| Be
|
(used
with modals, after "to")
(imperative form) |
|
|
(present
tense) |
| Was
Were |
(past
tense) |
| Been
|
(past
participle) |
| Being |
(-ing
form, gerund) |
| Examples
of usage |
I
will be there tomorrow.
I might be late. |
(use
"be" after modals) |
He
wants to be an astronaut.
"To be or not to be;" that is the question. |
(use
"be" with "to" in the infinitive) |
Be
nice now.
Please be quiet. |
(use
"be" in the imperative) |
Bill
is sick today.
She is a doctor.
It is not time yet. |
(use
"is" with he/she/it in the present tense) |
Bill's
sick today
She's a doctor.
It's not time yet. |
(use
's as the contracted form of "is") |
She
is not here right now.
She isn't here right now.
She's not here right now. |
(The
negative "is not" can be contracted in two ways.) |
Mr.
Lee is eating dinner right now.
She's talking on the phone.
Maggie's leaving tomorrow.
The dog is running down the street. |
(use
"is" with he/she/it in the present continuous)
(note the usage of contracted form) |
I
am a lawyer.
I am not a liar. |
(use "am" with I in the present tense) |
I'm
happy to be here.
I'm not going anywhere. |
(use 'm as the contracted form of "am") |
We
are at the office.
Jack and Jill are over the hill.
You are welcome anytime. |
(Use "are" with they/we/you in the present tense.) |
They're
in the building.
We're on the way.
You're kidding! |
(Use 're as the contracted form of "are") |
We
are working hard.
They are hardly working.
The boys are waiting to see her. |
(Use
"are" with you/we/they in the pres. continuous.) |
We
are not paying for the extra drink.
We're not paying for the extra drink.
We aren't paying for the extra drink. |
(The
negative "are not" can be contracted two ways.) |
I
was here yesterday, so was Tina.
It was a really nice trip.
Henry was at the dentist's for two hours. |
(Use
"was" with I/ he/she and it in the past tense.) |
We
were in Spain last week.
The Smiths were on vacation.
You were the only one here. |
(Use "were" with you/we/they in the past tense.) |
They
weren't at work yesterday.
Jared wasn't here either.
I wasn't aware of that. |
(The
only contracted forms are wasn't/weren't.) |
Rachel
has been there before.
I've never been to Maine.
We have been living here since June. |
(Use "been" after have/has/had.) |
Being
a good sport is important.
Being on time is essential. |
(Use
"being" when a gerund form of be is required.) |
You're
being selfish.
I was being a jerk. |
(Use "being" when "be" is used in the continuous.) |
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