{"id":3102,"date":"2018-11-13T17:08:33","date_gmt":"2018-11-13T17:08:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lingo-apps.com\/?p=3102"},"modified":"2020-03-08T15:10:43","modified_gmt":"2020-03-08T15:10:43","slug":"verb-to-be-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lingo-apps.com\/zh-hans\/verb-to-be-english\/","title":{"rendered":"Lesson 15. The Complete Guide to Verb TO BE in English"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"To
The Verb To Be in English<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The<\/em> verb to be<\/em> is probably one of the most irregular verbs in English. It does need more attention as we use the<\/em> verb to be<\/em> so much often in sentences. Let\u2019s master the verb to be <\/em>today!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Simple Present Tense<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n

(Click on the subtitle to learn more about simple present tense<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Positive<\/strong><\/td>\nPositive (Contracted)<\/strong><\/td>\nNegative<\/strong><\/td>\nNegative<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Contracted)<\/strong><\/td>\n

Question<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
I am<\/td>\nI\u2019m<\/td>\nI am not<\/td>\nI\u2019m not<\/td>\nAm I?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
You are<\/td>\nYou\u2019re<\/td>\nYou are not<\/td>\nYou\u2019re not<\/p>\n

You aren\u2019t<\/td>\n

Are you?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
We are<\/td>\nWe\u2019re<\/td>\nWe are not<\/td>\nWe\u2019re not<\/p>\n

We aren\u2019t<\/td>\n

Are we?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
They are<\/td>\nThey\u2019re<\/td>\nThey are not<\/td>\nThey\u2019re not<\/p>\n

They aren\u2019t<\/td>\n

Are they?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
He is<\/td>\nHe\u2019s<\/td>\nHe is not<\/td>\nHe\u2019s not<\/p>\n

He isn\u2019t<\/td>\n

Is he?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
She is<\/td>\nShe\u2019s<\/td>\nShe is not<\/td>\nShe\u2019s not<\/p>\n

She isn\u2019t<\/td>\n

Is she?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
It is<\/td>\nIt\u2019s<\/td>\nIt is not<\/td>\nIt\u2019s not<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t<\/td>\n

Is it?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Note:<\/p>\n

– The only possible contraction form of \u2018I am not\u2019 is only \u2018I\u2019m not\u2019.<\/p>\n

– There is no contracted form of the<\/em> verb<\/em> to be <\/em>in question form.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Simple Past Tense<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Positive<\/strong><\/td>\nNegative<\/strong><\/td>\nNegative<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Contracted)<\/strong><\/td>\n

Question<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
I was<\/td>\nI was not<\/td>\nI wasn\u2019t<\/td>\nWas I?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
You were<\/td>\nYou were not<\/td>\nYou weren\u2019t<\/td>\nWere you?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
We were<\/td>\nWe were not<\/td>\nWe weren\u2019t<\/td>\nWere we?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
They were<\/td>\nThey were not<\/td>\nThey weren\u2019t<\/td>\nWere they?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
He was<\/td>\nHe was not<\/td>\nHe wasn\u2019t<\/td>\nWas he?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
She was<\/td>\nShe was not<\/td>\nShe wasn\u2019t<\/td>\nWas she?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
It was<\/td>\nIt was not<\/td>\nIt wasn\u2019t<\/td>\nWas it?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Note: There are no contracted form of the<\/em> verb<\/em> to be <\/em>in positive and question forms.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Present Continuous Tense<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Positive<\/strong><\/td>\nPositive (Contracted)<\/strong><\/td>\nNegative<\/strong><\/td>\nNegative<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Contracted)<\/strong><\/td>\n

Question<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
I am + V(ing)<\/td>\nI\u2019m + V(ing)<\/td>\nI am not + V(ing)<\/td>\nI\u2019m not + V(ing)<\/td>\nAm I + V(ing)?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
You are + V(ing)<\/td>\nYou\u2019re + V(ing)<\/td>\nYou are not + V(ing)<\/td>\nYou\u2019re not + V(ing)<\/p>\n

You aren\u2019t + V(ing)<\/td>\n

Are you + V(ing)?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
We are + V(ing)<\/td>\nWe\u2019re + V(ing)<\/td>\nWe are not + V(ing)<\/td>\nWe\u2019re not + V(ing)<\/p>\n

We aren\u2019t + V(ing)<\/td>\n

Are we + V(ing)?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
They are + V(ing)<\/td>\nThey\u2019re + V(ing)<\/td>\nThey are not + V(ing)<\/td>\nThey\u2019re not + V(ing)<\/p>\n

They aren\u2019t + V(ing)<\/td>\n

Are they + V(ing)?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
He is + V(ing)<\/td>\nHe\u2019s + V(ing)<\/td>\nHe is not + V(ing)<\/td>\nHe\u2019s not + V(ing)<\/p>\n

He isn\u2019t + V(ing)<\/td>\n

Is he + V(ing)?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
She is + V(ing)<\/td>\nShe\u2019s + V(ing)<\/td>\nShe is not + V(ing)<\/td>\nShe\u2019s not + V(ing)<\/p>\n

She isn\u2019t + V(ing)<\/td>\n

Is she + V(ing)?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
It is + V(ing)<\/td>\nIt\u2019s + V(ing)<\/td>\nIt is not + V(ing)<\/td>\nIt\u2019s not + V(ing)<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t + V(ing)<\/td>\n

Is it + V(ing)?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Note: V(ing) means base verb with additional –ing<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Past Continuous Tense<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Positive<\/strong><\/td>\nNegative<\/strong><\/td>\nNegative<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Contracted)<\/strong><\/td>\n

