Rules for using the verb to. The use of the modal verb be to in English. How to learn the conjugation of the verb to be forever

To be - the basis of English grammar. If you misunderstood or under-learned this material, then your entire study of English is likely to be of little success. Therefore, if you feel that there is a gap somewhere in this material, then it is better to stay longer on this page.

Drawing. Conjugation of the verb to be (am, is, are) in the present tense

This verb is translated as "to be, to exist, to be available, to be." In short, everything that in Russian is translated as “eat” (not in the sense of “eat”) is translated into English by this verb.

the whole problem and the difficulty is that in Russian this verb is omitted:

This is an apple = This is an apple
She is a doctor = She is a doctor

Agree, we do not use the second options. But the translation of such sentences should correspond to the second option.

Difficulty #2 is that to be changes its form depending on which pronoun it comes after. In view of the foregoing, the forms of this verb look like this.

Table.

Easy to remember: plural to be always takes shape are . We already know about the pronoun you that in both translations - “you” and “you” - it is still put in the plural. It remains only to remember I am and He/ She/ It is .

Naturally, the same rules apply to nouns that can be replaced by these pronouns.

He is in the office.
Lara (=She) is beautiful.
These apples (=they) are not fresh.

Negative and interrogative forms to be

To get a negation, put after the form to be particle not .

His friend is not (=isn't) young.
We are not (=aren't students).

As for the questions, the form to be placed at the very beginning of the question - before the subject. That is,

to make a question out of a statement, you just need to swap the subject and predicate.

They are in the cinema.
They aren't in the cinema.
Are they in the cinema?
Where are they?

It is with this verb that you need to start studying English grammar. Verbs in English language do not change by person, but the verb to be is an exception. With the help of this verb, we will learn how to compose simple sentences which do not contain a verb in Russian, for example, “I am a student”, “He is at home”, “This is interesting”, etc. In English, it is unacceptable to compose without a verb that performs an action, and to be serves as a linking verb. For example, to say “I am a student”, we must insert the correct form of the linking verb to be and, as a result, the sentence will take on the meaning “I am a student” - “I (are) a student”.

Present tense forms of the verb to be

In the present tense, the verb to be has three forms: AM, IS, ARE:

Remember: to be and AM, IS, ARE are not 4 different ones, but forms the same verb:

(We hope our dragon will help you remember this)

Consider how the verb to be changes in the present tense

affirmative form

We are friends - we are friends
They are busy - they are busy
The book is thick - the book is thick
It is a cat - this is a cat
She is clever - she is smart

negative form

To form the negative form of the conjugation of this verb, you need to put the negative particle “not” after one of necessary forms verb (am, is or are). Here are some examples of negative sentences:

I am not hungry - I am not hungry
He is not busy - he is not busy
The room is not big - the room is not big

Interrogative form

To form an interrogative form, you need to put the appropriate form of the verb (am, is or are) at the beginning of the sentence:

Are you Peter? Are you Pete?
This room? – Is this a room?
You are hungry? Are you hungry?
He is busy? – Is he busy?

To understand how verbs live in English, let's first remember at least one Russian verb in its initial form, for example, the verb "live". As you know, the verbs of the Russian language in the initial form end in "-t", and later, when conjugated, the ending changes. With regard to English, the verb in the initial form is used together with the particle to, for example, we say to be - would be, find be sya, i.e. if the particle to precedes the verb, this means that the verb is in the initial form, and when the verb is used with persons, this particle is omitted. Let's give an example: “To be or not to be” - there are two verbs in the sentence - both in the initial form, and they must be used together with the particle to, and, accordingly, we will translate into English as “to be or not to be”. If we have before us the sentence “I (am) a student”, i.e. Since we have changed the verb to match the person of the subject, the particle to is omitted and the proper form of the verb is used, in this case am.
Unlike the verb to be, other verbs in English do not conjugate, for example, the verbs “live, sit, love” in the initial form are translated into English “to live, to sit, to love”, i.e. with particle to, and when conjugated - without to, for example, “I live, sit, love” will be translated into English as “I live, sit, love”, i.e. the initial form of a verb in English without a particletonot used, but when conjugatedtogoes down. The initial form in English is called the Infinitive - Infinitive.

More about the particle to watch our video tutorial:

Verb conjugations tobe in present time

Now let's learn how the verb to be changes (conjugates) in the present tense. As mentioned above, in Russian sentences like “I am a student, she is a doctor, we are workers” are formed without a predicate verb. But to translate these sentences into English, you need to put the appropriate form to be after the subject - “I am a pupil, she is a doctor, we are workers”.

Pay attention to the translation of the following sentences in the affirmative, negative and interrogative forms into English:

Verb conjugations tobe in past and future tense

In the past tense, the verb to be has two forms - was and were (was, was, were)

In the future tense, the verb to be is conjugated as follows

Note: In modern English the form shall is of little use for the formation of the future tense of verbs (although its use is not a grammatical error), for all persons the form is used will. Therefore, sometimes there is a discrepancy in different textbooks.

