TO BE VERBS

Definition:

Verbs like am, is, are, was, were do not show action; they are verbs of being. They tell us about a state of being or existence. They don’t give any meaning but they are used to describe a subject. The be verbs are followed by a noun or an adjective or an adverb.

The most frequently used linking verb is be, whose forms include the following

THE VERB ‘BE’

e.g.

Person	Subject	Present Tense	Past Tense
First - Singular	I	am	was
First - Plural	we	are	were
Second - Singular	you	are	were
Second - Plural	you	are	were
Third - Singular	he, she, it	is	was
Third - Plural	they	are	were

e.g.

I am a Doctor	We were playing
He was a rich man	They are running

the verb be doesn’t contain the word be at all. It is made up of the verbs am, is, are, was, and were, and these are be-ing verbs

e.g.

She be sleeping

She is sleeping

In speech and informal writing the short forms of ‘be» are used. Here is a list of the short forms of ‘be’:

e.g.

Full Form	Short Form
I am	I’m
We are	We’re
You are	You’re
He is	He’s
She is	She’s
It is	It’s
They are	They’re
That is	That’s
There is	There’s

What is the meaning of verb ‘be’?

Now look at the meaning of the ‘be’.

e.g.

I am a sales representative	You are a Software Engineer
Sugar is sweet.	Ten minus two is eight.

There is no special meaning for the verb ‘be’. It just links the subject and the subject complement. That is why it is called a copula or linking-verb .

The verb ‘be’ is hardly ever used by itself; it requires a complement to complete the meaning. That is why it is also called a verb of incomplete predication (i.e., the predication is not complete without a complement).

Negative Sentences with ‘be’

Look at the following pairs of sentences:

e.g.

Affirmative	Negative
Mr.Boon is an electrician.	He is not an electrician
I am a painter.	I’m not a painter
He is in the room.	He is not in the room

Negative sentences with a form of ‘be’ are formed by adding ‘not’ to the form of ‘be’

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