词汇

grammar_british-grammar_be

释义

Be

Be: forms

Be is an irregular verb with several forms:

Present: (I) am, (he, she, it) is (you, we, they) are + -ingform: being

Past: (I, he, she, it,) was, (you, we, they) were + -edform: been

I’m in college at the moment.

Where is she?

He was her first husband.

Were you at the U2 concert?

The weather has been really nice since June.

Be: uses

We use be as a main verb and an auxiliary verb.

See also:

Be as a main verb

Be as an auxiliary verb

Be as a main verb

Be as a main verb has a number of meanings.

Qualities

We use be to talk about permanent or temporary qualities or states:

He’s very rich.

My father is old now.

The weather was terrible.

The food is so good in Italy.

Warning:

When we use there as a subject with be, we use there is + singular noun and there are + plural noun:

There are lots of wonderful places to see on the south coast.

Not: There is lots of wonderful places …

See also:

There is, there’s and there are

Nationality and group identity

We use be to talk about our nationality and our identity within groups or clubs:

Is she Irish or English?

I am an Arsenal fan.

He’sbeen a member of the rowing club for twenty years.

Jobs and professions

We can use be to talk about a person’s job or profession. Note the use of a with singular names of jobs and professions:

He’s a firefighter.

Not: He’s firefighter.

Both of my brothers are policemen.

My grandmother was a nurse.

Age

We use be to talk about age:

I was seventeen when I met Bob.

Because I wasn’t eighteen, I couldn’t vote in the last election.

How old is she?

Relationships

We use be to talk how people are related:

He is my first cousin.

They are my best friends.

Are you her sister?

Place

We can use be to refer to where places and things are situated:

Her house is on the edge of the lake.

The shops are at the end of the street.

Time

We use be to talk about time and dates:

What time is it?

The match was at seven o’clock.

We are always late!

The meeting is on the fifth of October.

Behaviour and personality

We can use be to talk about behaviour and personality:

He was always gentle.

Is she nice?

The children can be rough with the new puppy.

When we talk about a way of behaving at the moment of speaking, we use the continuous form of be:

You’re being too generous.

Ignore him. He’s just being silly.

We use be to describe feelings and situations:

I was very happy.

Are you hungry?

Modal expressions with be

There are a number of expressions with be which have modal meanings, for example, be to, be able to, be allowed to, be supposed to:

Will Martin be able to get everyone in his car?

We were supposed to get there an hour ago.

See also:

Be expressions (be able to, be due to)

Modality: expressions with be

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 moment. (continuous)

What was she doing in France? (continuous)

The job was advertised last week. (passive)

The house was being painted. (continuous and passive)

Warning:

We don’t use auxiliary be to make questions with main verbs in the present simple. We use auxiliary do:

Do you live near here?

Not: Are you live near here?

See also:

Present continuous (I am working)

Past continuous (I was working)

Passive

Do as an auxiliary verb

Be: typical errors

Remember to use are for the third person plural form of be:

The company’s profits are lower this year.

Not: The company’s profits is lower this year.

We use there is + singular noun and there are + plural noun:

There are so many great restaurants here.

Not: There is so many great restaurants here.

We use auxiliary do, not auxiliary be, for questions with main verbs in the present simple:

Do you accept credit cards?

Not: Are you accept …

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