The English Verb: to be. Basic English Grammar on "to be". Present/Past. Affirmative/Negative.

Hello there everyone!

Thank you for reading and following along. I am currently a graduate student at Ohio Dominican University studying for my Master's in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). I hope I can help you build a foundation of English through helpful diagrams and explanations. So here goes nothing... =D

The first lesson I would like to write about is the verb "to be."

 Why is it important?
Well, "to be" is one the most used verbs in the English language and should be studied carefully to master.

What does "to be" mean?
To be = used to describe a quality, identity, characteristic, condition, or, state of a person or thing.


Here is a chart I made for "to be":

to be [present tense] Affirmative Singular Verb Contraction Plural Verb Contraction I am I'm we are We're you are You're you (all) are You're he is He's they are They're she is She's it is It's [present tense] Negative Singular Verb Contraction Plural Verb Contraction I  am not am not we are not We aren't you are not you aren't you (all) are not You aren't he is not he isn't they  are not They aren't she is not she isn't  it is not it isn't [past tense] Affirmative Singular Verb Contraction Plural Verb Contraction I was [none] we were [none] you was [none] you (all) were [none] he was [none] they  were [none] she was [none] it was [none] [past tense] Negative Singular Verb Contraction Plural Verb  Contraction I was not I wasn't we were not We weren't  you were not You weren't you (all) were not You weren't he was not He wasn't they were not They weren't she was not She wasn't it was not It wasn't

Following up with some examples:

Affirmative sentences (true)

We can talk about a person in general, being singular. We can also give the person a more descriptive title, like actor or actress (a person that acts). Notice that some nouns can have a feminine(actress) and masculine(actor) version. We should talk about "things" if we use "it" as our pronoun. "It" does not refer to a person.

I am a person.                                             I am an actor.

You are a person. (Singular form)                You are an actor.

He is a person.                                             He is an actor.

She is a person.                                            She is an actress.

It is a thing.                                                   It is an animal. 

We are people.                                            We are actors / actresses. 

You are people. (Plural form)                       You are actors / actresses. 

They are people.                                          They are actors / actresses.  

Notice: In the plural form, if the entire group is female, we will use the feminine form (actresses). If the entire group is male, we will use the masculine form (actors). If there is a mixed group (both male and female), we will use the masculine form (actors). 

Negative sentences (false)

Using the negative form of the verb "to be" means that we are saying something is not true. 

We can use a general term like animal, or we can be more specific and pick an animal. I am in fact not an animal. I am a person. I am a human. When referring to "it" we have to use a non-person or animal. So we can use the negative form with person because "it" is not a person. 

I am not an animal.                                 I am not a cat.

You are not an animal.                           You are not a dog.

He is not an animal.                                He is not a bird.

She is not an animal.                               She is not a squirrel.

It is not a person.                                    It is not a human.                         human = person

We are not animals.                                 We are not cats.

You are not animals.                                You are not dogs.

They are not animals.                               They are not birds.

Note: When we use the plural form of the verb, we must make sure our nouns change to match our singularity or plurality. 

Past tense sentences (Affirmative and Negative)

Using the past tense of the verb means that we are talking about something that already happened. 

We usually talk about feelings, needs, or emotions to express past events. Hunger and thirst are typical examples of human needs. If we eat or drink, our needs are met. Then our hunger and thirst are in the past.

Thirsty = to have thirst(need water)        Hunger = to be hungry (need food)

I was hungry                           I was not hungry.

You were hungry.                   You were not hungry.

He was thirsty.                        He was not thirsty.

She was thirsty.                       She was not thirsty.

It was thirsty.                           It was not thirsty.

We are hungry.                       We are not hungry.

You are thirsty.                       You are not thirsty.

They are hungry.                      They are not hungry. 

I hope this was not too confusing. Please let me know how I could add or modify this modest lesson to better fit your English needs! 

Thanks for reading! I look forward to your comments and questions.