Difference between revisions of "Be"
From Creolista!
(→Forms) |
(→Forms) |
||
| (3 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown) | |||
| Line 9: | Line 9: | ||
*past participle: <span style="color:#4D0000;">been</span> | *past participle: <span style="color:#4D0000;">been</span> | ||
| − | *''present'' infinitive / imperative: <span style="color:#4D0000;">be</span> | + | *''present'' infinitive / imperative / subjunctive: <span style="color:#4D0000;">be</span> |
*''past'' infinitive: <span style="color:#4D0000;">have been</span> | *''past'' infinitive: <span style="color:#4D0000;">have been</span> | ||
| + | *''past'' subjunctive <sup style="font-size:xx-small;">1</sup>: <span style="color:#4D0000;">were</span> | ||
| + | |||
| + | <sup style="font-size:xx-small;">1</sup> <span style="font-size:small;"><span style="color:#4D0000;">be</span> is the only verb in English that has a distinctive subjunctive form, and this is only in the past tense. Cf. "If I were a rich man... " [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBHZFYpQ6nc| 🎻 ]</span> | ||
=Major Uses= | =Major Uses= | ||
Latest revision as of 22:08, 23 December 2019
Avertissement: cette page est destiné à un analyse grammatical du mot "be" 🔌
Forms
- 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
- present infinitive / imperative / subjunctive: be
- past infinitive: have been
- past subjunctive 1: were
1 be is the only verb in English that has a distinctive subjunctive form, and this is only in the past tense. Cf. "If I were a rich man... " 🎻
Major Uses
Most fundamentally be is a copula. (NP = noun phrase (syntagme nominal))
- NP is NP: She is the boss.
- NP is AdjP: The cat's paws are muddy.
- NP is PP: Your keys are on the table.
- NP is Particle: The sun is up. The network was down. The doctor may be in.
- 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. Together with be, it forms the passive voice.
- Lincoln and Kennedy were both assassinated.
- Everything was frozen.
- It was golden. (cf. adjectives like wooden, rotten)
- The mediopassive can be formed with get.
- My parents got
(already)married in 1968. - My parents were (already) married in 1980..
- My parents are (still) married in 2019.
- My parents got
- The mediopassive can be formed with get.
- introduces various modal structures with (to)
- be unable to {verb} -- être capable de, pouvoir
- be about to {verb} -- être sur le point de
- be easy to {verb} -- être facile (de / à)
- be difficult to {verb} -- être difficile (de / à)
- be unlikely to {verb} -- être probable que
- be supposed to {verb} -- être censé
- be unwilling to {verb} -- vouloir bien
