Grammar-Quizzes › Verb Phrases › Verbs › Present Tense ›Be
Be (copular/linking verb)
Describe, identify or locate the subject
Static be vs. Dynamic be
| STATIC "BE" |
|---|
Be ("copula") links the subject of the clause to the following word that describes, identifies, or locates the subject. Be has no particular meaning other than "equivalent to". Be does not usually express action. |
| BE + ADJ [DESCRIBING / ASCRIPTIVE] |
Sara is beautiful. (Adj) links description to subject She is joyful. (Adj) She is very playful. (AdjP) |
| BE + NOUN (NP) [IDENTIFYING / SPECIFYING] |
She is a child. (NP) links identification to subject She is my sister. (NP) |
| BE + PREP PHRASE (PP) [LOCATING / LOCATIVE] |
She is in the garden. links location (place) to subject She is on time. links location in time to subject |
| BE + PHRASE [CIRCUMSTANCIAL OR IDENTIFYING] |
She is up to mischief. (PP) links circumstance Jack is on his way. (PP) links circumstance What he wants is justice. (What-phrase) identification |
| BE + CLAUSE [EXPLANATORY] |
The reason is he was treated unfairly. (The reason is) links content The point is everyone should be treated fairly. links content |
| DYNAMIC"BE" |
|---|
Occasionally, be has a dynamic meaning. As a lexical verb it means do, act, behave, think or achieve. Take action to change. With this meaning, the auxiliary do is used in negative sentences but not in questions. |
| IMPERATIVE |
Be all that you can be. Be a man. achieve Be joyful. behave Be quick. move, think Be there on time. arrive (not progressive) |
| NEGATIVE |
Don't be late. arrive Don't be silly. act Why don't you be serious? behave |
| PROGRESSIVE "CURRENTLY" |
She is being careful. moving, thinking You are being silly. acting, behaving |
| QUESTION "CURRENTLY" |
Are you being serious with me? thinking Are you being silly? behaving Is he being a sore loser? behaving |
| TAG-QUESTION ("AGREE WITH ME") |
You are being careful, aren't you? behaving, moving You won't be late, will you? behaving, moving |
copular verb (Adj) — a copula links the subject of a clause to the predicate, a word that describes or identifies.
silly (Adj) – joking, not serious
up to mischief (N) — acting playfully or annoyingly, bothersome
Related pages "Be"–Lexical Verb or Auxiliary? | States of Being (Static Verbs) | Been vs. Being.
"Be"
Identify something vs. describe something
Identifying (specifying) be vs. Describing (ascriptive) be
| IDENTIFYING: BE + NOUN | ||
|---|---|---|
The verb be is identifying ("specifying") when it is followed by a noun, phrase or clause that identifies the subject noun. Note that the elements before and after "be" may be interchanged without affecting meaning. Identifying be has the "reciprocal property" [A=B and B=A]. |
||
| SUBJ | PRED | COMPLEMENT |
| NP | V | DEFINITE NOUN |
Sara My little sister |
is ←→ |
my little sister. Sara. |
The neighbor you met That girl |
is ←→ |
that girl. the neighbor you met. |
| REDUCED CLAUSE | ||
Her strength Being curious |
is ←→ |
being curious. her strength. |
| CLAUSE | ||
Her strength That she is curious |
is ←→ |
that she is curious her strength. |
| PREP PHRASE | ||
Lunchtime ~At noon (Noon) |
is ←→ |
at noon. lunchtime. |
| DESCRIBING: BE + ADJECTIVE | ||
|---|---|---|
The verb be is describing ("ascriptive") when it is followed by an adjective or indefinite noun that describes a quality of the subject noun. Describing be does not have the "reciprocal property". Interchanging the words before and after be affects the meaning. [A=B but B≠A] |
||
| SUBJ | PRED | COMPLEMENT |
| NP | V | ADJECTIVE |
Sara Happy¹ |
is is ≠ |
happy. (ADJ) Sara. |
Sara |
is |
tired. a little tired. |
| INDEFINITE NOUN | ||
Sara |
is |
a pleasure. a joy. |
| INDEF NOUN PHRASE | ||
Sara |
is |
a lovely child. a joy to be with. |
| PREP PHRASE | ||
Sara In her room² |
is is ≠ |
in her room. Sara. |
ascriptive (Adj) – describing, stating the quality or character of something or someone
specifying (Adj) – identifying, telling which one
¹An adjective does not normally function as a subject (Exc: Happy is what I want to be.)
