verb "TO BE" in all tenses

The verb be has the following forms:

Present simple:	Affirmative	I am You are He/She/It is	We are You are They are
	Question form:	Am I? Are you? Is he/she it?	Are we? Are you? Are they?
	Negative:	I am not/ I’m not You are not/ aren’t He/She/It is not/ isn’t	We are not/aren’t You are not/aren’t They are not/aren't
Past simple		I was You were He/She/It was	We were You were They were
The past participle:		been.
Present perfect:		has/have been
Past perfect:		had been

 The verb be is used in the following patterns:

1. with a noun:

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

2. with an adjective:

This soup is very tasty.
The children were good.

2.1 with the -ing form to make the continuous aspect

We were walking down the street.
Everything was wet. It had been raining for hours.

2.2 with the -ed form to make the passive voice

The house was built in 1890.
The street is called Montagu Street.
This car was made in Japan.

3. with a prepositional phrase:

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

To Be, Unique Among All Verbs



To Be, Eight Words Showing Its Various Forms

You need eight words when conjugating the verb to be:

Form	To Be
Infinitive	1. be
Present Tense	2. am 3. is 4. are
Past Tense	5. was 6. were
Past Participle	7. been
Present Participle	8. being

Irregular Verbs, Five Words Showing Various Forms

In contrast, only five words are needed to show the forms of the irregular verb see:

Form	To See
Infinitive	1. see
Present Tense	1. see (same as infinitive) 2. sees (third-person singular)
Past Tense	3. saw
Past Participle	4. seen
Present Participle	5. seeing

It’s vital, of course, that you learn to conjugate the verb to be throughout all tenses, for you’ll need all these forms when you create the progressive tenses and the passive voice. Study, please, a conjugation of the verb to be:



Present Tense, To Be

Here’s the present tense of the verb to be:

Person	Singular	Plural
First Person	I am	We are
Second Person	You are	You are
Third Person	He-she-it is	They are

Past Tense, To Be

Here’s the past tense of the verb to be:

Person	Singular	Plural
First Person	I was	We were
Second Person	You were	You were
Third Person	He-she-it was	They were

Future Tense, To Be

Here’s the future tense of the verb to be:

Person	Singular	Plural
First Person	I will be	We will be
Second Person	You will be	You will be
Third Person	He-she-it will be	They will be

Present-Perfect Tense, To Be

Here’s the present-perfect tense of the verb to be:

Person	Singular	Plural
First Person	I have been	We have been
Second Person	You have been	You have been
Third Person	He-she-it has been	They have been

Past-Perfect Tense, To Be

Here’s the past-perfect tense of the verb to be:

Person	Singular	Plural
First Person	I had been	We had been
Second Person	You had been	You had been
Third Person	He-she-it had been	They had been

Future-Perfect Tense, To Be

Here’s the future-perfect tense of the verb to be:

Person	Singular	Plural
First Person	I will have been	We will have been
Second Person	You will have been	You will have been
Third Person	He-she-it will have been	They will have been