When is is put in English? Uses of was - were

You won’t envy a person learning a foreign language for the first time. A student thinks in his native language and unconsciously tries to transfer the categories, norms and rules of his language into a foreign language. Therefore, when encountering a concept or phenomenon that is absent in native speech, even elementary things seem difficult to perceive.

Often the stumbling block is the verbs am, is, are in English. It is necessary to take time and understand this issue.

Three-headed dragon To be

The verb to be has no analogue in Russian. The fact is that the verb is more of an indicator of person and number than an independent meaning. To be retains separate singular and plural forms for the first and third person in the present tense.

Other verbs retained only the ending -s, which is a sign of the 3rd person singular, for example, She speak s. The same verb in conjunction with a 1st and 2nd person pronoun will differ from the initial form to speak only in the absence of the particle to: “I speak” and “You speak”. The verbs am, is, are are forms of to be. You can focus the student’s attention on this by depicting the verb to be in the form of a dragon, and calling its heads Am, Is and Are.

Translation problems

The translation sounds like “is” or “to be.” The most common mistake young students make is trying to translate phrases like “I am Kristian” as “I am Christian.” This is a delicate moment for beginners learning a language. Such reservations should be corrected immediately.

The interaction of native and foreign languages ​​is very important for the learning process, so the translation should always sound competent and in accordance with the norms of the language. In general, everyone should memorize the verbs am, is, are.

When do they say am and is, and when do they say are?

Verbs are used in the present tense. For the past there are the forms was and were; in sentences with the future tense the form will be and very rarely - shall be. You can remember the rules for using forms of the verb to be by studying the table presented below.

As can be seen from the table, the forms am, is, was are used to denote the singular, and are and were - the plural. In modern English shall and will are considered insufficient verbs. Both verbs are used only in the form of the present tense - shall/will, and the past tense - should/would.

Shall in current English is used only in the British version. In shall has retained its modal meaning and is used only in cases where they want to talk about the inevitability of an event. In British English shall is used with the pronouns I and we, and will is used with the pronouns she, he, it. Carefully study the following table, which shows the uses of the verb shall.

Common abbreviations for spoken and written speech

When used in negative sentences, the particle not is added to all forms of the verb to be. The full spelling is rarely used; the abbreviated form of writing the negation is more common:

• I am = I"m, I am not = I"m not;
• he is = he"s, he is not = he"s not or he isn't;
• she is = she"s, she is not = she"s not or she isn't;
• it is = it"s, it is not = it"s not or it isn't;
• we are = we"re, we are not = we"re not or we aren't;
• you are = you"re, you are not = you"re not or you aren't;
• they are = they"re, they are not = they"re not or they aren't;
• I (he, she, it) was not = I (he, she, it) wasn"t;
• we (you, they) were not = we (you, they) weren't.

In common parlance and for writing, the following abbreviations of the forms will and shall are used:

• will/shall = "ll;
• will not = won't;
• shall not = shant"t;
• would/should = "d;
• would not = wouldn't;
• shouldn't = shouldn't.

As you can see, the shortened form for shall in the present and past tenses coincides with will, and in speech the difference between the use of forms has practically disappeared.

"To be or not to be" - that is the question

What does Shakespeare's famous line have to do with it?

To consolidate the rules for using the verbs am, is, are and others in practice, it is worth practicing composing affirmative, negative and interrogative sentences.

Interrogative sentences are the most effective in terms of practicing speech skills. It is necessary to train the use of the verb to be not only in the present, but also in the past and future tenses.

Another way to practice your language skills is to memorize short rhymes and poems. Studying poems in a foreign language will not only expand your knowledge of grammar, but also increase your vocabulary.

Variants of the use of the verb to be and its forms in speech

In speech, the verb to be can be used both as the main semantic predicate and as a connecting or auxiliary part of a compound predicate.