Question<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
I was + V(ing)<\/td>\nI was not + V(ing)<\/td>\nI wasn\u2019t + V(ing)<\/td>\nWas I + V(ing)?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
You were + V(ing)<\/td>\nYou were not + V(ing)<\/td>\nYou weren\u2019t + V(ing)<\/td>\nWere you + V(ing)?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
We were + V(ing)<\/td>\nWe were not + V(ing)<\/td>\nWe weren\u2019t + V(ing)<\/td>\nWere we + V(ing)?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
They were + V(ing)<\/td>\nThey were not + V(ing)<\/td>\nThey weren\u2019t + V(ing)<\/td>\nWere they + V(ing)?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
He was + V(ing)<\/td>\nHe was not + V(ing)<\/td>\nHe wasn\u2019t + V(ing)<\/td>\nWas he + V(ing)?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
She was + V(ing)<\/td>\nShe was not + V(ing)<\/td>\nShe wasn\u2019t + V(ing)<\/td>\nWas she + V(ing)?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
It was + V(ing)<\/td>\nIt was not + V(ing)<\/td>\nIt wasn\u2019t + V(ing)<\/td>\nWas it + V(ing)?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Note: V(ing) means base verb with additional –ing<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Present Perfect Tense<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Positive<\/strong><\/td>\nPositive (Contracted)<\/strong><\/td>\nNegative<\/strong><\/td>\nNegative<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Contracted)<\/strong><\/td>\n

Question<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
I have been<\/td>\nI\u2019ve been<\/td>\nI have not been<\/td>\nI haven\u2019t been<\/td>\nHave I been?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
You have been<\/td>\nYou\u2019ve been<\/td>\nYou have not been<\/td>\nYou haven\u2019t been<\/td>\nHave you been?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
We have been<\/td>\nWe\u2019ve been<\/td>\nWe have not been<\/td>\nWe haven\u2019t been<\/td>\nHave we been?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
They have been<\/td>\nThey\u2019ve been<\/td>\nThey have not been<\/td>\nThey haven\u2019t been<\/td>\nHave they been?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
He has been<\/td>\nHe\u2019s been<\/td>\nHe has not been<\/td>\nHe hasn\u2019t been<\/td>\nHas he been?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
She has been<\/td>\nShe\u2019s been<\/td>\nShe has not been<\/td>\nShe hasn\u2019t been<\/td>\nHas she been?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
It has been<\/td>\nIt\u2019s been<\/td>\nIt has not been<\/td>\nIt hasn\u2019t been<\/td>\nHas it been?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

Past Perfect Tense<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Positive<\/strong><\/td>\nPositive (Contracted)<\/strong><\/td>\nNegative<\/strong><\/td>\nNegative<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Contracted)<\/strong><\/td>\n

Question<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
I had been<\/td>\nI\u2019d been<\/td>\nI had not been<\/td>\nI hadn\u2019t been<\/td>\nHad I been?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
You had been<\/td>\nYou\u2019d been<\/td>\nYou had not been<\/td>\nYou hadn\u2019t been<\/td>\nHad you been?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
We had been<\/td>\nWe\u2019d been<\/td>\nWe had not been<\/td>\nWe hadn\u2019t been<\/td>\nHad we been?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
They had been<\/td>\nThey\u2019d been<\/td>\nThey had not been<\/td>\nThey hadn\u2019t been<\/td>\nHad they been?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
He had been<\/td>\nHe\u2019d been<\/td>\nHe had not been<\/td>\nHe hadn\u2019t been<\/td>\nHad he been?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
She had been<\/td>\nShe\u2019d been<\/td>\nShe had not been<\/td>\nShe hadn\u2019t been<\/td>\nHad she been?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
It had been<\/td>\nIt\u2019d been<\/td>\nIt had not been<\/td>\nIt hadn\u2019t been<\/td>\nHad it been?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Note: The structure of the verb to be<\/em> in past perfect tense is regular: Subject + Had + Been.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Simple Yes\/No Questions <\/strong><\/h3>\n

As you may have noticed on the above tables, we can easily form a simple yes\/no question by inverting \u2018the subject\u2019 and \u2018the verb to be\u2019. Examples:<\/p>\n

Positive: They are<\/strong> Chinese.<\/p>\n

Question: Are they<\/strong> Chinese?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Positive: She was<\/strong> a nurse three years ago.<\/p>\n

Question: Was she<\/strong> a nurse three years ago?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To answer the question, we can use the following:<\/p>\n

Positive Answer: Yes, they are (Yes, they\u2019re).<\/p>\n

Negative Answer: No, they are not (No, they\u2019re not or<\/em> No, they aren\u2019t).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Positive Answer: Yes, she was.<\/p>\n

Negative Answer: No, she was not (No, she wasn\u2019t).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Please note that you need to exchange the subject \u2018you\u2019 become \u2018I\u2019 when answering the question.<\/p>\n

Question: Are you<\/strong> a dog lover?<\/p>\n

Positive Answer: Yes, I am.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Negative Answer: No. I am <\/strong>not (No, I\u2019m<\/strong> not).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let\u2019s learn English today! Join us at LingoCards<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The verb to be is probabl…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":3103,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[201],"class_list":["post-3102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english","tag-verbs","pmpro-has-access"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lingo-apps.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lingo-apps.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lingo-apps.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lingo-apps.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lingo-apps.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3102"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lingo-apps.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4120,"href":"https:\/\/lingo-apps.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3102\/revisions\/4120"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lingo-apps.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lingo-apps.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lingo-apps.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lingo-apps.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}