What are the different forms of ‘to be’?

Most verbs in English have 5 different forms, but the verb ‘to be’ actually has 8 forms:

• be, is, am, are, was, were, been and being

To learn about is, am and are, click the link above.  The rest of this page is about the other different forms of ‘to be’.

be:

• the infinitive form.

1. With ‘to’:
Example:  It’s important to be professional.
Example:  I don’t have to be there until 8 o’clock.
Example:  Why do you want to be a teacher?

2. Without ‘to’:
Example:  I’ll be the judge of that.
Example:  You cannot be serious!
Example:  Could you please be quiet?

was, were:

• To talk about the past.

1.  If the subject is ‘I‘, a ‘he‘, a ‘she‘ or an ‘it‘, then be becomes ‘was‘.
Example:  I was the best player on the pitch.
Example:  Fernando was from Peru, but he could understand Italian quite easily.
Example:  Phoebe was reading her mail when she suddenly remembered the toast.
Example:  The house was in need of repair.

2.  If the subject is ‘you‘, a ‘we‘ or a ‘they‘, be becomes ‘were‘.
Example:  You were being quite rude, actually.
Example:  We were walking through the forest when we saw a bear.
Example:  Those clothes were in fashion last year, but nobody wears them anymore.

Past Simple Forms

been:

• For perfect tenses.

1. With ‘have’:
Example:  They’ve been playing for about 3 hours.
Example:  No, I haven’t been there before.
Example:  Where else have you been this morning?

2. With ‘had’:
Example:  Jack and Jill had been married for 2 years when they had their first baby.
Example:  I hadn’t been swimming before, but I tried to act like I knew what I was doing.
Example:  Had you been there before, or was it your first time?

being:

• The past participle form.

Example:  Could you try being a bit quieter, please.
Example:  She isn’t being very helpful.
Example:  Do you like being in this class?