“To be, or not to be, that is the question…” is the opening phrase of a soliloquy (suh–lil–uh-kwee – a speech to oneself, someone talks to himself) in the “Nunnery Scene” of William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. In the speech, a despondent (sad, deeply troubled) or feigning (feyning – acting or pretending, putting on an appearance) Prince Hamlet contemplates death and suicide. He bemoans the pains and unfairness of life but acknowledges the alternative might be still worse. Sometimes non-native English speakers become despondent asking this question – or rather to use the verb BE. So I thought I would put a quick post summarizing when we use this irregular verb.
| Forms of To Be | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | Past | Perfect Form |
Continuous Form |
|
| I |
am
|
was
|
have / had been
|
am / was being
|
| he / she / it |
is
|
was
|
has / had been
|
is / was being
|
| you / we / they |
are
|
were
|
have / had been
|
are / were being
|
The verb to be is used in a number of different ways in English. Here are the main uses of the verb to be for reference, self-study and in-class use.
To be – Main Verb – Role
To be is used as a main verb to indicate the role or position that one has at work, family, or other organization.
Examples:
Jennifer is my sister.
Frank isn’t (is not) a doctor.
Alan was a guest at our house last week.
To be – Main Verb with Adjective
To be is also used as a main verb together with adjectives to express qualities about someone. It’s possible to use only adjectives with Be, or adjectives which modify other nouns.
Examples:
She is a beautiful woman.
Jack was a handsome man.
She is interesting.
They are ugly.
To be – Main Verb – Location
To be is used as a main verb to indicate location.
Examples:
They are at lunch.
Our house is in the countryside.
Alice is in the backyard.
To be – Main Verb with Comparative or Superlative Form
To be is also used with the comparative or superlative form to make comparison between people, places, objects, and ideas.
Examples:
The Mercedes is faster than the Fiat.
New York is the most exciting city in the world.
My aunt Martha is a much better cook than my mother.
To be – Auxiliary Verb
Be is also used as an auxiliary verb in continuous tenses. Remember that the auxiliary verb takes the conjugation in English, so the verb Be will change depending on the continuous tense. Here is a quick review of the tenses that use Be as an auxiliary verb:
Present Continuous: They are watching TV at the moment.
Past Continuous We were discussing the situation when he telephoned.
Present Perfect Continuous: They have been waiting for over an hour.
Future Continuous: Alex will be playing the piano at eight p.m. at the bar and grill.
Future Perfect Continuous: Max will have been playing the piano for two hours by the time he finishes.
To be – Passive Voice (subject is not doing the action)
Be is also used together with the past participle form in all passive sentences. The verb to be is always conjugated in the passive voiced and is followed by the past participle. All passive sentences have the following structure:
Passive Subject + To Be + Past Participle
Here is a quick review of the most common tenses used with to be as the conjugated verb in passive sentences:
Present simple: Many different types of cars are made in Detroit.
Present Continuous: That course is being taken by a number of students.
Past Simple: Her house was built in 1987.
Past Continuous: The ideas were being discussed while the decisions were being made.
Future with ‘Will’: She will be hired as a consultant.
Future with ‘Going to’: That book is going to be read by millions.
Present Perfect: Our vacation resort has been enjoyed by thousands.
Past Perfect: The dinner had been prepared before they arrived.
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