Be Verb

Basic Tenses: Be

Below, we have included all the basic tenses with the verb be. We have included the affirmative or positive form (+), the negative form (-) and the interrogative or question form (?). The basic structure is: positive (+): subject + auxiliary verb + main verb negative (-): subject + auxiliary verb + not + main verb question (?): auxiliary verb + subject + main verb However, the simple past and the simple present have a different structure. For these, there is no auxiliary verb. See below for details: positive (+): subject + main verb negative (-): subject + main verb + not question (?): main verb + subject These are the forms of the main verb be that we use to construct the tenses:

base	past simple	past participle	present participle	present simple
be	was, were	been	being	am, are, is

		past	present	future
SIMPLE present simple or past simple (except future: will + be)	+	I was	I am	I will be
	–	I was not	I am not	I will not be
	?	Was I?	Am I?	Will I be?
SIMPLE PERFECT have + been	+	I had been	I have been	I will have been
	–	I had not been	I have not been	I will have not been
	?	Had I been?	Have I been?	Will I have been?
CONTINUOUS be + being	+	I was being	I am being	I will be being
	–	I was not being	I am not being	I will not be being
	?	Was I being?	Am I being?	Will I be being?
CONTINUOUS PERFECT have been + being	+	I had been being	I have been being	I will have been being
	–	I had not been being	I have not been being	I will not have been being
	?	Had I been being?	Have I been being?	Will I have been being?

Below, we have conjugated be in 12 basic tenses.

SIMPLE		past	present	future
singular	I	was	am	will be
	You	were	are	will be
	he/she/it	was	is	will be
plural	we	were	are	will be
	You	were	are	will be
	They	were	are	will be
PERFECT		past	present	future
singular	I	had been	have been	will have been
	You	had been	have been	will have been
	he/she/it	had been	has been	will have been
plural	we	had been	have been	will have been
	you	had been	have been	will have been
	they	had been	have been	will have been
CONTINUOUS		past	present	future
singular	I	was being	am being	will be being
	You	were being	are being	will be being
	he/she/it	was being	is being	will be being
plural	we	were being	are being	will be being
	you	were being	are being	will be being
	They	were being	are being	will be being
CONTINUOUS PERFECT		past	present	future
singular	I	had been being	have been being	will have been being
	You	had been being	have been being	will have been being
	he/she/it	had been being	has been being	will have been being
plural	we	had been being	have been being	will have been being
	you	had been being	have been being	will have been being
	they	had been being	have been being	will have been being

Examples Of Be Verb

Be

• Tim might be with her again.
• She should be here.
• He needs to be on time.
• Be happy about the new job.
• Please be nice to your brother.

Is / Am / Are

• She is not here with us.
• Jack is a teacher.
• Is it ready to eat?
• Bill is in the back of the building.
• Why is he not at work?
• My dog is outside playing.
• Timmy is playing with his sister.
• Francis is speaking to the crowd.
• Her cat is drinking the milk.
• I am really tired of working with her.
• I am in the car.
• We are going to see our mom.
• They are helping the children.
• They are coming over at 10PM.
• You are not going with them.
• Tim and Bill are driving on the highway.
• We are not speaking to him.
• The girls are swimming in the pool.
• They are not happy with her.
• We are not going to the party.

Was / Were

• She was late again!
• Your dog was a lot of fun to play with.
• They were living in Tim’s house.
• We were not around yesterday.
• They were not in the car when I called.
• I was not with them yesterday.

Been

• He has been to France many times.
• They have never been over to my house.
• They have been giving them money for a long time.

Being

• Being in good shape is important.
• I know that being late to work is not good.
• She was being really mean to me.