Here are examples of the most common ways to use a verb in speech:

1. The verb to be acts as the main predicate in order to emphasize membership in a particular group. For example, Sara is a florist (Sara is a florist) or Alan is my brother (Alan is my brother). In other words, the verb to be does not express an action, but states the state of an object and its belonging.
2. To be plays the role of the main word in a compound predicate along with adjectives. For example, Jilian is a beautiful young lady (Jilian is a beautiful young girl) or The TV-show is interesting (This TV show is interesting).
3. The verb is the main predicate in statements indicating a place or geographical location. For example, She is at dinner (She is at dinner) or His flat is in the center (His apartment is located in the center).
4. To be acts as a predicate in comparative constructions. For example, The light is faster than the sound.
5. The verb to be can play an auxiliary role in continuous tenses. For example, Present Continuous: They are sitting on the ground (They are now sitting on the ground); Past Continuous: We were watching the TV-show when she telephoned (When she called, we were watching the TV show); Future Continuous: Jilly will be singing tonight.
6. The verb is used to express passive tenses. In such sentences, to be is conjugated in the required tense. The semantic verb is always used in the form of the past participle - Past Participle. The form of all sentences with passive voice is the same: Passive Subject + To Be + Past Participle. For example, Past Perfect: The breakfast had been eaten before she arrived (Breakfast was eaten before she arrived) or Past Simple: His car was bought in 1995 (His car was bought in 1995).

The verb to be plays a huge role in the English language. Correct use of verb forms is necessary for beautiful and correct speech.

Knowing English opens many doors. That is why it is actively studied in almost all countries of the world. Currently, around the planet, about 2 million people use this language on a regular basis. This number includes those for whom English is their native language, as well as those who use it as a foreign language: for contacts with business partners, communication with foreign friends, entertainment of various kinds and, in fact, study. In general, learning any foreign language increases mental activity, logical and abstract thinking, as well as the ability to navigate unexpected situations.

How to Master English Grammar

For many students of English, its grammatical structure poses a certain difficulty. In reality, there is nothing complicated there (especially if you compare, for example, with the Russian language!), it is enough to understand the important patterns once and remember the basic forms well. However, memorization comes through practice: doing exercises, reading, writing letters or essays, oral communication. The best way to master English grammar is to do it the natural way.

It often happens that a person knows a rule, but cannot apply it in his speech. Such difficulties are eliminated by practice - and the more and more varied it is (writing, reading, speaking, listening), the faster and better the result.

Remember also that each person has his own, purely individual, pace of mastering new knowledge and the ability to apply it in the practice of his own speech. For example, if you are studying in a group where some students master grammatical rules faster and more correctly than you, there is no need to lose heart. Without a doubt, you too will one day begin to speak English confidently and without errors. The main thing is to keep training.

Verb forms “is”/“are”: use in speech

If you have recently started learning English, then you are familiar with this situation: you want to say something, but the fear of making a mistake gets in the way and causes timidity. To avoid this, try to understand the rule and, most importantly, practice the exercises more.

One of the common grammatical difficulties arises when the verb connectives “is”/“are” are confused. The use of these forms of the verb to be depends solely on the person of the pronoun in each specific case. We are talking about a pronoun that functions as a subject. For example:

I am a student. - I am a student.

If the subject is a noun or proper name, then you need to mentally replace it with the appropriate pronoun. Then a conjugation scheme will definitely come to your mind, including the connecting verbs “is”/“are”, the use of which often causes difficulties.

Kate (?) a student -> She is a student.

To be sure which form of the verb to use, you need to firmly remember the principle of conjugation.

Conjugation of the verb to be (present tense)

Statement

Negation

Question

Cases such as the use of “is” in English usually refer to descriptive situations. When we want to characterize something that is in the singular (can be replaced by the pronoun it), or someone acting as “he” or “she”, then, without a doubt, we need to use the form “is”. Examples:

It is great. - (It is perfectly.

He is old. - He is old.

She is a doctor. - She is a doctor.

The main thing that needs to be firmly understood: “am”, “is”, “are”, the use of which sometimes causes difficulties, are not three different verbs, but one and the same - the verb to be (to be).

Conjugation of the verb to be (past tense)

Now let’s look at the next issue that causes difficulties for some English learners, namely the rules for using “was”/“were”. This is also the same verb, and not two different ones at all. Moreover, these two verb forms are directly related to “am”, “is”, “are”. Can you guess why? That's right, it's all the same verb to be.

And now more about these correspondences. The past tense form “was” is used only in the singular and corresponds to the pronouns: I, it, he, she. The form “were” is used with the pronouns you, we, they and is most often used in the plural. For example:

I was at home. - I was at home.

It was hot. - It was hot.

They were happy. - They were happy.

There are only two situations where the predicate verb “were” in a sentence can refer to a singular subject. The first case: when the pronoun “you” implies the translation of “you” or “You” (that is, one person). The second case: the so-called conditional clauses, in which the form “if I were” is possible.

Have you been to...

