Grammar: BE Form

Be is called a Protean verb. A Protean Verb changes forms quickly. IS, ARE, AM, WAS, WERE, BEING and BEEN are the forms of BE. This is the only verb in English which has 7 forms.

Rules

IS, ARE, AM are used in the Present Tense to show statements.For example:  

• I am a doctor.
• She is a teacher.
• You are my friend. 

WAS, WERE are used in the Past Tense to show statements. For example:  

• It was my birthday yesterday.
• She was ready to board the train.

BEING is used to talk about continuous actions. For example: 

• You are being unreasonable.
• She is being jealous.

BEING is also used to show continuous action in the Present, Past and Future Continuous Passive Voice. For example:  

• He is being taken to the hospital.
• I was being trained to speak English.

BEEN is used to talk about Present, Past and Future Perfect Continuous Tenses. For example:

• I have been sleeping since morning.
• She had been working for a long time.
• They will have been reading books since morning.

BEEN is also used to show Present, Past and Future Perfect Passive Voice. For example:  

• I have been robbed.
• She had been left alone in the woods.

Exercise

My name ………....... Ali. I have ..........living in this area for a long time. I ………....... a doctor and I practice medicine in a hospital. I am not ............... insensitive but I don't like patients. My hospital ………........quite near. I have a brother who ………....... thirty five years old and I ………....... forty. My family …...... in Lahore, they ………....... living in Model Town. Earlier we ………....... in some other part of the city. We shifted to Bank Stop because the former route …...... far from my work. Now I ………....... close to my work. Though I ………....... a doctor now; I ………....... a mechanic when I ……….......a child because my parents ………....... poor. I could not study in my childhood. Later, I worked hard and became a doctor.Now, I have.............selected as the President of my hospital. I am ..... respected in my field.