Verbo TO BE - Ser o Estar

The verb TO BE, which translates as Castilian BE or BE, in the English language has a particular importance. Its meaning depends on the meaning of the sentence. For example: I am a doctor. I am a doctor. (Applies as a verb to be) I am in my house. I am home. (Applies as a verb to be) The following table shows the decline in the Simple Present indicative:

El verbo TO BE, que en castellano se traduce como SER o ESTAR, en el idioma ingls goza de una particular importancia. Su significado depende del sentido de la oracin. Por ejemplo: I am a doctor. Soy un doctor. (Se aplica como verbo ser) I am in my house. Estoy en mi casa. (Se aplica como verbo estar) En el siguiente cuadro se puede observar su declinacin en el modo indicativo del Presente Simple:

In both the affirmative and in the negative form can use the following contractions:

Tanto en el modo afirmativo como en la forma negativa pueden utilizarse las siguientes contracciones:

Now we will see the conjugation of the verb TO BE in the Past Simple tense that corresponds to the Castilian equivalent of Imperfect and Past Indefinite:

Ahora veremos la conjugacin del verbo TO BE en el Pasado Simple, tiempo verbal que corresponde al equivalente en castellano del Pretrito Imperfecto y Pretrito Indefinido:

Here you can also use the contracted forms only in the negative:

Aqu tambin se pueden utilizar las formas contradas unicamente en la forma negativa:

One thing to keep in mind is that the contractions are often used during a conversation and not in writing, except in the case of an informal text or transcribed dialogue. Note that the verb TO BE is also used in some special cases that differ from Spanish, such as: Used to express feelings and age, in which case translates as 'have': John is 15 years old. John is 15. Peter is hungry. Peter is hungry. Another case is when talking about the weather and then be translated as "doing": It is hot. It's hot.

Un detalle a tener en cuenta, es que las contracciones generalmente se usan durante una conversacin y no as en la escritura, salvo que se trate de un texto informal o que transcriba un dilogo. Cabe destacar que el verbo TO BE tambin se utiliza en algunos casos especiales que difieren de idioma espaol, como por ejemplo:

Sirve para expresar la edad y tambin sensaciones, en cuyo caso se traduce como 'tener': John is 15 years old. John tiene 15 aos. Peter is hungry. Pedro tiene hambre.

Otro caso particular es cuando se habla del clima y entonces se traducir como "hacer": It is hot. Hace calor.

Exercise 2
Fill in the blanks with the correct conjugation of the verb TO BE.

1. My name 2. Mary

James. the secretary. at school.

3. John and Lucy 4. I a student.

5. The boys 6. He 7. Susie 8. She 9. They 10. You

in the garden.

a lawyer. a housewife. a student. my friends. a student.

Jobs: Simple Present

Write on the line the correct answer
1 Karl and Karin _____ teachers. is be are am 2 Ken likes to draw. He ____ an artist. be is are being 3 Ken is allergic to cats. He ______ a veterinarian. isn't not is no is is no 4 Karin and Kristy _______ lawyers. isn't no are be no aren't

Shirim and Micheline ______ lawyers, but they're nice people. are be is being

Steve ______ a management consultant. be am is are

Steve makes a lot of money. He _______ a teacher. no is no are aren't isn't

Karl is afraid of fire. He _____ a fire fighter. is no is not no is not is