In communication between people, situations often arise when you need to ask a person about his past experience: where he was, what he did, whether he finished the job he started. In such cases, a special construction is used from the forms of two verbs: to have + semantic verb.

Often the semantic verb is the already well-known to us (to be). Depending on the subject used (and which pronoun can be replaced), there are two varieties: “have been” and “has been”. The first is used with the pronouns you, we, they, the second - with I, it, he, she. For example:

Have you been to Europe? -Have you been to Europe?

She has been on the excursion. - She was on an excursion.

As a rule, the use of has been is associated with such situations when we mean:

• some lived experience;
• completeness or result of some matter;
• the importance of the fact that the action was performed (while the time of its occurrence is not particularly important);
• the need to emphasize how long this action has been taking place.

Let's look at the last mentioned situation in a little more detail.

How long...?

In such cases, the Present Perfect Continuous tense is used. It is formed according to the scheme: have (has) + been + Ving, where V is a semantic verb. For example:

I have been studying English for 3 months. - I have been studying English for 3 months now (that is, I started studying in the past and have continued to do so for a certain period of time).

He hasn’t been riding a bike for a long time. - He hasn’t ridden a bike for a long time (that is, he stopped riding sometime in the past, hasn’t ridden for a long time and still hasn’t ridden a bike).

I am going to do...

In English, in addition to the usual future tense, the construction “to be going to” is actively used. The use of this grammatical construction refers to situations where you are planning or know exactly what you will do. Often this construction is used to predict what (in your opinion) should happen soon: it will rain, there will be a traffic jam on the road, whether someone will like or not like a gift given to them. “Intend”, “get together” - this is how the phrase “to be going to” is most often translated. Its use in a sentence is associated with the change to be to “am”, “is”, “are”.

For example:

I am going to learn English next month. - I intend to learn English starting next month.

We are going to visit granny at the weekend. - We are going to visit grandma this weekend.

It's going to rain. - It's going to rain.

I am used to...

In conclusion, let’s look at the use of “be used to”. This stable construction is used quite often in colloquial speech. Its meaning is “to get used to something.” For example:

It is used to Russian winter. - He is accustomed (used) to the Russian winter.

He is used to living in winter cold. - He is accustomed (used) to living in the winter cold.

However, you need to watch and listen carefully so as not to confuse “be used to” with the very similar construction “use to” (and its corresponding past tense form, “used to”).

What is the difference between these two expressions? Firstly, in the meaning: “be used to” - “get used to”, “use to” - “do something in the past, but now no longer” (analogous to the Past Simple). This is best understood through examples.

Be used to

I’m used to my work hours. - I'm used to my working day.

He is used to TV noise. - He got used to the noise of the TV.

I used to live here before. - I lived here before (but I don’t live here anymore).

I didn’t use to have a mobile phone 10 years ago. - I didn’t have a mobile phone 10 years ago (but now I do).

From the examples, the second difference between these two, at first glance very similar, structures is also obvious. The one that is translated “get used to” is equipped with the verb to be (am, is, are). And the other one, accordingly, is not. Simple attentiveness, a little practice - and you will easily learn to distinguish between these two “insidious” formulations.

The same applies to any grammatical rules of the English language. Get to the bottom of things and practice often: in exercises, reading, writing or speaking. As the British say: “Practice makes perfect.” This can be translated into Russian as: “The master’s work is afraid.” So let the most difficult and tricky grammatical rules be afraid of your determination. Have a great time!

Those who study English constantly come across the verbs am, is, are in the text. What kind of constructions these are, their meaning, translation into Russian and the construction of sentences - you will learn all this in the article.

I am...

We are used to saying simply “My name is Ivan”, “I am a truck driver”, “I am 34 years old”. The English language does not have the plasticity of Russian. It cannot transfer parts of speech from one part of a sentence to another or skip words. Auxiliary verbs are used to connect the subject and predicate. The verb to be, the meaning of which is “to be, to be, to appear,” has its own form for each tense of the English language. The verbs am, is, are are auxiliary verbs for the present continuous tense Present Progressive. This tense denotes an action that is happening at the present moment. The form of the verb to be (am, is, are) is also used to introduce yourself, name your city, age and profession using a linking verb in the Present Simple - a simple present tense. Let's construct sentences with the verb am: I am from Russia. I'm from Russia. I am 26 years old. I am 26 years old.

Use in speech

How to choose the right form? The form of the verb to be (am, is, are) depends on the number and person of the subject.

