How to Learn the Verb to Be?
To really learn the English irregular verbs to be it is necessary to get rid of memorizing and understand their peculiarities in their real context of use. For that, we created this post with simple tips, but very effective when used to learn the verb to be. Check out!
1. Know the verbs to be
This first tip may seem a bit obvious, but a lot of people don't really know this verb so used in the language. It is essential for effective language communication and can appear in different ways. Therefore, it is necessary to know how to identify it. Look:I am — I am happy. (I'm happy).
You are — You are happy. (Are you happy).
He/She/It is — He/She is happy. (He/she is happy).
You are — You are happy. (You are happy).
We are — We are happy. (Are we happy).
They are — They are happy. (Are they happy).
In a brief comparison, when we have the same sentence in Portuguese, we can see that the verb changes according to the subject. So, for the subject “I” I use the verb “am”, one of the forms that the verb to be presented. For “you”, “we” and “they”, the verb is used in the form “are” and in the cases of “he”, “she” and “it” the verb appears as “is”.
2. Understand the different conjugations
So far we have seen the verb to be in the infinitive (to be) and in the present tense (am, is, are), however, as a self-respecting auxiliary verb, it will also change when conjugated in the past. For this conjugation, we have:I was — I was very sick. (I was very sick).
You were — You were very sick. (You were very sick).
He/She/It was — He/She was very sick. (He/he was very sick).
You/We/They were — You/We/They were very sick. (You were/ We were/ They were/ very sick).
In this case, if you get too focused on Portuguese, you can get lost, because we have one of the most difficult languages in the world. So keep your focus on English and see how it got even easier. Now, in the past, the verb to be will only change in two ways: was and were. In the first and third person you use “was” and in the others you just use “were”.
3. Understand how the verb to be changed according to the personal pronoun
We have already mentioned several times that the verb is to be changed according to the personal pronoun. But how does this happen? Nothing better than seeing it in practice, isn't it? Check out the examples:
My mother is playing with my brother. (My mother is playing with my brother).
The cats are eating. (Cats are eating).
Julia is dancing with her daughter. (Julia is dancing with her daughter).
We can see in the examples that when we talk about personal pronouns we are talking about the subject that makes the action of the verb. Thus, the forms “I, You, She, He, It, We, They” are a way of thinking about how the sentence is constructed. If we substitute “my mother” for “she”, we will know that the auxiliary verb will be the “is” and so on.
4. Learn to use the verb to be in questions
Another question that always arises when formulating sentences in English is related to the inflection of questions. The question, for us — Portuguese speakers — is usually identified in the intonation of the phrase or in the use of auxiliaries as the “why”. In English, the sentence has to be changed, and the order subject-verb-complement becomes verb-subject-complement.But it's not that simple. With other verbs, which are not auxiliaries, the use of an auxiliary is necessary, such as “do”, for example. With the verb to be, since it is an auxiliary, the “do” is dispensed with. Let's understand better by seeing some examples:
Is she your friend? (Is she your friend?). Yes/No, she is.
Are you busy? (Are you busy?). Yes/No, I am.
Am I beautiful? (Am I cute?). Yes/No, you are.
When we think directly in English, without worrying about translations and memorizing, it is much easier to understand sentence structures. Here, we see that the subject moves after the verb and in the answers, it is also necessary to use to be in its correct combination with the proper personal pronoun.
5. Train till you learn
To learn the verb to be once and for all and never again be in doubt when someone asks you how to use it in sentences, you need to train. Remembering, once again, that it is not necessary to memorize the conjugations, just practice.
To improve your practice, you can watch series and movies and pay close attention to when the verb be is used. You will notice that in usage sometimes we have the impression that the verb is not there.
Generally, in orality, they contract the verb, which can also happen in writing: I'm, You're, She/he/it's, We're, They're. The same happens with the negative verb. Let's see how it looks: I'm not, You aren't, She/He/It isn't, We aren't, They aren't.
6. Count on the help of a professional
In fact, the verb to be is one of the main stages of studies for those who want to learn English. As we've seen, it's essential for smooth conversation and correct writing. To learn the verb to be, it is possible to combine these tips with the support of a professional.
The support of a person who has studied and is prepared to teach you the English language makes a lot of difference when learning it. When this support is specific to answer your specific doubts, as it happens in the Marta Garcia courses, in which methodologies and studies are customized to your objectives, learning takes place, and learning the verb to be is no longer an animal with seven heads.
