The use of the verbs was were in English. The verb to be in English: meaning, types, rules of use

Hello, friends. Many people make the mistake of not using auxiliary verbs AM, IS, ARE in present tense when they are needed. In our lesson, we will dwell on am, is, are in detail, we will analyze situations when these three words must be inserted into a sentence. At the end of the lesson, you can take a test and test yourself. As I said, AM, IS, ARE are needed in the present tense. These three words are forms of the verb TO BE, which translates as "to be." AM, IS, ARE can be translated as "is", but almost always in Russian these verbs are generally omitted in speech. Hence the difficulties arise.

A bit of theory

As you probably know, in English language we must use both the subject and the predicate in the sentence. In other words, in any sentence there is always the author of the action (who?) - this is the subject. And there is an action produced by him (what does he do?) - this is a predicate. This is very important for understanding the English grammar system as a whole.

But now we will focus on the present tense.

In Russian, when no action is indicated, we understand that the situation takes place in the present tense.

For example: It's cold. Rain. I'm under an umbrella.

In each of these sentences there is no verb, no explicit action. But, reading them, we understand that all this is happening in the present.

Now consider how an English-speaking person sees this situation:

[This state is] cold. [This state is] rainy. I [There is] under an umbrella.

"This state" - "it" is the subject. By the way, it is also called “formal subject”. Because it is necessary solely for the grammatical construction, and does not carry any meaning.
In the third sentence from our example, the subject is the word "I", the author of the action.
As you might have guessed, the action that is present in each of the examples is the verb "is" - a variant of the verb "to be", "to be in a state."

Do you know that in the old Russian language the word "is" was used, but it sounded "is"? Remember one of catchphrases from the wonderful film "Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession", when Tsar Ivan the Terrible says: "I am the Tsar, Ivan Vasilyevich." "Az" is "I" and "is" is "is." Over time, this form fell out of use.

Let's remember the rule:
Where there is no visible action in Russian, there is action in English.
Usually, it refers to the present time.
In Russian, we call action for the past and future tenses.

Example in the past: Was Cold. Was rain. I was under an umbrella. Example in the future tense: Will Cold. Will rain. I will under an umbrella.

Here the action is expressed by the verb "was / was / was" in the past and "will be / will be" in the future. You just need to add a formal subject to translate such a sentence into English.

Verb "to be" (to be) in the present tense has 3 forms in English tense: am / is / are. Please note that to be itself is not translated in any tense, but depending on whether we are talking about the present, past or future, to be begins to change. As well as Russian word"to be" changes into "was", "is" or "will be" depending on the time.

The role of the subject is such pronouns, How
I - I
You, you - You
He, she, it - He, she, it
We
They - They
And the words that can be replaced by these pronouns.
For example, children - they - they

The form of the predicate depends on the subject:
I am
You are
He, she, it is
We are
They are

Thus am can only be used with I, not otherwise.
We put Are if you, we, they are in the role of the subject and words that can be replaced by these pronouns (people, eggs, "you and I", etc.)
Is appears only after he, she, it and the words they replace (Kate, a boy, an apple, a cow, etc.)

Carefully study the table and examples:

Am, is, are very often are shrinking in speech and writing. The first letter is replaced with an apostrophe.

Negative particle not

If we want to make a negation, then we need to put the negative particle “not” immediately after am, is, are. Not can also be abbreviated for ease of speech. At the same time, 3 variants of negation are used:
You are not - You aren't - You're not
But for I am there are only 2 options:
I am not - I'm not. The abbreviation I amn't does not exist.

What is the difference between was and were in English?

Here you can find out the difference between was and were in English.

The main difference between was and were is obvious: we use were when we are talking about the plural, that is, about more than one thing or person.

For example.
They were late - They were late.

Was, in turn, is used when it comes to the singular, that is, about one object or person.

For example.
He was late - He was late.

However, some nuances should be taken into account when using them.

1. Consider the first example.
Everyone was there - Everyone was there.

This sentence may seem incorrect, since everyone means everything, that is, the plural. But here it is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of the use of the pronouns everyone / everybody, which refer to each person of the group separately.

2. Students also make mistakes when using was/were with the pronouns none and each.
None of us was well-dressed - None of us were well-dressed.
Each of them was well-dressed - Each of them was well-dressed.

These pronouns are also followed by was.

3. At the same time, were is used with the pronoun all, since all refers to the entire group of objects or persons.
All of us were late - We were all late.

However, this does not mean that all is always used with were.
The following rule applies here: if the nouns are countable, then were is used. And if the noun in the singular is uncountable, then was is used.
All the milk was over - All the milk is over.

Study another example with the word all.
The examination was failed by all the students - All students failed the exam.

Here, it would seem, all refers to all students, but was is used.
The fact is that was in this sentence refers to the word examination (singular).
If there were examinations in the sentence, then were would be used.

