Difference between revisions of "Be"
From Creolista!
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:::*Lincoln and Kennedy were both assassinated. | :::*Lincoln and Kennedy were both assassinated. | ||
:::*Everything was frozen. | :::*Everything was frozen. | ||
| − | :::*It was golden. ( | + | :::*It was golden. (cf. adjectives like ''wooden, rotten'') |
*introduces various modal structures with (<span style="color:darkblue;font-variant:small-caps;">to</span>) | *introduces various modal structures with (<span style="color:darkblue;font-variant:small-caps;">to</span>) | ||
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:*be easy to: ''être facile (de / à)'' | :*be easy to: ''être facile (de / à)'' | ||
:*be difficult to: ''être difficile (de / à)'' | :*be difficult to: ''être difficile (de / à)'' | ||
| − | :*be likely to -- ''être probable que'' | + | :*be <span style="font-size:x-small;color:gray;">un</span>likely to -- ''être probable que'' |
:*be supposed to -- ''être censé'' | :*be supposed to -- ''être censé'' | ||
| − | :*be willing to -- ''vouloir bien'' | + | :*be <span style="font-size:x-small;color:gray;">un</span>willing to -- ''vouloir bien'' |
Revision as of 11:40, 23 December 2019
Avertissement: cette page est destiné à un analyse grammatical du mot "be" :P
Forms
- dictionary form (bare infinitive): be
- present tense: am (1s), is (3s), are (1p, 2s/p, 3p)
- past tense: was (1s, 3s), were (1p, 2s/p, 3p)
- present participle: being
- past participle: been
Major Uses
Most fundamentally be is a copula.
- Subject is NP: She is the boss.
- Subject is AdjP: The cat's paws are muddy.
- Subject is PP: Your keys are on the table.
- Subject is P: The sun is up. The network is down. The story is out.
- introduces present & past participles
- present participle (-ing)
- The present participle can be interpreted as a verb, a noun (usually called a gerund), or an adjective.
- He was writing. (V)
- This is (his) writing. (N)
- It is interesting. (Adj)
- Only the first is considered verbal.
- The use of be + ing usually implies that the speaker is putting the listener in the middle of the action (in medias res): the speaker or writer is like a filmmaker recording an action. Alternately, it can indicate a series of occurrences.
- be + -ing derives historically from be + on + -ing
- past participle (-en / -ed)
- The past participle is more like a photograph than a movie.
- Lincoln and Kennedy were both assassinated.
- Everything was frozen.
- It was golden. (cf. adjectives like wooden, rotten)
- introduces various modal structures with (to)
- be unable to -- être capable de, pouvoir
- be about to: être sur le point de
- be easy to: être facile (de / à)
- be difficult to: être difficile (de / à)
- be unlikely to -- être probable que
- be supposed to -- être censé
- be unwilling to -- vouloir bien
