THE FORMATION OF TENSES OF THE VERB ‘TO BE’

A general (although not complete) overview

The verb ‘to be’ is used as an ordinary verb and as an auxiliary verb.
 As an ordinary verb ‘be’ is used to express the state of things and people, it describes and gives
information about a person or thing:
o Look at the state the dog is in! It’s covered in mud.
o How old are you? I’m 27 years old and my brother is 24.
o John is hungry. Are you hungry too?
 As an auxiliary verb ‘be’ is used together with the present participle (-ing form) of active verbs
to form the continuous (sometimes called the progressive) active form.
o What are you doing? I’m washing the dishes.
o Mum, John isn’t doing his homework. He’s watching a film on his iPad.
 ‘Be’ is used in all passive forms together with the past particle of the main verb. The passive
form is one of the few verb constructions in which ‘being’ is used.
o They grow coffee beans in Brazil. - Coffee beans are grown in Brazil.
o Did John win the race? - Was the race won by John?
o They are building a hotel here. - A hotel is being built here.
Because of its many irregularities and uses students tend to believe that the more they study English the more difficult
the use of this verb will become. The following table wants to assure them that this is not true. In fact, the present
tense, which is usually the first verb tense they encounter is the most irregular construction and from then on things get
easier.

Verb tense pronouns Form of ‘be’ - Affirmative

Simple present (ordinary) I am
he/she/it is
you (sing.)/we, you, they are
Simple past I, he/she/it was
we, you, they were
“Future” simple I, you, he/she/it/we, you, they will + be *
Present Continuous I am + watching
(auxiliary) he/she/it is + working
we, you, they are + playing
Past Continuous I, he/she/it was + going
we, you, they were + going
Future continuous I, you, he/she/it, we, you, they will + be + going *
Present Perfect Simple I, you, we, you, they have been
he/she/it has been
Past Perfect Simple I, you, he/she/it, we, you, they had been *
Future Perfect Simple I, you, he/she/it, we, you, they will + have been *
Present Perfect Continuous I, you, we, you, they have been + watching
he/she/it has been + working
Past Perfect Continuous I, you, he/she/it, we, you, they had been + playing *
Future Perfect Continuous I, you, he/she/it, we, you, they will + have been + playing *
*The basic (infinite) form is used for all subjects and pronouns.
The exceptions are only in the 1st (I) and 3rd person (he/she/it) in the present tense, and in the 1st and 3rd person singular
in the past tense. Only in the construction of Present Perfect tenses the 3rd person singular (he/she/it) uses ‘has’ instead
of ‘have’.

Nota: the verb ‘to be’, verbs used as auxiliaries, together with all modal verbs follow the same pattern when forming
questions and negative sentences.

Are you English? - Is he hungry? - Were you in Milan, yesterday? - Will you be having a party next
week?
You aren’t English - She isn’t hungry - They hadn’t been to London - We haven’t been paying attention.