What is the verb to be in English?

Today we will continue our English learning journey and learn about the verb to be, what is? And, how to use it? Let’s find out.

What is the verb to be in English? the verb to be in English, are the verbs that we use to describe something or someone. So, be is a verb used when describing something, like when talking about feelings, names, work, and so on. It is used a lot in the present tense.

How to use the verb to be in English?

The verb to be in English are irregular verbs which means that they change their form based on the tense of the verb, let it be present, past, future, etc. Here are the different forms of the verb to be English:

1- Basic form “be”.

The basic form is used in the infinitive form or when talking about something that must happen, here are some examples to explain:

Be nice to people.
I like to be at my house.
I like to be at home early.
Don’t be late.

2- Present tense.

The meaning of the verb to be in English present tense changes based on the context of the sentence. It consists of “am, is, and are”. You can write them like this, or for short, you can write them as follows:

I am – I’m
you are – you’re
he/she/it is – he’s/she’s/it’s
we/you/they are – we’re/you’re/they’re

And in the negative form it will be:

I am not – I’m not
you are not – You aren’t
he/she/it isn’t
we/you/they aren’t

Here are some easy examples that will help you understand:

My name is Emily.
What is your name?
Her name is Ema.
How old are you?
I’m 16 years old.
They are happy.
She is sad.
Where is she from?
She is from China.

3- Verb to be in the Past.

The to be verb English in the past tense comes in the form “was/were”, and we use it when we talk about the past or something that happened in the past. And like the above case you can write them in the long form or short form as follows:

I was – I wasn’t
you were – You weren’t
he/she/it was – he wasn’t/she wasn’t/it wasn’t
we/they/you were – we weren’t/they weren’t/you weren’t

Here are some examples:

I was at the restaurant yesterday.
She was 11 years old last year.
He was a smart kid.
They were playing football yesterday.
It was raining last week.
He was at school yesterday.

4- Past Participle.

In the past participle tense, the verb to be will become “been”, it doesn’t change its form at all in this tense.

Here are some examples to understand more:

She has been studying all day.
The kids have been running for an hour.
He has been a doctor for a year now.

5- Continuous form.

In the continuous form, the verb to be will be in the form “being” and it doesn’t change its form at all. Here are some examples:

She is being helpful.
You are being so annoying!

6- Verb to be in the Passive form

To make the verb to be in the passive form we use the present and past forms of the verb to be. Here are some examples:

The house was built in the mountains.

The program is being recorded right now.

7- Verb to be in the question form.

The verb to be can also be used in forming questions, and here are some examples:

What’s your name?
How old is your dog?
How are you feeling?
Where are you from?
What are you going to do tomorrow?
Are you 12 years old?
Yes, I am.
Is your sister ready for bed?
No, she isn’t.

What kind of verb is be?

The verb to be in English are irregular verbs which means that they change their form based on the tense of the verb. It can be used as both main verb and auxiliary verbs. It has different forms which include: am, is, are, be, been, being, was, and were.

Why is it called verb to be?

The verb to be is called “to be” because it is used to describe something that will happen, happened, or happen right now.

What is verb to be in English grammar?

To be verb in English grammar are irregular verbs that can be used as main verbs or auxiliary verbs. And they change their form based on the tense and their use in the sentence. Their different forms include:

Basic form: be.
Present form: am/ is /are.
Past form: was/were.
Past Participle: been.
Continuous form: being.

How to conjugate the verb to be in English?

Here is a table that shows how to conjugate the verb to be in the different tenses:

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


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

Past participle	been

Present perfect	has/have been

Past perfect	had been

Present participle	being

Present continuous	am/is/are being

Past continuous	was/were being

What is the example of verb to be in present?

Here are some examples of the verb to be in the present tense:

I am fine
You are a student
He is a child
She is an angry girl
It is a beautiful flower
We are brothers
You are from England
They are at school
Am I?
Are you?
Are we?
Are they?
I am not.
You are not.
He isn’t.
She isn’t.
It isn’t.
We are not.
They are not.

Other examples of the verb to be:

I am Liza, and I’m from America.
They are best friends.
She is my best friend.
Where is Emily?
She is at school.
Where are they?
They are at the theater.
She is helping her brother with his homework.
The river is very pretty.
The flowers aren’t red, they are orange.
Are the dogs running in the field?
Yes, they are.
I am American.
He is a teacher.
She is happy.
They are at the movies.
I am not angry.
She is not at school.
It is not broken.
We are not students.
I was hungry.
She was at the movies.
You were there.
It was great!
They were excited.
I was not there.
You were not here.
He wasn’t a teacher.
We weren’t at the restaurant.
Was I there?
Were you sad?
Was she at school?
Was it a good movie?
Were they late?

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