Verb "To Be" in English

How to Use "To Be" in English

The verb "to be" is the most common verb in English. It has 8 different forms:

• be, am, is, are, was, were, being, been

The Verb "To Be" Explained

This graphic shows how the different forms are used. (Notice that there are short forms too.) "To be" is a special verb because it can be used as a main verb or an auxiliary verb. As a main verb, it means "exist," "occur," or "happen." As an auxiliary verb (or helping verb), the meaning comes from the verb it is helping. Look at these examples:

"To be" as a main verb:

• I am here.
(I "exist" here.)
• The meeting was in London.
(The meeting "happened" in London.)

"To be" as an auxiliary verb:

• I am working at home.
(Here, "to be" is an auxiliary verb helping the verb "to work.")
• Tom was painting the fence yesterday.
(Here, "to be" is an auxiliary verb helping the verb "to paint.")

When used as an auxiliary verb, "to be" helps to show the tense of the verb it is helping.

"Am," "is," and "are" are used to show the present progressive tense.

For example:

• Tom is cleaning the car.

"Was" and "were" are used to show the past progressive tense.

For example:

• Tom and Alice were cleaning the car.

Video Lesson

Here is a 21-minute, step-by-step video tutorial summarizing this lesson on the verb "to be." (This is a tutorial for advanced students or teachers.) video lesson

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The Different Forms of "To Be"

• "Be" is the base form.
• "Am," "Is," and "Are" are the present tense forms.

I am happy.	We are happy.
You are happy.	You are happy.
He/she/it is happy.	They are happy.

• "Was" and "Were" are the past tense forms.

I was sad.	We were sad.
You were sad.	You were sad.
He/she/it was sad.	They were sad.

• "Being" is the present participle.
As a present participle, "being" is mostly used as an auxiliary verb.
• The cows are being milked.
(Here, the meaning comes from the verb "to milk." The verbs "are" and "being" are both auxiliary verbs.)
When "being" is not an auxiliary verb, it has a meaning like "existing in a state of."
• You are being silly.
(Notice that "to be" is both the auxiliary verb ("are") and the main verb ("being") in this example.)
• "Been" is the past participle.
As a past participle, "been" is mostly used as an auxiliary verb.
• The cows have been milked.
(As before, the meaning comes from the verb "to milk." The verbs "have" and "been" are both auxiliary verbs.)
When "been" is not an auxiliary verb, it has a meaning like "existed in a state of."
• You have been naughty.
(Here, "have" is an auxiliary verb helping "been.")

Negative Forms of "To Be"

The negative forms of "to be" are made by adding "not."

• Here are the present tense forms:

I am not happy.	We are not happy.
You are not happy.	You are not happy.
He/she/it is not happy.	They are not happy.

• Here are the past tense forms:

I was not sad.	We were not sad.
You were not sad.	You were not sad.
He/she/it was not sad.	They were not sad.

As shown in this graphic, with the exception of "am not" and the future tense, all of these negative forms have at least one short version. Some have two short versions. The short forms are called contractions.

Using the Different Forms of "To Be"

Here are the most common uses for the 8 different forms of "to be":

"Be" has three common uses:

(1) "Be" is used after "will" to form the simple future tense.

• She will be rich soon.

(2) "Be" is used to give an order.

• Be quiet.
(The form used to give an order is called the imperative form. In English, the imperative form is the same as the base form.)

(3) "Be" is used after a modal verb (can, could, may, might, must, ought to, shall, should, will, and would).

• You might be correct.

"Am," "Is," "Are" have two common uses:

(1) As main verbs, they are often used to link something to a description.

• I am happy.
• He is a policeman.
• We are on the bus.
(Used like this, the verb "to be" is called a linking verb.)

"Is" and "are" are used in a similar way in two very common constructions that start with "it" or "there."

• It is cold.
• There is one reason.
• There are two reasons.

(2) As auxiliary verbs, "am," "is," and "are" are used to form the present progressive tense.

• I am painting the fence.
• He is painting the fence.
• We are painting the fence.

"Was" and "Were" have two common uses:

(1) As main verbs, they are often used to link something to a description.

• I was happy.
• He was a policeman.
• We were on the bus.
(Just as before, the verb "to be" is a linking verb. This time though, they are in the past tense.)

"Was" and "were" are also used in those two constructions starting "it" or "there."

• It was cold.
• There was one reason.
• There were two reasons.

(2) As auxiliary verbs, "was" and "were" are used to form the past progressive tense.

• She was painting the fence.
• They were painting the fence.

"Being" has two main uses:

(1) As the main verb in a sentence, "being" has a meaning like "existing in the state of."

• Sarah is being annoying.
(In this example, the verb "to be" appears twice. Once as an auxiliary verb ("is") and once as a main verb ("being"). The verb phrase "is being" is an example of the present progressive tense.)
• You were being silly.
(As before, the verb "to be" appears twice. Once as an auxiliary verb ("were") and once as a main verb ("being"). The verb phrase "were being" is an example of the past progressive tense.)

(2) As a present participle, "being" is used as an auxiliary verb in a passive sentence.

• Tom is being promoted this afternoon.
(In a passive sentence, the action of the verb is done to the subject. So, the action of the verb "to promote" is happening to the subject "Tom.")
• The cows were being milked.
(This is another passive sentence. The action of the verb "to milk" happened to the subject "cows.")

"Been" has two common uses:

(1) As the main verb in a sentence, "been" has a meaning like "existed in the state of."

• We have been happy.
(In this example, "have" is an auxiliary verb.)

(2) As a past participle, "been" is used as an auxiliary verb in a passive sentence.

• Tom has been promoted.
• The cows have been milked already.
(Notice that "been" is helped by the auxiliary verb "to have," while "being" is helped by the auxiliary verb "to be.")

The Eight Forms of "To Be"

Here are the 8 different forms of "to be" with their official descriptions. (Note that normal verbs in English have only 5 forms.)

Form	be	Alternative Name
Base Form	be	Infinitive Form
Present Tense Forms	am, is, are	[no alternative name]
Past Forms	was, were	Simple Past Tense
The -ING Form	being	Present Participle Form
The Past Participle Form	been	[no alternative name]

The Five Forms of Normal Verbs

This table shows the 5 forms of a normal verb ("to know").

Form	know	Alternative Name
Base Form	know	Infinitive Form
The -S Form	knows	Third Person Singular Form
Past Form	knew	Simple Past Tense
The -ING Form	knowing	Present Participle Form
The Past Participle Form	known	[no alternative name]

More about "To Be"

The verb "be" is an irregular verb. (This means that "be" does not form its simple past tense or its past participle by adding "-ed" or "-d" to the base form.)

Conjugating "To Be" Fully

The tables below show how "be" conjugates in all 12 of the past, present, and future tenses. Bear in mind that "to be" is used as both the auxiliary verb and the main verb in these conjugation tables.

Most Common Irregular Verbs

The three most common irregular verbs in English are "to be," to have, and to do.

Here are the next 10 most common irregular verbs in English:

• to see, to say, to go, to come, to know, to get, to give, to become, to find, and to think