4. It should also be remembered that there are a number of exceptions when were is used instead of was with singular pronouns.
It is appropriate in sentences:

a) with the as if construct;
b) conditional sentences of the second type;
c) in some cases in sentences with the verb wish;
d) in combination If I were you - if I were in your place.

It is with this verb that you need to start learning English grammar. Verbs in English do not change by person, but the verb to be is an exception. With the help of this verb, we will learn how to compose simple sentences which do not contain a verb in Russian, for example, “I am a student”, “He is at home”, “This is interesting”, etc. In English, it is unacceptable to compose without a verb that performs an action, and to be serves as a linking verb. For example, to say "I am a student", we must insert the correct form of the linking verb to be and, as a result, the sentence will take on the meaning "I am a student" - "I (are) a student."

Present tense forms of the verb to be

In the present tense, the verb to be has three forms: AM, IS, ARE:

• Remember: to be and AM, IS, ARE are not 4 different ones, but forms the same verb:

(We hope our dragon will help you remember this)

Consider how the verb to be changes in the present tense

affirmative form

• We are friends - we are friends
• They are busy - they are busy
• The book is thick - the book is thick
• It is a cat - this is a cat
• She is clever - she is smart

Negative form

To form the negative form of the conjugation of this verb, you need to put the negative particle “not” after one of necessary forms verb (am, is or are). Here are some examples of negative sentences:

• I am not hungry - I am not hungry
• He is not busy - he is not busy
• The room is not big - the room is not big

Interrogative form

To form an interrogative form, you need to put the appropriate form of the verb (am, is or are) at the beginning of the sentence:

• Are you Peter? Are you Pete?
• This room? – Is this a room?
• Are you hungry? Are you hungry?
• He is busy? – Is he busy?

• To understand how verbs live in English, let's first remember at least one Russian verb in its initial form, for example, the verb "live". As you know, the verbs of the Russian language in the initial form end in "-t", and later, when conjugated, the ending changes. With regard to English, the verb in the initial form is used together with the particle to, for example, we say to be - would be, find be sya, i.e. if the particle to precedes the verb, this means that the verb is in the initial form, and when the verb is used with persons, this particle is omitted. Let's give an example: “To be or not to be” - there are two verbs in the sentence - both in the initial form, and they must be used together with the particle to, and, accordingly, we will translate into English as “to be or not to be”. If we have before us the sentence “I (am) a student”, i.e. we have changed the verb according to the person of the subject, then the particle to is omitted and the proper form of the verb is used, in this case— am.
• Unlike the verb to be, other verbs in English do not conjugate, for example, the verbs “live, sit, love” in the initial form are translated into English “to live, to sit, to love”, i.e. with particle to, and when conjugated - without to, for example, “I live, sit, love” will be translated into English as “I live, sit, love”, i.e. the initial form of a verb in English without a particletonot used, but when conjugatedtogoes down. The initial form in English is called the Infinitive - Infinitive.

More about the particle to watch our video tutorial:

Verb conjugations tobe in present time

Now let's learn how the verb to be changes (conjugates) in the present tense. As mentioned above, in Russian sentences like “I am a student, she is a doctor, we are workers” are formed without a predicate verb. But to translate these sentences into English, you need to put the appropriate form to be after the subject - “I am a pupil, she is a doctor, we are workers”.

Pay attention to the translation of the following sentences in the affirmative, negative and interrogative forms into English:

Verb conjugations tobe in past and future tense

In the past tense, the verb to be has two forms - was and were (was, was, were)

In the future tense, the verb to be is conjugated as follows

Note: In modern English the form shall is of little use for the formation of the future tense of verbs (although its use is not grammatical error), for all persons the form is used will. Therefore, sometimes there is a discrepancy in different textbooks.

To summarize, consider the following table:

I bring to your attention a few commonly used expressions with the verb to be which you should learn and conjugate yourself according to the conjugation table:

• To be happy / unhappy - to be happy / unhappy
• To be glad - to be joyful
• To be hungry / to be full up - to be hungry / full
• To be fond of - love, get involved in something
• To be busy - to be busy
• To be late (for) - to be late (on)
• To be in time for - be on time
• To be present at - attend (for example, in a lesson)
• To be absent (from) - absent
• To be married - to be married / married
• To be single - to be single / not married
• To be lucky - to be lucky
• To be ready (for) - to be ready (to, for example, a lesson)
• To be afraid (of) - to be afraid
• To be interested (in) - be interested in something
• To be ill / well - get sick / feel good
• To be angry (with) - angry, angry (at someone)

Let's conjugate together the expression to be married in the affirmative, interrogative and negative sentences. What did you get?

In the application of the past tense of various verb forms to be, a lot of people get confused. These verbs refer to the tense called Past Indefinite. They are completely unrelated and each form is used in strictly defined types of sentences.

Let's look at the basic rules for writing was and were. Was is used with the following pronouns: I, he, she, it. Were is written with the following pronouns: we, you, they.

