The verb be

-

The verb be
 
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.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Delexical verbs like have, take, make and give

-
Delexical verbs like have, take, make and give   Patterns with common verbs and nouns? We often use common verbs like have and take with nouns like a shower , a drink : I took a shower = I showered. She had a drink = She drank something. We call these delexical verbs because the important part of the meaning is taken out of the verb and put into the noun . We often put adjectives in front of the noun: I took a cold shower. She had a nice, refreshing drink. The verbs used most frequently in this way are: have take make give We also use go and do as delexical verbs, but they have different patterns: Shall we go swimming this afternoon? Or shall we go for a walk ? It’s your turn to do the cooking . I’ll have to do my hair before the party. • We use have with: Food and drink: a meal; breakfast, lunch, dinner, a snack, a cup of tea Talking: a chat, a conversation, a discussion, a talk, Washing: a bath, a shower, a wash, a scrub Resting: a br
Read more

Wishes and hypotheses

-
Wishes and hypotheses   Wishes We use past tense forms to talk about wishes: We use past tense modals would and could to talk about wishes for the future : I don’t like my work. I wish I could get a better job. That’s a dreadful noise. I wish it would stop. I always have to get home early. I wish my parents would let me stay out later.  We use past tense forms to talk about wishes for the present : I don’t like this place. I wish I lived in somewhere more interesting. These seats are very uncomfortable. I wish we were travelling first class. Everyone wishes they had more free time. John wishes he wasn’t so busy. I wish it wasn’t so cold. We use the past perfect to talk about wishes for the past : I wish I had worked harder when I was at school. Mary wishes she had listened to what her mother told her. I wish I hadn’t spent so much money last month. Hypotheses (things that we imagine) When we are talking about hypotheses: We us
Read more