²A preposition can only function as a subject if it is identifying. (e.g., In her room is where she must stay.)
complement —an element or elements required by a word or structure to complete its meaning in the clause such as a direct object (DO), indirect object (IO), or predicative complement (PC) or a prepositional phrase (PP). The examples above are predicate complements.
reduced clause — nonfinite clause such as a gerund, infinitive or particle clause
Also see: Preps for Time–Be, Modifying Quantity Clauses with "Be" The reason is –"be" (The reason is...)
"Be" Forms
Mark first, second and third person forms
"Be" is marked for person (1st, 2nd and 3rd)
| BE | |
|---|---|
Be is unlike other verbs in that it is marked for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person am, are, and is in the present and was and were in the past. |
|
| SINGULAR | PLURAL |
I am here. (1st) I was here. |
We are here. We were here. |
You are here. (2nd) You were here. |
You (all) are here. You (all) were here. |
She/He/It is here. (3rd) She/He/It was here. |
They are here. They were here. |
| OTHER VERBS | |
|---|---|
Other verbs have one form that marks 3rd person singular as different from the rest in present tense. |
|
| SINGULAR | PLURAL |
I take classes. I took classes. |
We take classes. We took classes. |
You take classes. You took classes. |
You (all) take classes. You (all) took classes. |
She/He takes classes. She/He took classes. |
They take classes. They took classes. |
take classes — attend classes I take classes at the community center. (a series); But: I have a class at 3:00 p.m. (one class)
Also see "Be"–Lexical or Auxiliary?.
"Be" not "Have"
Use be with the following expressions
Be not Have with modifiers
| BE – PHYSICAL CONDITIONS | |
|---|---|
Be is used to link comments about hunger, thirst, and other personal conditions. These are descriptive words. |
|
is afraid |
is awake |
is cold |
is hot |
is hungry |
is lucky |
is right |
is sleepy |
is thirsty |
is right |
is wrong |
is warm |
is alive |
is sick / dead |
| BE – PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS | |
|---|---|
Be is also used to link comments about age, height, weight, size and color. Note that we use be not have for age. |
|
is five-years-old (age) |
is young (age) |
is thirty (age) |
is old (age) |
is tall (height) |
is short (height) |
is light (weight) |
is heavy (weight) |
is ten-feet long (length) |
is one-inch wide (width) |
is red (color) |
is striped (pattern) |
is size 8 (sizes) |
is 65 kilos (weight) |
Also see have expressions Possession States.
"Be"
Understand be as an auxiliary verb vs. a lexical verb
"Be" Lexical vs. Auxiliary
| LEXICAL PROPERTIES |
|---|
A lexical verb has a dictionary meaning (e.g., walk, read) an auxiliary verb combines with other verbs to form meaning (e.g., do, has, is). Be has characteristics of both lexical and auxiliary verbs. As a lexical verb, be can be inflected with tense and person or exist as the main verb of a sentence. |
| ASCRIPTIVE – EQUATES A QUALITY TO SOMEONE OR SOMETHING |
Charlie is a clever student. |
Charlie isn't a clever student. (inflects with negation) |
Is Charlie ___ a clever student? (inverts the auxiliary with the subject) |
Charlie is a clever student, and I am too. (is included in "and…too" expressions) |
They don't think Charlie is clever, but he is. (is used for emphasis) |
Charlie is a clever student, isn't he? (negative aux. tagged-on as question) |
| IDENTIFYING – TELLS WHICH ONE OR WHICH PERSON |
Charlie is the troublemaker. |
| MOTIONAL |
Charlie has been to the principal's office twice already. (has gone) |
| LEXICAL – BECOME (DYNAMIC VERB) |
Why don't you be more considerate? Note the "do" support! |
|
|
| AUXILIARY PROPERTIES |
|---|
Be as an auxiliary verb expresses no particular meaning; it combines with other verbs to form tenses: progressive, passive, or quasi-modal. The auxiliary be (not do) is used in marking a negation, a question, a tag- question or a paired conjunction/negation. |
| PROGRESSIVE |
Charlie was raising his hand. |
Charlie wasn't raising his hand. (negation) |
Was Charlie ___ raising his hand? (question) |
Charlie was raising his hand, and I was too. (paired conj.) |
The teacher didn't think Charlie was raising his hand, but he was. (paired neg.) |
Charlie was raising his hand, wasn't he? (tag-question) |
| PASSIVE |
Charlie was told to sit down. |
| PASSIVE PROGRESSIVE |
Charlie was being kept in the Principal's office. (aux + gerund-participle + past part.) |
| *QUASI-MODAL – will / be going to |
You are not to tell anyone. * Occurs only as a primary form. See Am going to / Am to |
Charlie is not to raise his hand again. |
Are we to be here all day? |
Lexical vs. Auxiliary Verb—lexical verbs have dictionary meaning; auxiliary verbs combine with other verbs to form meaning.
