a verb in the passive, whether in
progressive or simple aspect.

Examples
She was being / was getting taken to hospital, when suddenly she felt much worse.
The computer network is down, as the server is being/ is getting changed.
The window is being / is getting mended.
The staff were being given their daily instructions.
Next I was taken / got taken to see the director of human resources.
 2.4. Avoid confusion
Remember that when the auxiliary to be is followed by a present participle , the verb is in the active mood;
when it is followed by a past participle, the verb in in the passive mood.

Examples
The chicken was eating its dinner
The chicken was eaten for dinner
They were telling the truth, when they said that they knew nothing
They were told the truth, when the man finally confessed.
The women have been asking to see the managing director.
The women have been asked to see the managing director.

3. The verb to be as a modal verb

The verb to be is occasionally used as a modal auxiliary; but in this it is a strange verb, as it can have either a
value of futurity, or a value of obligation, or something between the two, supposition.
In the first and third persons, it is a modal whose most common value is futurity: in the second person, its
main value is one of obligation. However, this distinction is not always true.

Person Present Preterit

1st sing. I I am to make was to make

2nd sing you You are to make were to make

3rd sing he, she, etc. ... is to make was to make

1st plural. we ... are to make were to make

2nd plural you ... are to make were to make

3rd plural they ... are to make were to make

In other words, while "I'm to get a new car next week" would normally mean "I'm going to get a new car next
week" (futurity), "You're to go to London next week" would normally mean "You should go to London next
week" (mild obligation). However, in many cases, ambiguity is possible, even if context usually clarifies the
meaning.

Examples

a. The train was to leave at 8 (meaning: The train was supposed to leave at 8)
b. I'm to work in London next year (I'm going to / have to work in London.....)
c. I'm to make three of these cakes ( I must / am supposed to make three..... )
d. He's to stand as candidate for the presidency ( He is going to stand.....)
e. The children were to stay at home that afternoon (The children were meant to / were going to .....)
f. After that, they were to get lost. (After that, they were going to get lost).
g. After that, they were to go home (After that, they were supposed to go home).
h. You're to get better marks next time. (You must get better marks ....)
i. When you get home, you're to go straight to bed. (When you get home, you mustgo straight to bed).

he Forms of To Be
The Greek sea god, Proteus, was (like the sea) capable of changing form in an
instant. In order to get any decent information out of him, you had to grab him
and hold on tight while he went through his various forms lion, wild boar,
snake, tree, running stream it wasn't easy. The verb To be is said to be the
most protean of the English language, constantly changing form, sometimes
without much of a discernible pattern. Considering that we use it so often, it is
really too bad that the verb To be has to be the most irregular, slippery verb in
the language.

Present Tense

I am We are

You are You are

He/She/It is They are

Past Tense

I was We were

You were You were

He/She/It was They were

Perfect Form (past

Progressive Form (present participle)
participle)
I am being, etc.
I have been, etc.

We must choose carefully among these various forms when selecting the
proper verb to go with our subject. Singular subjects require singular verbs;
plural subjects require plural verbs. That's usually an easy matter. We wouldn't
write The troops was moving to the border. But some sentences require closer
attention. Do we write The majority of students is (or are) voting against the
referendum"? Review carefully the material in our section on Subject-Verb
Agreement, and notice how often the choices we make require a familiarity with
these forms of the To be verb.

Simple Questions
We create simple yes/no questions by inverting the order of subject and the
To be verb.

Is your brother taller than you?

Am I bothering you?
Were they embarrassed by the comedian?

The same inversion takes place when To be is combined with verbs in the
progressive:

Am I working with you today?

Is it snowing in the mountains?
Were your children driving home this weekend?

The Linking and Existential 'To Be'

The verb To be most frequently works in conjunction with another verb:
He is playing the piano, She will be arriving this afternoon. Occasionally,
though, the verb will stand by itself, alone, in a sentence. This is especially true
in simple, brief answers to questions.

Who's going to the movies with me?

I am

Who's responsible for this mess in the bathroom?

She is.

In sentences such as these, the subject usually receives the intonation stress
and the voice falls off on the verb.

An auxiliary can be combined with the base form of To be to provide

simple answers to questions that use forms of to be.

Is Heitor in class this morning?

Well, he might be.
Is anyone helping Heitor with his homework?
I'm not sure. Suzanne could be.

The verb To be also acts as a linking verb, joining the sentence subject with
a subject complement or adjective complement. A linking verb provides no
action to a sentence: the subject complement re-identifies the subject; the
adjective complement modifies it. (For further information and additional
vocabulary in dealing with linking verbs, visit the hyperlinks in this paragraph.)