To summarize, consider the following table:

I bring to your attention a few commonly used expressions with the verb to be which you should learn and conjugate yourself according to the conjugation table:

To be happy / unhappy - to be happy / unhappy
To be glad - to be joyful
To be hungry / to be full up - to be hungry / full
To be fond of - love, get involved in something
To be busy - to be busy
To be late (for) - to be late (on)
To be in time for - be on time
To be present at - attend (for example, in a lesson)
To be absent (from) - absent
To be married - to be married / married
To be single - to be single / not married
To be lucky - to be lucky
To be ready (for) - to be ready (to, for example, a lesson)
To be afraid (of) - to be afraid
To be interested (in) - be interested in something
To be ill / well - get sick / feel good
To be angry (with) - angry, angry (at someone)

Let's conjugate together the expression to be married in the affirmative, interrogative and negative sentences. What did you get?

“To be or not to be” is a question that is relevant not only for Shakespeare's characters, but also for those who are working to improve their level of English proficiency. to be has a very wide scope in the English language, it is both a semantic verb, and part of numerous set expressions, and an auxiliary, and even a modal verb. But first things first!

Meaning of the verb to be

The original and basic meaning of this verb is "to be, to be, to be." Quite often, a predicate is added to it - the nominal part of the compound predicate - in the form of an adjective, noun or some kind of phrase with a preposition, for example:

As can be seen from the example of the sentences in the table, the verb to be in the present tense, it is often simply not translated into Russian. Hence its colloquial name, adopted among English language learners - "connective verb" - that is, a verb that is more necessary to connect the semantic parts of a sentence.

In addition, there are a large number of set expressions with the verb to be, giving it special importance. .

Forms of the verb to be

Whatever role the verb to be plays in a sentence, it is extremely important to know its form formation, because its forms (as well as the forms of its Russian counterpart “to be”) are often completely different from the original form (infinitive) - to be. So, for example, the basis of the foundations for English learners is knowledge of the forms of the verb to be (the Present simple tense):

I am - I am

he / she / it is - he / she / it is

you / we / they are - you (you, you) / we / they are

Here are possible cuts, in which the verb is connected to the pronoun, and an apostrophe appears in place of the "runaway" letter:

I am	I'm
you are	you're
he is	he's
she is	she's
it is	it's
we are	we're
they are	they're

It is also important to firmly understand simple past forms(the Past Simple Tense) of this verb:

It is also obligatory to memorize three main forms verb to be, since it belongs to the group of irregular verbs:

the Infinitive (infinitive)	the Past Simple Tense (past simple tense)	thePast Participle (past participle)
to be	was/were	been

All tense forms of the verb to be can be represented in the following table:

	*Simple*	Continuous*	*Perfect*	*Perfect Continuous*
*present*	the Present Simple Tense am/is/are	the presentContinuousTense am/is/are being	the Present Perfect Tense have/has been	form is not used
*Past*	the Past Simple Tense was/were	the PastContinuousTense was/werebeing	the past perfect Tense had been	form is not used
*Future*	the Future Simple Tense will be	the futureContinuousTense will bebeing	the Future Perfect Tense will have been	form is not used

* The verb to be is rarely used in group tenses Continuous , since its lexical meaning - "to be" - usually implies some kind of constant characteristic, for example, to be lazy - to be lazy, which means that it is more typical for it to be used in group times Simple . However, in cases where the unusual situation or behavior of a person is implied, such use is the norm, for example:

Use in Continuous also allowed if we are talking about a repetitive and rather boring process. In this case, this temporary form is mainly responsible for the expressiveness and expressiveness of the sentence (in other cases, regularly repeated actions that do not cause irritation are the scope of Simple use):

Sue is always being late for work! It drives me mad!

Sue is always late for work! This drives me crazy!

Consider examples of sentences with the verb to be in various tense forms:

	*Simple*	Continuous*	*Perfect*
*present*	the Present Simple Tense *Sam is late for school. -* *Sam is late for school.*	the present Continuous Tense Sam is being late for school again! It annoys everyone.Sam is late for school again! It annoys everyone.	the Present Perfect Tense *Sam* *has been* *late for school. So he has missed some important information. -* *Sam was late for school. So he missed some important information.*
*Past*	the P as t Simple Tense *Sam was* *late for school yesterday. -* *Sam was late for school yesterday.*	the Past Continuous Tense Sam wasbeing late for school again yesterday! It announced everyone.Sam was late for school again yesterday! This irritated everyone.	the Past Perfect Tense *Sam* *had been* *late for school* *for* *man* *y times before he had to visit the headmaster. -* *Sam was late for school many times before he had to go to the headmaster.*
*Future*	the Future Simple Tense *Sam will be* *late for school tomorrow.* – *Sam will be late for school tomorrow.*	the future Continuous Tense Sam will bebeing late for school again and again! I suppose it will annoy everyone.Sam will be late for school again and again! I suspect this will irritate everyone.	the Future Perfect Tense *Sam* *will have been* *late for school twice by that time.* *Sam will be late for school twice by then.*

