The verb to be is one of the most used verbs in the English language and can be translated as being or being .
There is no rule to know when it means to be and when it means to be . It is necessary to understand the meaning of the message expressed as a whole, to then understand the meaning of the verb in the sentence.
The verb to be is classified as an irregular verb , since it does not follow the rules of formation of the simple past and the past participle.
It can be used as a main verb and as an auxiliary verb in some tenses.
Conjugations: present, past and future
Check out the information below about using the verb to be as the main verb .
In the Simple Present , the inflections of the verb to be are am , is and are .
| Affirmative | Negative | Interrogative | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I am | I’m | I am not | – | Am I …? |
| you are | You’re | You are not | You aren’t | Are you …? |
| He is | He’s | He is not | He isn’t | Is he …? |
| She is | She’s | She is not | She isn’t | Is she …? |
| It is | It’s | It is not | It isn’t | Is it …? |
| We are | We’re | We are not | We aren’t | Are we …? |
| you are | You’re | You are not | You aren’t | Are you …? |
| They are | They’re | They are not | They aren’t | Are they …? |
Examples :
- I am not a doctor. (I am not a doctor.) BE
- I am not at home. (I’m not at home.) BEING
- Is he a soccer player? (Is he a football player?)
- Is he at school? (Is he at school?)
- She isn’t my friend. (She is not my friend.)
- She isn’t tired. (She is not tired.)
- What ’s that? It is a turtle. ( What’s that? It’s a turtle.) BEING
- Where ‘s the book? It is on the table. (Where’s the book? It’s on the table.)
- We aren’t students. (We are not students.) BE
- We aren’t on the bus. (We are not on the bus.)
- You are great teachers. (You are great teachers.) BE
- You are hungry! ( You guys are hungry!)
- Are they Brazilian? (Are they Brazilian?) BE
- Are they thirsty? (Are they thirsty?)
Remember that in English, the personal pronouns ( personal pronouns ) in the singular are: I, you, he, she, it . In the plural we have: we, you and they .
In Simple Past , the inflections of the verb to be are was and were .
| Affirmative | Negative | Interrogative | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I was | – | I was not | I wasn’t | Was I …? |
| You were | You’re | You were not | You weren’t | Were you …? |
| He was | He’s | He was not | He wasn’t | Was he …? |
| She was | She’s | She was not | She wasn’t | Was she …? |
| it was | It’s | It was not | It wasn’t | Was it …? |
| We were | We’re | We were not | We weren’t | Were we …? |
| You were | You’re | You were not | You weren’t | Were you …? |
| They were | They’re | They were not | They weren’t | Were they …? |
Examples :
- I was not a doctor. (I was not a doctor.)
- I was not at home. (I was not at home.) BEING
- Was he a soccer player? (Was he a football player?)
- Was he at school? (Was he at school?) BEING
- She wasn’t my friend. (She was not my friend.) BE
- She wasn’t tired. (She wasn’t tired.) BEING
- What ’s that? It was a turtle. ( What was that? It was a turtle.) BEING
- Where ‘s the book? It was on the table. (Where was the book? It was on the table.)
- We weren’t students. (We were not students.)
- We weren’t on the bus. (We were not on the bus.) BEING
- You were great teachers. (You were great teachers.) BE
- You were hungry! ( You were hungry!) BE
- Were they Brazilian? (Were they Brazilians?)
- Were they thirsty? (Were they thirsty?) BE
In Simple Future , the inflections of the verb to be are always will be .
| Affirmative | Negative | Interrogative | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I will be | I’ll be | I will not be | I won’t be | Will I be …? |
| You will be | You’ll be | You will not be | You won’t be | Will you be …? |
| He will be | He’ll be | He will not be | He won’t be | Will he be …? |
| She will be | She’ll be | She will not be | She won’t be | Will she be …? |
| It will be | It’ll be | It will not be | It won’t be | Will it be …? |
| We will be | We’ll be | We will not be | We won’t be | Will we be …? |
| You will be | You’ll be | You will not be | You won’t be | Will you be …? |
| They will be | They’ll be | They will not be | They won’t be | Will they be …? |
Examples :
- I will not be a doctor. (I will not be a doctor.)
- I will not be at home. (I won’t be home.)
- Will he be a soccer player? (Will he be a football player?)
- Will he be at school? (Will he be at school?)
- She won’t be my friend. (She will not be my friend.)
- She won’t be so tired when she finishes exercising. (She won’t be so tired when she finishes exercising.)
- What will you be when you grow up? ( What will you be when you grow up?) BE
- Where will you be in the afternoon? (Where will you be in the afternoon?)
- We won’t be veterinarians. (We will not be veterinarians.)
- We won’t be on the bus by this time tomorrow. (We won’t be on the bus at this hour tomorrow.)
