Be

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: be
• past infinitive: have been

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.

• 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