Verb to be

The verb to be in the present

Singular Plural

1st person I am We are

2nd person You are You are

3rd person He/She/It They are

is
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Sauri, A Persistent Worker
A: Hi! How are you?
B: Fine Thank you. Where were you yesterday, Sauri?
A: Oh, I was at the Students Community Service meeting. You see, Indonesia is
an agricultural country. A large number of its population are farmers.
Therefore, agricultural engineers are a necessity for the promotion of
Indonesian development programs. Our programs at the KKN are also trying
to help Indonesian farmers in the rural areas.
B: Well, better you than me. Now I am still unemployed. A year after graduation,
because of the scarcity of jobs, I am jobless
A: I tell you, I am not going to spend my time doing nothing. I am busy now with
the KKN programs, but at home I have my own business.
B: Your own business? You mean your quail business?
A: You see, I always try to be self-reliant. I dont want to depend on other people
or institutions for employment.
B: You know You are self-reliant and, above all, persistent. I am sure you will
succeed in your enterprise
A: I hope so Right know I have about fifteen people working for me. Of
course, I will be very happy if you will join me
B: You got yourself a deal, Sauri
(Both shake hands)
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 is
Used for the singular subject
are
For the plural subject
am
For the first person singular subject I

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 I. SUBJECT TO BE PREDICATE NOUN
Dang is a horticulturalist
They are farmers
I am a student

II. SUBJECT TO BE PREDICATE ADJECTIVE

The tomatoes are ripe
The soil is stony
She is brilliant

III. SUBJECT TO BE PREDICATE ADVERB

They are at a conference
The eggplants are in a box
The teacher is in the classroom
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 THE VERB TO BE AND THE EXPLETIVE
THERE AS A SUBSTITUTE SUBJECT
The verb to be is also used with the
expletive there as a substitute subject.
Note that in a sentence with the expletive
there, the verb agrees with the actual
subject that follows

EXPLETIVE TO BE SUBJECT
There are twenty officers in the KUD
There is a Kalpataru award for the winter

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 The past tense of the verb to
be
Present Past Tense
Tense
am,is was

are were

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 Example:
1. Mr. Dadang was Director General of the
Department of Agriculture from 1960 to 1966
2. There were plantations during the Dutch colonial
period in Indonesia
3. We were in Bali last year observing the Balinese
traditional subak irrigation system
4. I was at a conference between nine and eleven
oclock yesterday morning

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 SENTENCE
TRANSFORMATION
In conversations, people employ different
types of sentences as statements,
questions and negation
In English these different types of
sentences have different word order
A sentence employing the verb to be is
changed into a question by placing the
verb to be in front of the statement. A
negative is formed by adding the
negation not to the sentence
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 Example:
Jatiluhur Dam is in West Java. (Statement)
Is Jatiluhur Dam in West Java? (Interrogative)
Jatiluhur Dam is not in Sumatra (Negative)
Where is Jatiluhur Dam? (Question with the question word where)

There are two water buffalos in the paddy field. (Statement)

Are there two water buffalos in the paddy field? (Interrogative)
There are not (arent) any water buffalos in the paddy field. (Negative)
How many water buffalos are there in the paddy field? (Question with
the question word How)

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Make sentences of your own using the forms of the verb to be in
the patterns you have learned. Your sentences should concern
with the field of agricultural engineering.

Example:
1. The new eggplant variety is resistant to pest.
2. There are ten dairy farmers in the new transmigration
area
3. The cost of maintenance of farm equipment is high
4. There is not one good rice harvest in the area this year
5. The new farm equipment is a two-wheel hand tractor.

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 Change each of the sentences below to
the interrogative and negative

Example:
He is at a meeting now
Is he at a meeting now?
He is not at a meeting now

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 Horticultural Products
1. There are several kinds of pepper
2. One type is the long hot pepper
3. Another type is the big, round sweet pepper
4. The bulbous onion is white and yellowish
5. The green onion is long and green
6. Shallots are a type of the onion family
7. Turmeric is the English equivalent of Curcuma domestica
8. Kamferia galanga, Curcuma anthorrhiza and Zingiber
officinale or ginger are indigenous plants of Indonesia
9. These rhizome plants or tuber roots are basic ingredients in
the making of herbal medicines
10. Herbal medicines are popular in Indonesia because
Indonesians are jamu-minded

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 11. Herbal drugs are also exported to Western
countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and
the United States
12. Now there are about one hundred jamu industries
in Indonesia
13. The most popular jamu is the Jamu Ayam in East
Java
14. Indonesian farmers are now anxious to grow the
rhizome plants
15. In the transmigration area rhizome plants such as
ginger and turmeric are cash crops

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Change the sentences above to questions with question words
such as What, Who, When, Where, How, etc whichever suits the
context of the statement.

Example 1:
They are farmers from South Sulawesi
Where are the farmers from?

Example 2:
There are five workers employed in the cottage industry in the
village
How many workers are there employed in the cottage industry
in the village?

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 Give the correct tense and form of the verb to
be
Example:
I happy now
I am happy now

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Subsistence and Cash Crops
1. Many years ago Indonesian farmers subsistence farmers.
2. Toni one of those farmers; he grew paddy and vegetables for his family
3. But now there many Indonesian commercial farmers in Java, Sumatra,
and Sulawesi.
4. Coffee, tea, corn and cassava cash crops.
5. Cassava a tropical plant with starchy roots from which tapioca is
extracted
6. Cassava common in Indonesia
7. Corn and Cassava both cash and subsistence crops
8. The Indonesian government encouraging farmers to grow cash crops
for exports.
9. KIK and KMKP small credit facilities for farmers to get loans from the
government.
10. These credit facilities beneficial to the farmers
11. Another institution beneficial to farmers the Village Unit Cooperative or
KUD
12. Most of the members of a KUD farmers.

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