- You will be great teachers. (You’ll be great teachers.) BE
- You will be together next week. ( You will be together next week) BE
- Will they be the new directors? (Will they be the new directors?)
- Will they be in Brazil next month? (Will they be in Brazil next month?)
Now that you have seen the tables with the conjugations, observe the explanations below with a summary of how to form sentences in the affirmative, negative and interrogative forms, including the contracted form.
Affirmative ( affirmative Form )
In affirmative sentences , the verb must be placed after the subject :
- Simple Present: He is a good dancer . (He’s a good dancer.)
- Simple Past: He was a good dancer. (He was a good dancer.)
- Simple Future: He will be a good dancer. (He will be a good dancer.)
In the example above, he (he) is the subject and is (is), was (was) and will be (are) are inflections of the verb to be in the third person singular.
Negative ( Negative Form )
To express negation in a sentence, use not (no) after the verb to be :
- Simple Present: He is not a good dancer. (He is not a good dancer.)
- Simple Past: He was not a good dancer . (He was not a good dancer.)
- Simple Future: He will not be a good dancer. (He will not be a good dancer.)
In the above example, not (no) is positioned after is (are) was (were) , and will be (is) , which are inflections of the verb to be the third person singular.
Interrogative form ( Interrogative Form )
To ask questions , the verb must be placed before the subject :
- Simple Present: Is he a good dancer? (Is he a good dancer?)
- Simple Past: Was he a good dancer? (Was he a good dancer?)
- Simple Future: Will he be a good dancer? (Will he be a good dancer?)
In the example above, he (he) is the subject and is (is), was (was) and will be (are) are inflections of the verb to be in the third person singular.
Contracted form ( Contracted Form )
In English, when in the same word we add a pronoun + a verb , or a verb + not , we have a contracted form, a contracted form .
Contracted forms are generally used in affirmative and negative sentences. However, they can also be used in interrogative sentences when the intention of the question is to confirm something.
Affirmative
Check below how to make phrases with the verb to be in the contracted affirmative form:
| Simple Present | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Contracted forms | am = ‘m | is = ‘s | are = ‘re |
| Examples | I am at home. > I’m at home. (I am at home.) | He is a good dancer. > He’s a good dancer. (He’s a good dancer.) | They are tired. > They’re tired. (They are tired.) |
| Simple Past | ||
|---|---|---|
| Contracted forms | was = ‘s | were = ‘re |
| Examples | He was a good dancer. > He’s a good dancer. (He was a good dancer.) | They were tired. > They’re tired. (They were tired.) |
NOTE: there is no contracted form for the affirmative in the first person singular of Simple Past . So the only possible way is I was .
| Simple Future | |
|---|---|
| Contracted forms | will be = ‘ll be |
| Examples | He will be a good dancer. > He’ll be a good dancer. (He will be a good dancer.)They will be tired. > They’ll be tired. (They will be tired.) |
Negative
| Simple Present | ||
|---|---|---|
| Contracted forms | is not = isn’t | are not = aren’t |
| Examples | He is not a good dancer. > He isn’t a good dancer. (He is not a good dancer.) | They are not tired> They aren’t tired. (They are thirsty.) |
NOTE: despite the existence of ain’t as a contracted form of am + not it is considered wrong by many grammarians and, for this reason, its use is not recommended. This form is very popular in music today.
| Simple Past | ||
|---|---|---|
| Contracted forms | was not = wasn’t | were not = weren’t |
| Examples | He was not a good dancer. > He wasn’t a good dancer. (He was not a good dancer.) | They were not thirsty. > They weren’t thirsty. (They were not thirsty.) |
| Simple Future | |
|---|---|
| Contracted forms | will not be = won’t be |
| Examples | He will not be a good dancer. > He won’t be a good dancer. (He will not be a good dancer.)They will not be tired. > They won’t be tired. (They won’t be tired.) |
Interrogative
| Simple Present | ||
|---|---|---|
| Contracted forms | is not = isn’t | are not = aren’t |
| Examples | Isn’t he a good dancer? (Isn’t he a good dancer?) | Aren’t they tired? (Aren’t they tired?) |
NOTE: don’t forget that, despite the existence of ain’t as a contracted form of am + not, it is considered wrong by many grammarians and, for this reason, its use is not recommended.
| Simple Past | ||
|---|---|---|
| Contracted forms | was not = wasn’t | were not = weren’t |
| Examples | Wasn’t he a good dancer? (He was not a good dancer.) | Weren’t they tired? (Weren’t they tired?) |
| Simple Future | |
|---|---|
| Contracted forms | will not be = won’t be |
| Examples | Won’t he be a good dancer? (Won’t he be a good dancer?)Won’t they be tired? (Won’t they be tired?) |
Verb to be as auxiliary verb
The verb to be can also be used as an auxiliary verb. This happens when it has the function of helping another verb, the main verb.
