1.2: The Verb To Be

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Don Bissonnette
South Seattle Community College

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The most important verb in the English language is the verb to be. It can be used alone, or it can be used with other forms of other verbs to change their time (tense) or voice (active to passive). The forms of the verb to be are as follows:

Present: am, is, are
Past: was, were
Future: will be
Present Perfect: have been, has been
Past Perfect: had been
Future Perfect: will have been

All of the above forms tell different time, but they all have exactly the same meaning. The time changes, but the meaning remains the same. Note the following examples:

I am a man.
I was a man yesterday.
I will be a man tomorrow.
I have been a man for a long time.
I had been a man for many years when my sons were born.
I will have been a man for a long time before I die.

The only difference in the above sentences is the time. My being a man has never changed.

The Verb To BE, Present Tense

I am We are

You are You are

He is

She is They are

It is

In the following sentences, there is no action. The verb to be is used to connect the front of the sentences with the back of the sentences. The subject of the sentences and the part of the sentences that follow the verb to be are the same or they refer to the subject.

My sister is a hairdresser. my sister = hairdresser

I am a teacher. I = teacher

My sons are not students anymore. my sons = students

Boys are noisy all over the world. boys = noisy all over the world

The weather is often beautiful during summer. Weather = beautiful in summer

My neighbors are nice people. My neighbors = nice people.

In the following sentences, there is action. The action is the verb that follows the verb to be. The verb to be must agree with the subject of the sentence. The verb to be is used with all of the continuous tenses in English as a helping verb. Its purpose is to tell the tense (time) of the sentence.

I am writing this sentence right now.

My students are listening to me now.

My son was cutting the grass last night.

Some people in my neighborhood were having a party last weekend.

You will be studying in class next week.

I have been teaching English since 1971.

It had been raining before I woke up this morning.

You will have been sitting in your seats this morning until we finish class later on.

Notice how the verb to be is used in these sentences. It tells the tense (time), but the action is told by the ING form (present participle) of the verb. Look at the ING verb in the sentences above; then look at the verb to be to tell the time. All of the continuous tenses in English will use the verb to be to tell the tense of the sentence and the ING form of the verb to tell the action. We use the continuous tenses in English because the continuous tenses stress the action of the verb. The non-continuous tenses stress the idea of the verb.