Professor Moriber is the Director of Online Learning.

Our trip to Yellowstone was fantastic!

In Passive Constructions
A form of the verb To be is combined with a past participle to form the
passive. Passive verb constructions are useful when the subject of an action is
not as important as what the subject did (the action of the sentence) or when the
subject is unknown. For instance, the police might report that The professor was
assaulted in the hallways because they do not know the perpetrator of this
heinous crime. In technical writing, where the process is more important than
who is doing the activity, we might report that Three liters of fluid is
filtered through porous glass beads. Regardless of the verb's purpose, only the
auxiliary form of To be changes; the participle stays the same. The To be
will change form to indicate whether the subject is singular or plural:

The foundation is supported by enormous floating caissons that keep it from

sinking into the swamp.
They were constructed by workers half submerged in the murky waters.

Notice how the information about who did the action is frequently found in a
prepositional phrase beginning with by. Passive constructions do not always
include this information:

Wooden caissons were used until fiberglass structures were developed in the
1950s.
Caissons were also designed to function under water in the construction of
bridges.

The To be will also change to indicate the time of the action and the aspect
of the verb (simple, progressive, perfect).

Water is pumped out of the caisson to create an underwater work chamber.

(simple present)
Some caissons were moved to other construction sites. (simple past)
 While the water was being pumped out, workers would enter the top of the
waterproof chamber. (past progressive)
Many other uses of caisson construction have been explored. (present perfect)
Caissons had been used by the ancient Romans. (past perfect)
Other uses will be found. (future)

The To be verb can be combined with other modal forms (along with the
past participle of the main verb) to convey other kinds of information. See the
section on modals for the various kinds of information conveyed by modals
(advisability, predictability, guessing, necessity, possibility, etc.).

The wall joints may be weakened if the caissons can't be rebuilt.

Perhaps the caissons should be replaced; I think they ought to be.
These ancient, sturdy structures might have been rotted by constant exposure to
water.

Visit our section on the passive for advice on when to use the passive and
when to substitute more active verb forms.

When To be verbs are combined with modal forms in this manner, the
construction is called a phrasal modal. Here are some more examples:

Rosario was able to finish her degree by taking online courses.

She wasn't supposed to graduate until next year.
She will be allowed to participate in commencement, though.
She is about to apply to several graduate programs.
She is going to attend the state university next fall.

Sometimes it is difficult to say whether a To be verb is linking a subject to

a participle or if the verb and participle are part of a passive construction. In
Certain behaviors are allowed, is "are linking behaviors to "allowed" (a
participle acting as a predicate adjective) or is are allowed a passive verb? In
the final analysis, it probably doesn't matter, but the distinction leads to some
interesting variations. Consider the difference between

The jurists were welcomed.

and
The jurists were welcome.

In the first sentence, the participle welcomed (in this passive construction)
emphasizes the action of welcoming: the smiles, the hearty greetings, the slaps on
the back. In the second sentence, the predicate adjective welcome describes the
feeling that the jurists must have had upon being so welcomed.
Progressive Forms
Click HERE for a thorough discussion of the progressive verb forms.
Progressive forms include a form of To be plus a present participle (an -
ing ending). Frodesen and Eyring** categorize progressive verbs according to
the following functions:

to describe actions already in progress at the moment "in focus" within the
sentence, as in I was doing my homework when my brother broke into my
room, crying. or I will be graduating from college about the same time that
you enter high school.
to describe actions at the moment of focus in contrast to habitual actions, as in
We usually buy the most inexpensive car we can find, but this time we're
buying a luxury sedan.
to express repeated actions, as in My grandfather is forever retelling the same
story about his adventures in Rangoon.
to describe temporary situations in contrast to permanent states, as in Jeffrey
goes to the University of Connecticut, but this summer he is taking courses at
the community college.
to express uncompleted actions, as in Harvey and Mark are working on their
deck.

Tag Questions with To Be

Click HERE for a description of tag questions, a device by which a statement
is turned into a question. When we use To be verbs in a tag question, the basic
formula follows: the verb is combined with a pronoun and sometimes
with not (usually in a contracted form). Positive statements are followed by
negative tags; negative statements by positive tags.

Robert Frost was America's favorite poet, wasn't he?

He wasn't widely accepted in this country at first, was he?
You were going to skip this poem, weren't you?
There were several typographical errors in this anthology, weren't there? (Be
careful here. It's not weren't they.)
I am not a very good reader, am I?
I'm a better reader than you, aren't I?

(Don't try to make sense of this last construction. It is acceptable.

In very formal text, you might write am I not instead. Ain't is not regarded as
acceptable except in text attempting to duplicate substandard speech.)

