TO BE The auxiliary/verb

To Be as a verb after To Be is mostly used as a verb. It is a verb when it is placed after the subject in a sentence structure: S (subject) V (verb) O (object) Richard IS sick

AFTER In the preceding case, you can easily see that that to be is placed AFTER the subject making it a verb. Like any other verb, it has a subject- verb agreement. In the preceding case it is the subject, being Richard, can be replaced by the personal pronoun HE. So the subject is 3rd person singular.

Richard IS sick To BE as a verb Richard can be replaced by the personal pronoun HE because it refers to a man 3rd person singular So IS is used in this case because it is the proper subject-verb agreement structure.

To be as an auxiliary To Be is used as an auxiliary in two (2) ways. Firstly To Be is used as an auxiliary in a compound verb like in the present and past continuous tenses. These compound verbs are formed form an auxiliary (To Be) and an action verb ( ing form). Ex: They ARE RUNNING I AM skating on an ice rink We WERE looking at birds Notice that even in a compound verb, To Be as an auxiliary still has a SUBJECT-VERB agreement

Secondly, To Be is used as an auxiliary in yes/no questions. It is placed at the beginning of the question to respect the yes/no question structure A (auxiliary) + S (subject) + V (verb) + rest of question? From an affirmation using to Be as a verb, we simply change to Be from a verb to an auxiliary. In this case there will be NO verb in this form of yes/no question unless the verb in the affirmation is a compound verb

Examples of to be as an auxiliary in the simple present and present continuous tenses They ARE at the museum ARE they at the museum ? In this example using the Simple Present tense of To Be, the verb is simply moved from the verb emplacement to the auxiliary emplacement in the structure to form a yes/no question

In the case of a compound verb using to be as an auxiliary like in the present and past continuous tenses, only the auxiliary To Be changes place inside the structure. Sam WAS LOOKING at his wife. WAS sam looking at his wife ? Cindy is looking at her boyfriend IS Cindy looking at her boyfriend ?

To be in the affirmative form in the Simple Present tense AFFIRMATIONABREVIATION I AMI’M YOU AREYOU’RE HE IS (boy or man)HE’S SHE IS (girl or woman)SHE’S IT IS ( thing or animal )IT’S WE AREWE’RE YOU AREYOU’RE THEY ARETHEY’RE

TO BE in the interrogative form in the simple present tense Interrogative form Am I ________________? ARE YOU_______________? IS HE_________________? IS SHE________________? IS IT________________? ARE WE ___________________? ARE YOU____________________? ARE THEY_____________________?

TO BE in the negative form in the simple present tense Negative form Abbreviated negative form I am NOTI’m NOT You are NOTYou’re NOT He is NOTHe’s NOT She is NOTShe’s NOT It is NOTIt’s NOT We are NOTWe’re NOT You are NOTYou’re NOT They are NOTThey’re NOT

TO BE AFFIRMATIVE FORM IN THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE AFFIRMATION I WAS YOU WERE HE WAS (boy or man) SHE WAS ( girl or woman IT WAS ( thing or animal ) WE WERE YOU WERE THEY WERE

To be in the interrogative in the simple past tense Interrogative form WAS I ________________? WERE YOU_______________? WAS HE_________________? WAS SHE________________? WAS IT________________? WERE WE ___________________? WERE YOU____________________? WERE THEY_____________________?

Exercise 1 Exercise 2 Exrecise 3

TO BE IN THE NEGATIVE FORM IN THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE Negative form Abbreviated negative form I was NOTI wasn’t You were NOTYou weren’t He was NOTHe wasn’t She was NOTShe wasn’t It was NOTIt wasn’t We were NOTWe weren’t You were NOTYou weren’t They were NOTThey weren’t