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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
Table of Contents
- The Verb "To Be" Explained
- Video Lesson
- The Different Forms of "To Be"
- Negative Forms of "To Be"
- Using the Different Forms of "To Be"
- Printable Test
- Conjugating "To Be" Fully
The Verb "To Be" Explained
This graphic shows how the different forms are used. (Notice that there are short forms too.)
"To be" as a main verb:
- I am here.
- The meeting was in London.
"To be" as an auxiliary verb:
- I am working at home.
- Tom was painting the fence yesterday.
"Am," "is," and "are" are used to show the present progressive tense.
For example:
- Tom is cleaning the car.
For example:
- Tom and Alice were cleaning the car.
Are you a visual learner? Do you prefer video to text? Here is a list of all our grammar videos.
The Different Forms of "To Be"
- "Be" is the base form.
- "Am," "Is," and "Are" are the present tense forms.
- "Was" and "Were" are the past tense forms.
- "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.)
- 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.)
- You have been naughty. (Here, "have" is an auxiliary verb helping "been.")
I am happy. | We are happy. |
You are happy. | You are happy. |
He/she/it is happy. | They are happy. |
I was sad. | We were sad. |
You were sad. | You were sad. |
He/she/it was sad. | They were sad. |
Negative Forms of "To Be"
The negative forms of "to be" are made by adding "not."- Here are the present tense forms:
- Here are the past 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. |
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. |

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.
- 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.)
- 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.)
- It is cold.
- There is one reason.
- There are two reasons.
- 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.)
- It was cold.
- There was one reason.
- There were two reasons.
- 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.)
- 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.)
- 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.Past Tenses
Person | Simple Past | Past Progressive Tense | Past Perfect Tense | Past Perfect Progressive Tense |
---|---|---|---|---|
|
The simple past tense is for a completed activity that happened in the past.
|
The past progressive tense is for an ongoing activity in the past. Often, it is used to set the scene for another action.
|
The past perfect tense is for emphasizing that an action was completed before another took place.
|
The past perfect progressive tense is for showing that an ongoing action in the past has ended.
|
Present Tenses
Person | Simple Present | Present Progressive Tense | Present Perfect Tense | Present Perfect Progressive Tense |
---|---|---|---|---|
|
The simple present tense is mostly for a fact or a habit.
|
The present progressive tense is for an ongoing action in the present.
|
The present perfect tense is for an action that began in the past. (Often, the action continues into the present.)
|
The present perfect progressive tense is for a continuous activity that began in the past and continues into the present (or finished very recently).
|
Future Tenses
Person | Simple Future | Future Progressive Tense | Future Perfect Tense | Future Perfect Progressive Tense |
---|---|---|---|---|
|
The simple future tense is for an action that will occur in the future.
|
The future progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will occur in the future.
|
The future perfect tense is for an action that will have been completed at some point in the future.
|
The future perfect progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will be completed at some specified time in the future.
|
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:
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