Order with Adverbs

 Notice that adverbs of frequency normally appear after forms of the verb To
be:

As a student, he was seldom happy.

Arturo is always first in line.
They were never on time.

Notice that the adverb still appears after To be verbs but before other main
verbs:

My brother-in-law still works for the bank.

He is still a teller after twenty years.

An adverb can be interposed between the infinitive To be and a participle, as in

the following sentences. The fear of splitting an infinitive is without grounds in
this construction.

This medicine has to be carefully administered.

She turned out to be secretly married to her childhood sweetheart.

Unnecessary Uses of To Be
Even a casual review of your writing can reveal uses of the verb To be that
are unnecessary and that can be removed to good effect. In a way, the To be
verb doesn't do much for you it just sits there and text that is too heavily
sprinkled with To be verbs can feel sodden, static. This is especially true of
To be verbs tucked into dependent clauses (particularly dependent clauses
using a passive construction) and expletive constructions (There is, There
were, it is, etc.). Note that the relative pronoun frequently disappears as well
when we revise these sentences.

He wanted a medication that was prescribed by a physician.

She recognized the officer who was chasing the crook.
Anyone who is willing to work hard will succeed in this program.
It was Alberto who told the principal about the students' prank. (Notice that the
it was brought special emphasis to Alberto, an emphasis that is somewhat
lost by this change.)
A customer who is pleased is sure to return. A pleased customer is sure to
return. (When we eliminate the To be and the relative pronoun, we will also
have to reposition the predicate adjective to a pre-noun position.)

An expletive construction, along with its attendant To be verb, can often be

eliminated to good effect. Simply omit the construction, find the real subject of
the sentence, and allow it to do some real work with a real verb.
 There were some excellent results to this experiment in social work. (Change to
. . . .) This experiment in social work resulted in . . . .
There is one explanation for this story's ending in Faulkner's diary. (Change to .
. . .) Faulkner's diary gives us one explanation for this story's ending.

On the other hand, expletive constructions do give us an interesting means of

setting out or organizing the work of a subsequent paragraph:

There were four underlying causes of World War I. First, . . . .

Fuzzy Verb Phrases with "Be"

The following information is taken, with permission, from Garner's Modern
American Usage by Bryan Garner. Copyright 2003. Published by Oxford
University Press.

Verb phrases containing "be" verbs are often merely roundabout ways of
saying something better said with a simple verb. Thus "be supportive of" for
"support" is verbose.

The following circumlocutory uses of "be" verbs are common in stuffy

writing. The simple verb (in parentheses) is usually better:

be abusive of (abuse) be in existence (exist)

be applicable to (apply to)
be benefited by (benefit from)
be derived from (derive from)
be desirous of (desire or want)
be determinative of (determine)
be in agreement (agree)
be in attendance (attend)
be indicative of (indicate)
be in error (err)
be influential on (influence)
be in possession of (possess)
be in receipt of (have received)
be in violation of (violate)
be operative (operate)
be productive of (produce)
be promotive of (promote)
be supportive of (support)

Many such wordy constructions are more naturally phrased in the present-
tense singular: "is able to" ("can"), "is authorized to" ("may"), "is binding upon"
("binds"), "is empowered to" ("may"), "is unable to" ("cannot").

Stative and Dynamic Forms

Martha Kolln* suggests that we think of the difference between stative and
dynamic in terms of willed and nonwilled qualities. Consider the difference
between a so-called dynamic adjective (or subject complement) and a stative
adjective (or subject complement): I am silly OR I am being silly versus I
am tall. I have chosen to be silly; I have no choice about being tall. Thus Tall
is said to be a stative (or an inert) quality, and we cannot say I am being tall;
silly, on the other hand, is dynamic so we can use progressive verb forms in
conjunction with that quality.

Two plus two equals four. Equals is inert, stative, and cannot take the
progressive; there is no choice, no volition in the matter. (We would not say,
Two plus two is equaling four.) In the same way, nouns and pronouns can be
said to exhibit willed and unwilled characteristics. Thus, She is being a good
worker (because she chooses to be so), but we would say She is (not is
being) an Olympic athlete (because once she becomes an athlete she no longer
wills it). For further definition of this interesting distinction, click HERE.
*Understanding English Grammar by Martha Kolln. 4rth Edition. MacMillan Publishing Company: New York.
1994.