Important: the pronoun it denotes inanimate objects, as well as animals and plants. This is my rose. It's wonderful. This is my rose. She is beautiful.

The table above refers to the case when the verbs am, is are used as a connective between the subject and the predicate. The general outline of an affirmative sentence looks like this:

1. Subject.
2. Linking verb.
3. Predicate.
4. Addition or circumstance, if any.

At the same time, the verbs am, is, are are not translated into Russian. The particle to, which appears in the text, is also not translated. It simply refers to the verb.

Construction of an interrogative sentence

In Russian, the same word order can be used both in a declarative sentence and in a negative and affirmative sentence. For example: "You love me." “Do you love me?”, “Do you love me!” All that distinguishes them is the intonation during pronunciation.

In English, interrogative sentences are constructed differently. Let's take an example of a declarative sentence and transform it into an interrogative:

I am from Moscow. I am from Moscow. To make the interrogative sentence sound more logical, let's change the pronoun I to you. Are you from Moscow? Now the sentence sounds like this: Are you from Moscow? The auxiliary verb comes first, followed by the subject and predicate, without changes. Let's build a few more interrogative sentences:

1. Am I wrong? - I made a mistake?
2. Are you busy? Are you busy?
3. Where is my cup? Where's my cup?
4. How old is she? How old is she?
5. Is it raining today? Today the rain?

Construction of a negative sentence

A negative sentence is constructed in the same way as a narrative one, but after the verbs am, is, are, the negation not is placed.

Forms of denial

1. He is not in school. He's not at school.
2. You are not French. You're not French.
3. I am not a doctor. I'm not a doctor.

Present Progressive tense

Present progressive is used in English to denote an action taking place at a given moment in time. In Russian, prefixes, suffixes, modified roots and word endings are used for the same purpose.

Present progressive is used in the following cases:

1. To express an action that is happening right now.
2. To refer to a period of time in a broad sense: last week, today, this month. The action has already begun, but events are still happening in this period of time. It"s raining all day. It rains all day.
3. The action will take place in the near future and is already known for sure. Certificates or tickets are available. I'm going to London next week. Next week I'm going to London.
4. In those cases when you have to express boring constancy. You are always losing money. You always lose money.

How is this time formed? Here we use the already known form of the verb to be (am, is, are) with the addition of the ending ing to the verb. The desired form of the auxiliary verb is selected in the same way as a declarative sentence in the Present Simple.

Declarative sentences

1. I am cooking now. I'm cooking.
2. You are drawing beautiful picture. You paint a beautiful picture.
3. She is reading a magazine now. She is reading a magazine.
4. They are studying at school now. They are at school now.
5. We are going to his work. We go to his work.
6. I am cooking very special supper with my boyfriend. My boyfriend and I are cooking a very special dinner.

Interrogative sentences

Interrogative sentences in the Present Progressive are constructed as follows:

The auxiliary verb to be in the chosen form comes first. If there is a question word in a sentence, it comes first, followed by to be. Then comes the subject, expressed by a pronoun or noun, followed by a verb ending in ing.

1. What am I doing here? What am I doing here?
2. Are you working now? Do you work?
3. Is she going home? Is she going home?
4. Are they reading newspaper while children are playing with toys in the garden. Do they read the newspaper while the children play with toys in the garden?

Negative sentences

Negative sentences in the Present Progressive are constructed according to the following scheme:

The negative particle not is added to the existing form of the verb to be. For brevity and euphony, the form of the verb to be is shortened with an apostrophe:

• I"m not at home now. I'm not at home now.
• We aren't in the room. We are coming to Ann. We are not in the room. We are going to Anna.
• He isn't listening to my favorite musical team. He doesn't listen to my favorite musical group.

Exercises with the verbs am, is, are will help reinforce the material.

When it comes to learning any language and breaking down language barriers, polyglots always highlight knowledge of verbs. And it’s true: knowing verbs and knowing how to use them in various forms, you just need to “string” other words on them and you will already have whole sentences. In this situation, it is not surprising that most of the standard vocabulary of a native speaker of Russian, English, Chinese, and another arbitrarily chosen language is made up of this part of speech. But wait, this doesn’t mean that you should immediately start chaotically memorizing any verbs that catch your eye. If this makes any sense, it will be very small. Instead, it is better to analyze in detail those English verbs that are often and actively used in speech. This is exactly what we will do by studying the verb to be in English.

