How to Conjugate the Verb to Be

Step-by-Step Guide

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   Step 1: Introduce yourself with the first person singular.

   When you give someone your name, you say “I am”. “I” is first person singular, so the verb that goes with “I” is “am”.
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   Step 2: Introduce and discuss yourself in a group with the plural form of first person.

   The plural of first person is “We.” So, if you were introducing yourself as a group, you would say “we are,” as “are” is the plural form of the verb.For example: “We are Steph and Jack.” , If you did something yesterday, you would begin the sentence with “I was” as “was” is past tense.
   
   For example: “I was dancing at the party yesterday.” “I was in Mexico last year.” , To describe something you did with a friend or a group in the past, use “we were”.
   
   For example: “We were fishing on the lake yesterday.” , You use “will” for both the singular and the plural when you describe things you are going to do in the future.
   
   For example: “I will learn how to fish next year.” “We will take dance lessons next month.” , Second person is unique in that both the singular and plural versions are the same.
   
   In the present tense, you always use “are,” whether you are referring to a large group or just one person.For example: “You are a great person.” “We are going to Mexico.” , For example: “You were at the concert.” “We were at the dance party.” , For example: “I will be at the party tonight.” “We will be fishing on the lake tomorrow.” , The third person singular form of “to be” for the present tense is “is”.For example: “She is a great dancer.” “Jack is an expert fisherman.” , The verb that goes with “they” is “are”.
   
   For example: “They are ready to dance.” “Steph and Jack are going to Mexico.” , For example: “He was at the party.” “Steph was in Mexico last year.” , For example: “They were dancing until 3 am last night.” "Steph and Jack were dancing."
   
   For example: “Jack will be on the beach tomorrow.” "She will be on vacation." You use “will be” to also talk about the future in the third person plural.
   
   For example: “They will be arriving tomorrow.” “Steph and Jack will be in Mexico next week.” , For example, you might say: “I have been eating for over an hour” to show that you continue to eat in the present.
   
   Or, you might say: “You had been finished eating for hours before I was done” to indicate that someone else had already completed the task, which is in the past tense., For example: “We will have eaten all the fruit by then so we need to buy more.” , For example: “I have been waiting.” “You have been at the store for too long.” , For example: “I had been finished hours ago.” “You had been asleep on the boat.” “He had been dancing at the party.” You use “had been” to also describe the plural in the past perfect tense.
   
   For example: “We had been eating the fruit.” , You use “were” as the verb for the imperfect subjunctive case.
   
   For example: “I wish I were going to Mexico for Christmas”. , Such as this sentence: “If you were taller, you could reach the top shelf.” You use “were” because the statement isn’t true--the person isn’t taller. “Were” is used for the subjunctive in all conjugations.
   
   However, it does get confusing because you would use “was” if the statement could be true, as it is not subjunctive case anymore.
   
   For example, if Jack is a chocolate addict, then this statement could be true: “If Jack was around, that could be why the chocolate disappeared.”, When you start to look at cases like conditional present and perfect, conjugating verbs can get a bit more complicated.
   
   However, you can use the basic conjugations of the verb “to be” to talk to others and describe a situation effectively.
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   Step 3: Refer to something you did yesterday or last year in the singular past tense.

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   Step 4: Refer to something you did with other people with the plural past tense.

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   Step 5: Talk about things you are going to do in the future by yourself or with a group with the future tense.

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   Step 6: Use the same verb conjugation for both the singular and the plural in the present tense.

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   Step 7: Use “were” to talk about the singular and the plural in the past tense.

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   Step 8: Use “will be” to talk about the singular and the plural in the future tense.

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   Step 9: Refer to the third person as “he

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    Step 10: ” “she

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    Step 11: ” or “it

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    Step 12: ” or use a person’s name.

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    Step 13: Talk about multiple people in the third person with the pronoun “they” or use their names.

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    Step 14: Use “was” when talking about one person doing something in the past.

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    Step 15: Use “were” when talking about multiple people doing something in the past.

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    Step 16: Talk about the future in the third person singular with “will be”.

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    Step 17: Describe something that has been finished in the past or that continues to happen in the present using the perfect tense.

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    Step 18: Describe a task that will be completed with the future tense.

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    Step 19: Use “have been” to describe the singular in the perfect tense in the present.

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    Step 20: Use “had been” to describe the singular in the past perfect tense.

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    Step 21: Use the subjunctive case to form a wishful statement

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    Step 22: such as “I wish”.

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    Step 23: Use the subjunctive case for statements that aren’t true.

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    Step 24: Don’t be alarmed at how complicating conjugation can get.

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