**The section on uses of To be in passive constructions is based on information in Grammar Dimensions:

Form, Meaning, and Use, #3 2nd Ed. by Jan Frodesen and Janet Eyring. Heinle & Heinle: Boston. 1997.
Examples are our own.
 The Mother
of All Verbs:BE
When we are born we rely on our mothers for survival right? And when we start to learn English the
verb be is super important. Thats why I like to call it the mother verb, because without it we cant learn
English.
It is very important that you understand the verb be and its functions, and that you are able to use it
across all skills with accuracy and fluency. This is because the verb be is the foundation of English, and
as we know, a house built on sand will eventually collapse because it needs a strong foundation in order for
it to survive.
The laying of the foundation of the mother verb is extremely important.
So, what exactly is the verb be?
When you start learning English, you come face to face with be, but usually only in the basic functions,
like when be is used as the main verb. This is when it is used to link the subject to a quality or a
description of something or someone. These descriptions are often adjectives or noun phrases. Ok, it
sounds more difficult than it is, here are some examples:
She is a lovely person.
Michael is handsome.
I am really tired.
This is relatively simple and with lots of active practice, easy to absorb.

But, how many times have you come across a seemingly random be. One that just didnt make sense to
you? As I said before, it is the mother of all English verbs and so the most commonly u sed verb in the
English language. And so it has many different uses. One of the first forms of be that you need to
understand is the general meaning: to exist or to happen .
Lets get real
Existential: [eg-zi-sten-shuh l] (adjective) Relating to existence.

This existential meaning is the most common use of the verb to be after the basic function and the reason
why many students do not understand why it was used in the first place.
The existential use of be is how we demonstrate that something or someone is real or exists. Usually, the
existential use of be comes after there, which acts like a fake subject, followed by the Present
Simple or Past Simple or presentational verbs like: exist, appear, come, stand and occur.
The noun phrase is usually indefinite and you can see this by the use of the a/any.
Theres a strange man in the office.
There were lots of people at the party.
There werent any students in the class.
There appeared a rainbow after the storm.

The Simple present of the verb to be

The simple present of the verb to be

This page will present the simple present of the verb to be:

its form
and its use

The verb to be

The verb to be is the most important verb in the English language. It is difficult to use because it is an
irregular verb in almost all of its forms. In the simple present tense, to be is conjugated as follows:

Affirmative forms of the verb to be

Subject Pronouns Full Form Contracted Form

I am 'm
you are 're

he/she/it is 's

we are 're

you are 're

they are 're

Interrogative forms of the verb to be:

Am I?

Are you?

Is he/she/it?

Are we?

Are you?

Are they?

Negative Forms of the verb to be:

Subject Pronouns Full Form Contracted Form

I am not 'm not

you are not aren't

he/she/it is not isn't

we are not aren't

you are not aren't

they are not aren't

Examples:

Is Brad Pitt French?

No, he isn't. He's American.
What about Angelina Joli? Is she American, too?
Yes, she is. She is American.
Are brad Pitt and Angelina Joli French?
No, They aren't. They are American.

Use of the simple present of to be

The principal use of the simple present is to refer to an action or event that takes place habitually, but with
the verb "to be" the simple present tense also refers to a present or general state, whether temporary,
permanent or habitual.

I am happy.
She is helpful.

The verb to be in the simple present can be also used to refer to something that is true at the present
moment.

She is 20 years old.

He is a student.

Remember:

I, you, he, she, it, you, they are subject pronouns (also called personal pronouns, a term used to
include both subject and object pronouns.)
am, are, is are forms of the verb to be in the simple present.
'm, 're, 's are short (contracted) forms of am, are, is
'm not, aren't, isn't are short (contracted forms) of am not, are not, is not.

Learn more about the use of the simple present of other verbs
Exercise on the simple present of the verb to be
 Examples:
1- I am a doctor. He is a businessman. She is a nurse.

2- I am Saudi. He is from France.

3- I am 25 years old.

4- I am well. He is ill.She is happy.

5- This is a small house. That is a round table.

6- this is a blue pen.

7- He is here. she is out.

8- He is funny. Ali is serious.

 The forms of the verb "to be"

When? Who? Form Example

Base form be It can be simple.

I am I am here.

You are You are here.

Simple Present He/She/It is She is here.

We are We are here.

They are They are here.

I was I was here.

You were You were here.

Simple Past He/She/It was She was here.

We were We were here.

They were They were here.

I will be I will be here.

Simple Future
You will be You will be here.
 He/She/It will be She will be here.

We will be We will be here.

They will be They will be here.

Progressive form being He is being unusual.

Perfect from been It has been fun.

The verb "to be" also has many different meanings.

The following are the most important ones.

The meanings of the verb "to be"

1. Exists.

There is a rabbit inside.

There is nothing in the fridge.

There is a problem...

There is a difference.

2. Happens.
 The party is tonight.

The meeting is down the hall.