The verb to be, which is equivalent to the Russian “to be”, “to appear”, “to be”, is one of the most universal and most commonly used verbs in the English language. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that, unlike other representatives of this part, the verb to be is conjugated, changing in persons and numbers.

In addition, to be can be used as a semantic verb or assisted by another verb, acting as an auxiliary. But let's talk about everything in order.

The verb to be belongs to irregular verbs, therefore it has 3 forms. These forms are formed independently, without being explained by rules, so they simply need to be memorized:

• there is / are / (there is / exists);

1. The use of the verb is also possible as a modal verb in the meaning of “should”, “agreed”, “agreed” when we are talking about obligations, orders, schedules and plans, the inevitability of events. In this case, the particle to is added to the verb:

1. And also when using the verb to be in English in the following constructions:

1. Frequent uses of the verb are also associated with idioms. Here are some of them:

As you can see, the verb to be is very popular and varied, so it can be used in any situation with almost any tense. Once you understand the conjugations of this verb and its role in a sentence, you should not have any difficulty using it. Devote some time to English exercises on this topic to reinforce the material, compose your own examples, and most importantly, practice the language with native speakers. Because you won't find as much benefit in any exercise as you can get from people who use the language on a daily basis and can help you with any language barriers.

Even if you have just started learning English, you have probably come across a sentence that begins with the phrase there is or there are. From our experience, we know that even students with an average level of knowledge have difficulty using there + be. Not because this construction is difficult to understand, but because in Russian there is no direct equivalent to the phrase. This is why students often forget to use it. In this article we will talk about possible use cases there + be, we will give examples and a small test at the end of the article.

What does there + be mean?

So, what does RPM mean? there is / there are in English and when should we use them? You know what the word is there translated as “there”, and the verb to be- be. If you combine two words, you get “there is.” This is where the function of this construction follows: when we want to communicate that something is somewhere, we use there + be.

There is a new shopping center in that village. – There is a new shopping center in that village.

There are many books in room 145. – There are many books in room 145.

Please note that the revolutions themselves there is / there are are not translated into Russian. Conventionally, they can be translated into Russian with the words “is”, “is available”, “exists”, “is located”. That’s why we so want to start translating literally from Russian it exists , it there. But you can't do that. And also sentences that start with there+be, we start translating from the end, that is, we first tell the place where something is located.

How to use there is / there are in English

Statement

We can use there + be in all times: present, past and future. Accordingly, for this we need to change the form of the verb be.

There is There is bottle of milk. (there is now, therefore the present tense and form of the verb to be “is”)

There was a bottle of milk in the refrigerator. - In a refrigerator was bottle of milk. (used to be, so the past tense and form of the verb to be “was”)

There will be a bottle of milk in the refrigerator. - In a refrigerator will bottle of milk. (will be in the future, so the future tense and form of the verb to be “will be”)

And also to be is unique in that it can have a singular or plural form. If after there + be there is a singular noun, then take is or was. And if it comes in the plural - are or were. A will be– is universal and can be used with both singular and plural forms.

Now let’s look at a table that clearly shows everything:

Negation

A negative sentence can be composed in two ways: either using a negative pronoun no, or using a negative particle not and pronouns any. And in this way you will say that something is missing somewhere.

There is no table in the room. =There is not(isn't) any table in the room. – There is no table in the room.

There are no souvenirs on the shelf. =There are not(aren't) any souvenirs on the shelf. – There are no souvenirs on the shelf.

Question

The question is easy to construct: take the desired form be and put it at the beginning of the sentence.

Is is there a table in the room? – Is there a table in the room?

Were are there many people at the party? – Were there many people at the party?

Features of using there + be

1. If we are listing objects and the first word is singular, then we should take to be singular ( is/was):

There is a lamp and four tables in the room. – There is a lamp and 4 tables in the room.

2. If we list objects and start with the plural, then we should take the plural ( there are):

There there are four tables and a lamp in the room. – There are four tables and a lamp in the room.

3. It is important to pay special attention to countable and uncountable nouns.

There is a lot of sugar in coffee. – There is a lot of sugar in coffee. (sugar is an uncountable noun, it does not have a plural form, so we use the verb is, despite the word “a lot” - a lot)

There are a lot of oranges in the box. — There are a lot of oranges in the box. (we can count oranges, the word has a plural so we use are)

As you can see, from a grammatical point of view, this construction is not difficult to use. It is important not to forget to do this. Finally, as always, we invite you to take the test and download our sign. This way you will always have access to this information.