The verb 'be'

The Verb "Be"

General form:

The verb be takes on different forms in the present and past.

	Present	Past	Contraction
I	am	was	I’m
He	is	was	He’s
She	is	was	She’s
It	is	was	It’s
You	are	were	You’re
They	are	were	They’re
We	are	were	We’re

The verb be in  Simple Present Tense indicates existence, temporary condition or permanent status.

Examples:

It is really hot today.
Grady's not here right now.
Greg and Tim are engineers.
Trudy was sick yesterday.
Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean.

The base form is be, the past participle is been, and the -ing form is being.

I'll be back tomorrow.
He has been a doctor since 1998.
She is being nice today.

The base form is be, the past participle is been, and the -ing form is being.

Examples:

I'll be back tomorrow.
He has been a doctor since 1998.
She is being nice today.

The verb be is also used in progressive tenses, passives and prepositional collocations:

Progressive tenses

Examples:

He is writing a letter to his brother.
Jeff was cleaning the house this morning.
The Holleys have been living there since April.

Passive voice:

Examples:

The people were surprised by the news.
Craig was stopped by the policeman.

Prepositional collocations:

Examples:

Tracy is fond of chocolates.
Cassie is not afraid of snakes.
I'm interested in making money.