Come, it is over there.

3. Located.
 She is at school.

She is home.

The food is on the table.

4. Shows identity.

She is Alexis and this is Bob.

 He is a singer.

He is not a singer.
5. Shows a quality.

She is beautiful.

It is stinky.

This is dangerous.
 The verb "to be" as an auxiliary verb
(helping verb)
Auxiliary verbs are verbs that are used together with the main verb of the sentence to express the action or
state.

Main verb + auxiliary verb = complete idea

The verb "to be" can be used as an auxiliary verb to express ongoing(continuing) actions.

For example:

Anna is eating a sandwich.

"Eating" = the main verb.

"Is" = an auxiliary (helping) verb.

"is eating" (a complete idea) = the eating is IN PROGRESS.

More examples:

Kayla is walking home with her friends.

Justin and Ethan are watching a movie.

I am trying to get some sleep.

The verb "to be" in passive sentences

The verb "to be" is used together with the third form of the verb (V3) in passive sentences.

For example:

ACTIVE: I eat an apple.

PASSIVE: The apple is eaten.

"Eaten" = the main verb (in the third form V3).

"Is" = an auxiliary (helping) verb.

"is eaten" (a complete idea) = the subject of the sentence (the apple) is affected by the action.

More examples:

People buy cars. --> Cars are bought.

Someone turned on the light. --> The light was turned on.

He will clean the house. --> The house will be cleaned.

 Progressive Forms of the verb "to be"
The progressive form of the verb "to be" is "being."

This means the action is ongoing (continuing).

Examples:

The little boy is being naughty.

She was being rude, but then she apologized.

They are being tricked.

Perfect Forms of the verb "to be"

The perfect form of the verb "to be" is "been."

This means the action is complete (finished).

Examples:

The little boy has been naughty.

She has been rude, but now she apologizes.

They have been tricked.

Grammar Exercises
Exercise 01

Exercise 02

Learn English Grammar

 ENGLISH VERBS

To Be
OVERVIEW | ACTION VERBS | AUXILIARY VERBS | FINITE / NON-FINITE | IRREGULAR VERBS
MAIN VERBS | MODAL VERBS | MOOD | PHRASAL VERBS | REGULAR VERBS | STATIVE VERBS

The Verb To Be

Probably the best known verb in the world: "To be or not to be..."

Forms of To Be

Perfect Continuous
Present Past
Form Form

I am was have / had been am / was being

he / she / it is was has / had been is / was being

you / we / they are 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 a We are all
/She is a It is a car. They arestudents.
teacher. student. teachers.
student.

PAST SIMPLE (STATIVE)

He It was a We were all
I was a You were a
/She was a nice day students They werestudents.
student. student.
student. yesterday. once.

FUTURE SIMPLE (STATIVE)

He /
I will You will It will
She will We will They will
be a be a be nice
be a beteachers. bestudents.
student. teacher. later.
teacher.

When used with the present participle of other verbs it describes actions that are or were still
continuing - auxiliary verb be [+ ingform of the main verb].
 PRESENT CONTINUOUS (ACTIVE)
I am You are He /She is It is We are They are
beingsilly. beingsilly. beingsilly. being silly. being silly. beingsilly.

PAST CONTINUOUS (ACTIVE)

I was You were He /She was It was We were They were
beingsilly. being silly. being silly. being silly. being silly. being silly.

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)

Question Positive Statement Negative Statement (possible short forms)

Singular

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

He / She / It is He / She / It is not (He / She / It isn't... // He's /

Is he / she / it ...?
...(He's/She's/It's ...) She's / It's not ...)

Are you ...? You are ...(You're...) You are not (You're not ...// You aren't...)

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

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

You are being ... (You're You are not being ... (You're not being ... // You
Are you being ...?
being ...) aren't being...)

Was I ...? I was ... I was not. ..

Was he / she / it
He / She / It was ... 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 being ... I was not being (I wasn't being...)
Was he / she / it He / She / It was not being ... (He / She / It wasn't
He / She / It was being ...
being...? 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 / it He / She / It will be ...(He'll / He / She / It will not be (He / She / It won't be ...
be ...? She'll / It'll be ...) // He'll not be / She'll not be / It'll not be ...)

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

Will you be ...? You will be ...(You'll be ...)
...)

Plural

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

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

Were we / you / We / You / They were not ... (We / You / They
We / You / They were ...
they ...? weren't ...)

Were we / you / We / You / They were being We / You / They were not being ... (We / You /
they being ...? ... They weren't being ...)

Will we / you / We / You / They will be We / You / They will not be (We / You / They
they be ...? ...(We'll / You'll They'll be ...) 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.