The verb "be" - Level: beginner

 

The verb be has the following forms:

The verb be
Infinitive form	be
Present simple:	+	I am, I'm You are, You're He/She/It is, He/She/It's	We are, we're You are, you're They are, they're
	?	Am I? Are you? Is he/she it?	Are we? Are you? Are they?
	-	I am not, I’m not You are not, You aren’t, You're not He/She/It is not, He/She/It isn’t, He's not	We are not, We aren’t, We're not You are not, You aren’t, You're not They are not, They aren't, They're not
Past simple	+	I was You were He/She/It was	We were You were They were
	?	Was I? Were you? Was he/she/it?	Were we? Were you? Were they?
	-	I was not, I wasn't You were not, You weren't He/She/It was not, He/She/It wasn't	We were not, We weren't You were not, You weren't They were not, They weren't
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

We use the infinitive form be with modal verbs:

It will be dark soon.
They might be tired.

The verb be is a link verb. It is used:

·         with a noun phrase:

My mother is a teacher.
Bill Clinton was the president of the US.

·         with an adjective:

This soup is very tasty.
The children were good.

·         with a prepositional phrase:

John and his wife are from Manchester.
The flowers are on the table.