The Verb To Be
Probably the best known verb in the world: "To be or not to be..."
| Forms of To Be | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present |
Past |
Perfect Form |
Continuous 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) |
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| I am a teacher. | You are a student. | He /She is a student. | It is a car. | We are all teachers. | They are students. |
Past Simple (stative) |
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| I was a student. | You were a student. | He /She was a student. | It was a nice day yesterday. | We were all students once. | They were students. |
Future Simple (stative) |
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| I will be a student. | You will be a teacher. | He / She will be a teacher. | It will be nice later. | We will be teachers. | They will be students. |
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) |
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| I am being silly. | You are being silly. | He /She is being silly. | It is being silly. | We are being silly. | They are being silly. |
Past Continuous (active) |
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| I was being silly. | You were being silly. | He /She was being silly. | It was being silly. | We were being silly. | They were being silly. |
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 ...) |
| 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...) |
| Am I being ...? | I am being ... | I am not being ... (I'm not being...) |
| Is he / she / it being...? | He / She / It is being ... (He's/She's/It's being ...) | He / She / It is not being ... (He / She / It isn't being...// He/she/it's not 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 / 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 being...? | He / She / It was 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 / it be ...? | He / She / It will be ...(He'll / She'll / It'll be ...) | He / She / It will not be (He / She / It won't be ... // He'll not be / She'll not be / It'll not be ...) |
| Will you be ...? | You will be ...(You'll be ...) | You will not be (You won't be ... // You'll not be ...) |
| Plural | ||
| Are we / you / they? | We / You / They are (We're / You're / They're) | We / You /They are not (We're / You're / They're not // We / You / They aren't) |
| Are we / you / they being ...? | We / You / They are being ... (We're / You're / They're) | We / You /They are not being (We're / You're / They're not being // We / You / They aren't being) |
| Were we / you / they ...? | We / You / They were ... | We / You / They were not ... (We / You / They weren't ...) |
| Were we / you / they being ...? | We / You / They were being ... | We / You / They were not being ... (We / You / They weren't being ...) |
| Will we / you / they be ...? | We / You / They will be ...(We'll / You'll 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.