Also see Specifying "be".
NICE Properties (Huddleston 3 §2) (Payne 11.1) (Aarts 3.6.3.1)
Common Mistakes
Errors and Solutions
Error and Solution
| ERROR |
|---|
I sleepy. |
It strange to see that. |
He have twenty-one years. |
I have cold. |
"Hello. May I speak to Albert." "This is him." |
| SOLUTION |
|---|
I am sleepy. (Missing verb–use be as the verb.) |
It is strange to see that. (Missing verb–use be as the verb.) |
He is twenty-one-years old. (Use be not have.) |
I am cold. cold (Adj) – chilly / I have a cold. a cold (N) – a common illness that affects the nose |
This is he. / This is him. See Pronouns after "be" |
Related Article: "Make-or-Break Verbs", New York Times, Web 16 Apr 2012 Story
Grammar Notes (Advanced)
Traditional and Linguistic Description
Traditional and Linguistic Description
| TRADITIONAL DESCRIPTION |
|---|
The Verb Be—A sentence with be as the main verb has three basic patterns. (Azar A-5)
Linking Verbs—Other verbs like be that may be followed immediately by an adjective are called "linking verbs." An adjective following a linking verb describes the subject of a sentence. (Azar A-6)
|
|
| LINGUISTIC DESCRIPTION |
|---|
Copular verbs (or copulas) are used to associate some attribute, expressed by the subject predicative following the verb, with the subject of the clause. You're stupid. The copula be links the attribute very stupid with the subject you.
A few verbs that function as copulas:
Predicatives are depictive (seem) or resultative (became). (Huddleston 4 §4.5) There are two kinds of copular clauses. (Huddleston 4 §5)
There are two syntactically distinct be verbs in English: a lexical main verb and an auxiliary. The syntactic differences of the two bes are related to the semantic difference between stativity and activity. (Payne 269) |
|
Word Categories: N – Noun; V – Verb; Aux – Auxiliary; Adj – Adjective; Adv – Adverb; P –Preposition; Det –Determiner.
Phrasal Categories: NP – Noun Phrase; VP – Verb Phrase; AdjP – Adjective Phrase; AdvP – Adverb Phrase; PP – Prepositional Phrase; DP – Determinative Phrase.
Clausal Categories: Cls – clause; F – finite clause; NF – nonfinite clause (Ger – gerund; Inf – infinitive; PPart – past participle).
Word Functions: Subj – subject; Pred – predicate/predicator; Comp – complement: an element or elements required by a word or structure to complete its meaning in the clause (e.g., DO – direct object; IO – indirect object; PP - prep. phrase); Adjunct – adjunct: elements not required by an expression to complete its meaning (Subord – subordinator; Coord – coordinator); Supl – supplement: a clause or phrase added onto a clause that is not closely related to the central thought or structure of the main clause.
Works Cited
- Aarts, Bas. Oxford Modern English Grammar. Oxford UP, 2011.
- Azar, Betty Schrampfer, and Stacy A. Hagen. Understanding and Using English Grammar. 4th ed., Pearson Education, 2009.
- Biber, Douglas, and Stig Johansson, et al. Longman Grammar Of Spoken And Written English. Pearson Education, 1999.
- Huddleston, Rodney D., and Geoffrey K. Pullum. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge UP, 2002.
- Payne, Thomas Edward. Understanding English Grammar: A Linguistic Introduction. Cambridge UP, 2011.
- Swan, Michael. Practical English Usage. 3rd ed., Oxford UP, 2005.
Practice 1
Robert
Complete the paragraph with the correct verb forms.
- Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence.
- Compare your response to the feedback by clicking the "check" button.
¹ protest (V) — strongly disagree, claim unfairness or injustice
² slobbery (Adj) — disagreeably wet, dripping with saliva
Practice 2
Identifying, Describing and Locating
Does the information following "be" identify, describe or locate the subject?
- Select an option
- Compare your response to the feedback by clicking the "check " button at the bottom.
Practice 3
Career Work
Read for Errors
Rudy a computer programmer. He gets up early and in his office by 9 a.m. every day. He very skillful and does good work. He at his desk probably 14 hours a day. He a clever person. Often he tired at night and don't want to go out.
He in a bad mood. So, he sit and watch TV and be quiet. Maybe he in the wrong job. If he unhappy, he should get a better job, but for now his salary good. So, he will stay in his job for a while longer.
programmer (N) –a person who writes programs or applications for computers
salary (N) – money that one receives for working
Edit for Errors
- Edit the sentence(s) in the text box.
- Compare your response to the feedback by clicking the "Check" or the "Check 1-10" button.