To Be, or Not To Be
We explain what makes the verb “to be” so special, and go over the many forms it takes, including its conjugations and some examples.
- The verb to be indicates a state of being or existence.
- To be is an irregular verb.
- There are eight forms of the verb to be:
- ○Present: am, is, are
- ○Simple past: was, were
- ○Infinitive:mbe
- ○Present participle: being
- ○Past participle:been
As far as irregular verbs go, to be is definitely the most irregular. It’s unique in that it’s the only verb that has eight forms. Even with all of its complexities, it’s still one of the most important (and most used) verbs in English. That being said, it may be a good idea to be familiarized with all the forms of this verb.
The LanguageTool Grammar Checker can help you use verbs like to be correctly in your writing.
The Verb “To Be”
A verb is a word that defines “an action or state of being.” There are many types of verbs. Action verbs, for example, describe something that a person, animal, or object is doing. They’re usually easy to recognize:
In these examples, laughed, danced and arrived describe the action of the subject. The verb to be is not an action verb. Instead, it’s a verb that expresses a state of being. These can be more difficult to distinguish.
Forms of the Verb “To Be”
The verb to be is used to describe that state of existence of people, things, places, and ideas. To be is a unique verb because it has three forms in the present tense and two forms in the simple past:
| Infinitive | be |
| Past participle | been |
| Present participle | being |
| Present | I am, he/she/it is, we/you/they are |
| Simple past | I/he/she/it was, we/you/they were |
The correct form of the verb to be depends on the subject and the tense of the sentence.
It’s important to note that the present simple tense forms of to be are often contracted, especially in casual speech and writing.
How to Use the Verb “To Be” Properly
Remember, adding “not” after any form of the verb to be makes it a negative. For example:
Don’t be frustrated if you sometimes get the forms of to be wrong. After all, learning all of its eight forms is tricky—regardless if you’re a native speaker or English language learner. That’s why it’s a good idea to use LanguageTool to make sure all your writing is grammatically sound. Additionally, this easy-to-use writing assistant also checks for spelling errors and offers stylistic improvements. It is an astonishing tool to use to make sure your writing is flawless. You are not going to regret trying it out.