Scopes of the verb to be

This verb finds its use in English in the following cases:

as semantic verb with the meaning "to be":

James is an engineer.	James is an engineer.
This game can be very funny.	This game can be very funny.
Be careful!	Be careful!
Mary is very shy.	Mary is very shy.
My parents were at home when we arrived.	My parents were at home when we arrived.

as auxiliary verb for the following grammatical constructions:
group times Continuous and Perfect Continuous:

We are working at the project now. (Present Continuous)	We are currently working on a project.
I was drawing a picture when the teacher came. (Past Continuous)	I was painting a picture when the teacher came in.
The students will be working in the garden on Monday from 10 to 12 o'clock. (Future Continuous)	The students will work in the garden on Monday from 10 am to 12 pm.
I have been waiting for you since morning. (Present Perfect Continuous)	I've been waiting for you since morning.
They had been living in that house for 20 years by the time the landlord decided to sell it. (Past perfect continuous)	They had lived in the house for 20 years by the time the landlord decided to sell it.
By 2017 Sam will have been working at this factory for 20 years. (Future Perfect Continuous)	In 2017, it will be 20 years since Sam has been working at this factory.

This newspaper is usually sold very quickly. (Present Simple Passive)	This newspaper usually sells out very quickly.
The game was lost despite our hard training. (Past Simple Passive)	The game was lost despite our hard training.
your car will be fixed in two days. (Future Simple Passive)	Your car will be repaired in two days.
. Johnsis being examined by the doctor at the moment. (Present Continuous Passive)	Mr. Jones is currently being examined by a doctor.
my car has been repaired so I can drive home. (Present Perfect Passive)	My car is fixed so I can drive home.

as component part There is/ are(is / is):

There is a new supermarket near the museum.

There is a new supermarket next to the museum.

as component part common design to begoing to(to intend/intend):

as modal verb with the particle to and with the meaning of obligation due to some plan or agreement:

as base element phrasal verbs:

to be about— intend/intend

I am about leaving him with his crazy ideas. -I'm about to leave him with his crazy ideas.

to be ongo (about a TV show, movie or play)

— What is on?

— An old film. Would you like to watch it?

— What's coming?

— Some old movie. Do you want to see it?

tobe back -

Now we will get acquainted with one of the most important verbs in the English language - the verb to be, which means be, exist. This verb changes its form depending on the tense and with which subject it is used. For now, we will only consider the present tense.

So, in the present tense, the verb to be has three forms: am, is, are.

I am a doctor. -I am a doctor.

I am a doctor.

He is a doctor. -He is a doctor.

He is a doctor.

You are a doctor. - You are a doctor.

You are a doctor.

The use of forms of the verb "to be"

So, let's take a closer look at in which case what form of the verb to be should be used:

Case 1. If we speak in the first person singular, i.e. we use the pronoun "I", which means "I", we use the form "am". Thus, it turns out "I am" - "I am."

I am a teacher.

I'am a teacher. (I am a teacher)

Case 2If we speak in the third person singular, using, for example, the pronouns "he, she, it", which mean "he, she, it", we use the form "is". That is, "He is" - "He is", "She is" - "She is", "It is" - "It is".

She is a teacher.

Case 3 If we say "we" which means "we", "you" which means "you" or "you", and "they" which means "they", then the form "are" must be used. For example, "We are" - "We are", or "You are" - "You are", "You are", or "They are" - "They are".

We are teachers.

We are teachers. (We are teachers)

The verb "to be" is often used in English as link between subject and object. In all the above examples, he performed exactly this function. Let's look at one of the proposals in more detail.

She is a teacher.

She is a teacher. (she is a teacher)

In this offer "She" is the subject, "a teacher" - addition, and the verb "to be" in the form "is" is a linking verb. Unlike Russian, the linking verb in English is never omitted, because English sentence has a strictly fixed word order: subject + predicate + object.

Negative form of the verb "to be"

Now let's look at how the negative form of the verb "to be" is formed. This is quite simple - in order to form a negative form, it is enough to put a negative particle "not" after the verb "to be":

I'm happy.

I am not happy.

I AM not happy.

He is a doctor

He's a doctor.

He is not a doctor.

He not doctor.

You are a teacher.

You are not a teacher

You not teacher.

Note that in colloquial speech, the negative particle "not" often merges with the verb "to be", forming cuts:


is not = isn't	He is not a doctor. = He isn't a doctor.
are not = aren't	You are not a teacher. = You aren't a teacher.

In English, there is a fixed word order, which is not mandatory in Russian: subject (subject) - predicate (predicate / verb) - object (object). In Russian, we can swap words and we don't need linking verbs.

For example, you can say: "She is happy" or "She is happy."

You can't do that in English. The sentence must contain all the main members of the sentence (subject, verb, object) and in a certain order. Therefore, if there are no other semantic verbs, the linking verb to be is used.

Unlike others English verbs, the verb to be is conjugated (i.e. changes in persons and numbers)