This graphic shows how the different forms are used. (Notice that there are short forms too.) "To be" is a special verb because it can be used as a main verb or an auxiliary verb.

Learn about the different forms of the verb be and do the exercises to practise using them.

‘ to be ’ is one of the most common and most difficult verbs, so all its verb forms in all tenses are listed here. The tables also highlight the particular forms that differ from the repeating ones.

Jun 17, 2025 · Don’t be frustrated if you sometimes get the forms of to be wrong. After all, learning all of its eight forms is tricky—regardless if you’re a native speaker or English …

Be as an auxiliary verb Be is one of three auxiliary verbs in English: be, do and have. We use be to make the continuous form and the passive voice: I’m reading a book about the Titanic at the …

Dec 14, 2022 · In this guide, we explain all you need to know about grammar for the verb to be. We’ll share all the forms and when to use them and give to be examples for each type of …

Mar 1, 2024 · Throughout this post, you’ll get a chance to learn all the different English to be verb forms, learn how to use is, am, are and similar verbs, and see some special uses of this verb …

Instead of using the infinitive form for the present tense and one word for each of the standard four forms (infinitive, past tense, past participle, present participle), the verb to be uses three …

2 days ago · The verb be is irregular. It has eight different forms: be, am, is, are, was, were, being, been. The present simple and past simple tenses make more changes than those of other …

This page shows the basic English tenses with the irregular verb BE, in affirmative/positive, negative and interrogative/question forms. With example sentences.