When to write was and when to use were?

The verb was is used when the sentence refers to the singular, that is, about a person or object in one quantity. For example:

• He was hungry - He was hungry. ((past past time Indefinite, was is a linking verb)
• Was he hungry? - Was he hungry? (past tense Past Indefinite, was is a linking verb)

The verb were should be used when talking about the plural, that is, about a person or object in more than one quantity. For example:

They were hungry - They were hungry.

What should be remembered in the spelling of the verbs was\were?

There are several nuances that you should pay attention to when writing the verb was.

1. Everybody was there - Everyone was there

Everyone translates as " All", which means plural, but the verb is spelled correctly. The pronouns everyone and everybody are related to each person from the group separately, therefore the singular verb is also used correctly.

2. Many mistakes can be made with none\each pronouns. For example:

• Each of us was red-heard - Each of us was red.
• None of them was red-heard - None of them were red.
• With these pronouns, the verb was is also always put.

3. Pronoun all is used in relation to the whole group of persons or objects, which means the plural, so the verb were is always used with this pronoun.

All of them were hungry“They were all hungry.

4. There are situations when were is not used with the pronoun all. The easiest way to remember is this: if the nouns in the sentence are countable, were is put. If the noun is uncountable in the singular, it is written was. Eg:

All the water was over- All the water is gone.

It is worth paying attention to another example of writing was and all:

The work was failed by all the workers All the workers have failed.

It seems that all is used in relation to all students in general, but the verb was is put. This is because was here refers not to workers, but to the word work, which is a singular number. When writing plural- works, the verb were would be used.

Exceptions in spelling was\were in English grammar

Each rule must be remembered, however, it is also necessary to remember that there are exceptions to the rules, and when writing was\were, it is worth remembering a number of exceptions when were is written with pronouns in the singular, together with was. Exceptions apply to the following offers:

1. Where is the if construct.
2. In conditional sentences and sentences of the second type.
3. In individual cases with the verb wish.
4. In this construction of the sentence: If I were you - if I were in your place.

In a sentence written in time Past Indefinite You cannot use the verbs was and did at the same time. There are certain cases in which I is used with were. For example:

• If I were you, I would love the cat - If I were you, I would love the cat.
• Sentences with the construction I wish to indicate the desired unreal. Often such sentences begin with the expression: it’s a pity that or I would like that ...
• I wish I were tall - It's a pity that I'm not tall
• I wish I were in the school - How I wish I were at school.

In conditional sentences of a minor type in the subordinate clause, for example:

1. If I were there I would read a book - if I were there, I would read a book.
2. Sentences that are built using the as if construct. In sentences of this type, the past tense is used to make the action look unreal. In such cases, the forms to be in Past Indefinite can be was and were.
3. You look at me as if I were a superstar - You look at me as if I'm a superstar (in reality, I'm not a superstar).

The study of verbs in English is advisable to start with the study of the most common verb - the verb to be — to be, to be, to be.

Below is a table with the change of the verb to be by person (verb conjugation) in the present, past and future tenses.

In Russian, the verb "to be" in affirmative sentences can be omitted. For example: "He is at home", "He is 25 years old". In the same English you can't use sentences without a verb. The obligatory presence of the verb is required, although it may not be clearly translated into Russian. For example, to say "I am a pilot" in English, you need to add the verb be, and as a result, the sentence will get the meaning "I am a pilot" - "I am pilot". A few more examples:

• I am 45 - I'm 45 (I am 45)
• I am from Moscow - I am from Moscow (I am from Moscow)
• I am married - I am married (I am married)
• He is Mark - His name is Mark (He is Mark)

Also in sentences, abbreviated forms of the verb to be are used:

• I am \u003d I "m
• He is \u003d He "s
• They are = They're
• He is not = He isn't
• We are not = We aren't

Consider another difference between Russian and English. In Russian, affirmative and interrogative sentences can differ only by a question mark at the end of the sentence. For example:

• He is a writer - a statement.
• Is he a writer? - question.

In the structure of speech in Russian interrogative sentence differs from the affirmative by a special interrogative intonation. The English, on the other hand, can say a statement with the same intonation as a question. The English get out of this situation by changing the word order in the sentence:

• He is a writer - He is a writer.
• Is he a writer - Is he a writer?

To ask a question, you need to swap the subject he And auxiliary is(to be).

For negation in Russian, the particle "not" is used, but in English particle "not", which is placed after the auxiliary verb be.

• He is not at home - He Not Houses.
• They are not enemies - they Not enemies.

To consolidate the forms of the verb to be in different persons and tenses, we conjugate the sentence "I am strong":

Present tense:

As an independent verb to be) is used to denote the age of people, the size of objects, the price of goods, time, weather, characteristics of people.

as an auxiliary verb be used to form long tenses and passive voice(am/is/are/was/were).

Personal forms of the verb