As an auxiliary verb , the verb to be does not change the meaning of the main verb and, therefore, has no translation.
See what are the main uses:
Passive voice training
The passive voice is used to report what happened to the subject of the action.
The formation of passive voice follows the following structure:
to be + past participle of the main verb
Examples :
My birthday cake was made by my mother. (My birthday cake was made by my mom.)
was = verb to be in Simple Past (simple past).
made = verb to make in Past Participle (past participle).
The toys were broken by the kids. (The toys were broken by the children.)
were = verb to be in Simple Past (simple past).
broken = verb to break in Past Participle (past participle).
The play is directed by my brother. (The play is directed by my brother.)
is = verb to be in the Simple Present.
directed = verb to direct in Past Participle (past participle).
Formation of verbal phrases
A verbal phrase is formed when two or more verbs have a value of one.
Examples :
He is studying Italian. (He is studying Italian.)
is = verb to be in the Simple Present.
studying = verb to study in Gerund (gerund).
They were working at that company. (They were working at that company.)
were = verb to be in Simple Past (simple past).
working = verb to work in Gerund (gerund).
In both examples, the two verbs (to be + gerund) have the value of Present Continuous .
Vestibular Exercises
1 . (UNIFOR / CE)
Coughing Kitties
Maryann Mott
Feline asthma [TO BE] a new disease. It was first described in scientific literature more than 90 years ago, says veterinarian Philip Padrid of the Family Pet Animal Hospital in Chicago.
Nicki Reed, a veterinarian at the University of Edinburgh’s Hospital for Small Animals, says that when a coughing cat is brought to the clinic, she must first establish if [ARTICLE] cause is [ARTICLE] infection, asthma, or something more sinister, like a lung mass.
To do this, Reed usually performs an x-ray, takes a lung fluid sample, and conducts a bronchcoscopy _ an examination that uses a flexible microscope inserted into the cat’s airway.
Most of the time, asthma is a mild disease, Reed says. But in some cases cat’s lungs collapse or their ribs fracture due to difficulty in breathing.
“I think if we can identify asthmatic cats quite early and get treatments on board to suppress their cough, then hopefully we can avoid them coming to such extremes,” she said.
The correct form of the verb in “Feline asthma [TO BE] a new disease.” is
a) isn’t.
b) wasn’t.
c) is.
d) was.
e) were.
Answer
Alternative to: isn’t.
In the sentence, the noun that precedes the verb is the noun asthma (asthma).
Asthma is a disease and therefore corresponds to the pronoun it (third person singular) used for things, places, objects and animals.
Of the options available, only a) isn’t , b) wasn’t and c) is used with the third person.
To fill the gap, we need to understand the entire first paragraph. Watch:
Feline asthma [TO BE] a new disease. It was first described in scientific literature more than 90 years ago, says veterinarian Philip Padrid of the Family Pet Animal Hospital in Chicago.
(Feline asthma [TO BE] is a new disease. It was first described in the scientific literature more than 90 years ago, says veterinarian Philip Padrid of the Family Pet Animal Hospital in Chicago .)
Upon concluding this reading, we can see that feline asthma was first described over 90 years ago, that is, it is not a new disease.
Therefore, the inflection of the verb to be to fill the sentence must be used in the negative form. Thus, alternative c) is discarded.
As the statement occurs in the present tense, the correct answer is not .
Here’s how the full sentence looks:
Feline asthma isn’t a new disease. It was first described in scientific literature more than 90 years ago, says veterinarian Philip Padrid of the Family Pet Animal Hospital in Chicago.
(Feline asthma is not a new disease. It was first described in the scientific literature more than 90 years ago, says veterinarian Philip Padrid of the Family Pet Animal Hospital in Chicago.)
2 . (UNIFOR / CE)
Robotic Engineers :
Engineers [TO BE] needed to build robots that do everything from assembling machinery to caring for aging parents.
Tech Teachers :
As technology use increases in all industries, more adult education teachers are needed to give workers the skills to survive. About half of all adults are currently enrolled in an adult-education class.
Tech Support :
Technology isn’t infallible, and skilled workers who can fix frustrating problems are rarely needed. Estimates show a 222 percentage boost in computer-support jobs by 2008.
The correct form of the verb to be in the first paragraph is
a) was being.
b) is.
c) will be.
d) was.
e) has been.
Answer
Alternative c: will be.
In the sentence to be filled, the verb to be comes immediately after the masculine plural plural engineers (engineers), which corresponds to the third person plural pronoun: they .
Of the options available, the letters a) was being , b) is , d) was and e) has been are third person singular inflections.
The only alternative that is a third person plural inflection is the letter c) will be .
Here’s how the full sentence looks:
Engineers will be needed to build robots that do everything from assembling machinery to caring for aging parents.
( Engineers will be needed to build robots that do everything from assembling machines to caring for elderly parents.)