In a way, the To be verb doesn't do much for you it just sits there and text that is too heavily sprinkled with To be verbs can feel sodden, static. Thus Tall is said to be a stative (or an inert) quality, and we cannot say I am being tall; silly, on the other hand, is dynamic so we can use progressive verb forms in conjunction with that quality. *Understanding English Grammar by Martha Kolln. Chose the correct form of the verb to be - am/is/are. Some examples are: Be nice to your sister! Review carefully the material in our section on Subject-Verb Agreement, and notice how often the choices we make require a familiarity with these forms of the To be verb. For children, learning the verbs -and especially this one- might be a difficult task. An expletive construction, along with its attendant To be verb, can often be eliminated to good effect. Where are you from? In the final analysis, it probably doesn't matter, but the distinction leads to some interesting variations. google_color_bg = "FFFFFF"; Here are some more examples: Sometimes it is difficult to say whether a To be verb is linking a subject to a participle or if the verb and participle are part of a passive construction. We create simple yes/no questions by inverting the order of subject and the To be verb. Take a deep breath… and you’re ready for work! Even a casual review of your writing can reveal uses of the verb To be that are unnecessary and that can be removed to good effect. In order to get any decent information out of him, you had to grab him and hold on tight while he went through his various forms — lion, wild boar, snake, tree, running stream — it wasn't easy. Questions in English with the “to be” verb, Printable Worksheets about the Verb “To Be” in English ️. google_ad_width = 300; Notice that adverbs of frequency normally appear after forms of the verb To be: Notice that the adverb still appears after To be verbs but before other main verbs: An adverb can be interposed between the infinitive To be and a participle, as in the following sentences. Should and Shouldn't - When to use and how to use. Where are Billy and Elliot? The first one is to use it normally with Wh- questions, like in the following sentences:What’s her name? Verbs are concepts that some kids might find hard to grasp, but through constant repetition using different activities and exercises, learning about it can be easy, and even fun! Ain't is not regarded as acceptable except in text attempting to duplicate substandard speech.). google_color_text = "000000"; In very formal text, you might write am I not instead. In the first sentence, the participle welcomed (in this passive construction) emphasizes the action of welcoming: the smiles, the hearty greetings, the slaps on the back. The continuous form of the to be verb is used to make up the continuous tenses. positive sentences with the verb to be. Some examples of the past form of the to be are: Billy and Elliot were students, now they are doctors. Notes:To state the location of something or someone, a preposition is usually necessary. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Want to try learning all of this grammar through games, songs, and interactive activities? Do you know what my profession is? These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. They are at the theater. google_ad_client = "pub-6676379291085385"; 4rth Edition. be example sentences. For professions:You aren’t a painter, you are a singer. The verb To be is said to be the most protean of the English language, constantly changing form, sometimes without much of a discernible pattern. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. In Certain behaviors are allowed, is "are linking behaviors to "allowed" (a participle acting as a predicate adjective) or is are allowed a passive verb? Form:[Noun] is [preposition] [location]. The following circumlocutory uses of "be" verbs are common in stuffy writing. When we use To be verbs in a tag question, the basic formula follows: the verb is combined with a pronoun and sometimes with not (usually in a contracted form). However, there is one verb that’s the most used in the English language: the verb to be. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. 1997. Be confident and be yourself. Equals is inert, stative, and cannot take the progressive; there is no choice, no volition in the matter. 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. See the section on modals for the various kinds of information conveyed by modals (advisability, predictability, guessing, necessity, possibility, etc.). This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. That's usually an easy matter. Wooden caissons were used until fiberglass structures were developed in the 1950s. On the other hand, expletive constructions do give us an interesting means of setting out or organizing the work of a subsequent paragraph: Verb phrases containing "be" verbs are often merely roundabout ways of saying something better said with a simple verb. Let’s see some examples of this for sentences with the “to be” verb. How are they feeling? Words like jump, run, speak… all are common and clear examples of verbs that describe an action that a subject does. The verb be in English - am, are, is - Simple Present - Online Exercise You can also say someone was “here” or “over there.” Since these terms are relative (their meaning depends o… Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. How to use be in a sentence. to describe actions already in progress at the moment "in focus" within the sentence, as in I, to describe actions at the moment of focus in contrast to habitual actions, as in We usually buy the most inexpensive car we can find, but this time we, to express repeated actions, as in My grandfather, to describe temporary situations in contrast to permanent states, as in Jeffrey goes to the University of Connecticut, but this summer he, to express uncompleted actions, as in Harvey and Mark are working on their deck.. .