The verb to be

Verb tenses

1. The verb to be in present

The verb to be is one of the most important verbs in English. It can be used as a main verb and also as an auxiliary verb to form other verb tenses. It's mainly used to describe characteristics or states.

TO BE (characteristic)

She is tall.

TO BE (state)

She is sad.

2. Structure of the verb to be in the present tense

• Affirmative form
  

  Affirmative sentences are those that say or state that something is true.

  Subject	To be	Examples
  I	am 'm	I'm in the kitchen.
  You	are 're	You're very intelligent.
  He	is 's	He's at work.
  She		She's my wife.
  It		It's for kids.
  We	are 're	We're strong.
  You		You're students.
  They		They're on holiday.

  In English, the contracted form ('m, 're, s) is used in informal contexts. However, in formal contexts it is preferable to use the full form (am, is, are).
• Negative form
  

  Negative sentences are those that say or state that something is not true. So, the particle not is added after the verb.

  Subject	To be + not	Examples
  I	am not 'm not	I'm not in the kitchen.
  You	are not 're not aren't	You're not very intelligent.
  He	is not 's not isn't	He's not at work.
  She		She's not my wife.
  It		It's not for kids.
  We	are not 're not aren't	We're not strong.
  You		You're not students.
  They		They're not on holiday.

• Interrogative form
  

  Interrogative sentences or questions are those used to ask for certain information.

  To be	Subject	Examples
  Am	I...?	Am I in the kitchen?
  Are	you...?	Are you very intelligent?
  Is	he...?	Is he at work?
  	she...?	Is she my wife?
  	it...?	Is it for kids?
  Are	we...?	Are we strong?
  	you...?	Are you students?
  	they...?	Are they on holiday?

  There is no contracted form for interrogative sentences.

  Are you on holiday? / 'Re you on holiday?

  Short answers are those constructions that are used to answer yes or no to a question. In English, it is not usual to answer simply with the adverbs yes or no, but they are followed by the corresponding subject and the verb to be.

  Adverb	Subject	To be
  Yes,	I	am
  	you	are
  	he	is
  	she
  	it
  	we	are
  	you
  	they

  Adverb	Subject	To be
  No,	I	'm not
  	you	're not aren't
  	he	's not isn't
  	she
  	it
  	we	're not aren't
  	you
  	they

  In the short affirmative answers there is no contracted form. In the negative ones there are the two forms, not contracted and contracted but it is more common to use the second form at a colloquial level.

  

  Are you with Martha?  Yes, I am.

  

  Is he famous?  No, he's not.

3. The verb to be in past

We use the past of the verb to be to describe characteristics or states and other situations that took place in the past.

WAS / WERE  (characteristic)

My grandma was a model at my age.

WAS / WERE  (state)

We were excited to watch the film.

4. Structure of the verb to be in past

• Affirmative form
  

  In affirmative sentences the verb is placed after the subject and must be followed by a complement.

  Subject	to be	Examples
  I	was	Yesterday I was in your town.
  You	were	You were excited to go to the cinema.
  He	was	He was a teacher for many years.
  She		As a child, she was a good student.
  It		It was open in the morning.
  We	were	We were in a very long road.
  You		You were students two years ago.
  They		They were at the cinema last night.

• Negative form

  In negative sentences, as in the present, the particle not is added after the verb (or we use the contracted form) and then the complement.

  Subject	to be + not	Examples
  I	was not wasn't	Yesterday I wasn't in your town.
  You	were not weren't	You weren't excited to go to the cinema.
  He	was not wasn't	He wasn't a teacher for many years.
  She		As a child, she wasn't a good student.
  It		It wasn't open in the morning.
  We	were not weren't	We weren't in a very long road.
  You		You weren't students two years ago.
  They		They weren't at the cinema last night.

• Interrogative form

  In interrogative sentences the verb is moved to the beginning of the sentence and the contracted form is not possible.

  to be	Subject	Examples
  Was	I...?	Was I in your town yesterday?
  Were	you...?	Were you excited to go to the cinema?
  Was	he...?	Was he a teacher for many years?
  	she...?	Was she a good student as a child?
  	it...?	Was it open in the morning?
  Were	we...?	Were we in a very long road?
  	you...?	Were you students two years ago?
  	they...?	Were they at the cinema last night?

  Short answers are formed with the adverb "yes" or "no" followed by the personal pronoun and the verb "to be" in the past tense.

  Adverb	Subject	To be
  Yes,	I	was
  	you	were
  	he	was
  	she
  	it
  	we	were
  	you
  	they

  

  Was Orson ill on Monday?  Yes, he was.

  Adverb	Subject	To be
  No,	I	wasn't
  	you	weren't
  	he	wasn't
  	she
  	it
  	we	weren't
  	you
  	they

  

  Were they bored in class? No, they weren't.

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