Present Form of Be

Present Form of Be Grammar Instruction - Ms. Nazzal

Ms. Nazzal's ESL 3 Virtual Classes

"To Be?" What does it mean?

The Forms of “To Be” The Greek sea god, Proteus, was (like the sea) capable of changing form in an instant. In order to get any decent information out of him, you had to grab him and hold on tight while he went through his various forms — lion, wild boar, snake, tree, running stream — it wasn't easy. The verb “To be” is said to be the most protean of the English language, constantly changing form, sometimes without much of a discernible pattern. Considering that we use it so often, it is really too bad that the verb “To be” has to be the most irregular, slippery verb in the language.

The Linking and Existential 'To Be'

An auxiliary can be combined with the base form of “To be” to provide simple answers to questions that use forms of “to be.”

. “Is Hector in class this morning?”

. “Well, he might be.”

. “Is anyone helping Hector with his homework?”

. “I'm not sure. Suzanne could be.”

The verb “To be” also acts as a linking verb, joining the sentence subject with a subject complement or adjective complement.

The Linking and Existential 'To Be'

A linking verb provides no action to a sentence: the subject complement re-identifies the subject; the adjective complement modifies it.

. Professor Moriber is the Director of Online

. Learning. Our trip to Yellowstone was fantastic!

Simple Questions

We must choose carefully among these various forms when selecting the proper verb to go with our subject. Singular subjects require singular verbs; plural subjects require plural verbs. That's usually an easy matter.

We wouldn't write “The troops was moving to the border.” But some sentences require closer attention.

Do we write “The majority of students is (or are) voting against the referendum?"

Simple Questions

We create simple yes/no questions by inverting the order of subject and the “To be” verb.

. Is your brother taller than you?

. Am I bothering you?

. Were they embarrassed by the comedian?

The same inversion takes place when “To be” is combined with verbs in the progressive:

. Am I working with you today?

. Is it snowing in the mountains?

. Were your children driving home this weekend?

Forms of "To Be"

Look at these charts

Forms of "To Be"

Look at these examples

The Linking and Existential 'To Be'

The verb “To be” most frequently works in conjunction with another verb:

. “He is playing the piano,”

. “She will be arriving this afternoon.”

Occasionally, though, the verb will stand by itself, alone, in a sentence. This is especially true in simple, brief answers to questions.

. “Who's going to the movies with me?”

. “I am”

. “Who's responsible for this mess in the bathroom?”

. “She is.”

In sentences such as these, the subject usually receives the intonation stress and the voice falls off on the verb.

Complements

A complement (notice the spelling of the word) is any word or phrase that completes the sense of a subject, an object, or a verb. As you will see, the terminology describing predicates and complements can overlap and be a bit confusing. .

A Subject Complement

A subject complement follows a linking verb; it is normally an adjective or a noun that renames or defines in some way the subject. A glacier is a huge body of ice.Glaciers are beautiful and potentially dangerous at the same time.This glacier is not yet fully formed. (verb form acting as an adjective, a participle)

Adjective Complements

Adjective complements are also called predicate adjectives; noun complements are also called predicate nouns or predicate nominatives. See predicates, above.

. A glacier is a huge body of ice.

. Glaciers are beautiful and potentially dangerous at the same time.

. This glacier is not yet fully formed. (verb form acting as an adjective, a participle)

An object complement follows and modifies or refers to a direct object. It can be a noun or adjective or any word acting as a noun or adjective.

Some Examples

The convention named Marquez Vice President to keep him happy. (The noun "Vice President" complements the direct object "Marquez"; the adjective "happy" complements the object "him.")

The clown got the children too excited. (The participle "excited" complements the object "children.")

A Verb Complement 

A verb complement is a direct or indirect object of a verb.

. Granny left Raoul all her money. (Both "money" [the direct object] and "Raoul" [the indirect object] are said to be the verb complements of this sentence.)

. Granny left Raoul all her money. (Both "money" [the direct object] and "Raoul" [the indirect object] are said to be the verb complements of this sentence.)

In Passive Constructions

A form of the verb “To be” is combined with a past participle to form the passive. 

Passive verb constructions are useful when the subject of an action is not as important as what the subject did (the action of the sentence) or when the subject is unknown.

For instance, the police might report that “The professor was assaulted in the hallways” because they do not know the perpetrator of this heinous crime.



In Passive Constructions

In technical writing, where the process is more important than who is doing the activity, we might report that :

“Three liters of fluid is filtered through porous glass beads.”

Regardless of the verb's purpose, only the auxiliary form of “To be” changes; the participle stays the same.

The “To be” will change form to indicate whether the subject is singular or plural:

Here are some examples

. The foundation is supported by enormous floating caissons that keep it from sinking into the swamp.

. They were constructed by workers half submerged in the murky waters.

Notice how the information about who did the action is frequently found in a prepositional phrase beginning with “by.” Passive constructions do not always include this information:

. Wooden caissons were used until fiberglass structures were developed in the 1950s.

. Caissons were also designed to function under water in the construction of bridges.

“To be” changes to indicate the time of the action and the aspect of the verb

The “To be” will also change to indicate the time of the action and the aspect of the verb (simple, progressive, perfect).

. Water is pumped out of the caisson to create an underwater work chamber. (simple present)

. Some caissons were moved to other construction sites. (simple past)

. While the water was being pumped out, workers would enter the top of the waterproof chamber. (past progressive)

. Many other uses of caisson construction have been explored. (present perfect)

. Caissons had been used by the ancient Romans. (past perfect)

. Other uses will be found. (future)