Verbo To Be
El verbo To be es muy importante en inglés. Equivale a los verbos españoles "ser" o "estar".
En algunas frases también puede tener el significado de "hacer" o "tener".
Según el sentido de la frase sabremos a cual de ellos se refiere.
En la siguiente Tabla se muestra la conjugación de los tiempos simples del verbo To Be con el significado de Ser.
Simple Times of the verb To Be 
| Infinitive | Past | Participle |
|---|---|---|
| To be | Was | Been |
| (ser) | (era, fui) | (sido) |
Present Simple | ||
| Affirmative | Negative | Interrogative |
| I am | I am not | am I? |
| (yo soy) | (yo no soy) | (¿soy yo?) |
| you are | you are not | are you? |
| (tú eres) | (tú no eres) | (¿eres tú?) |
| he is | he is not | is he? |
| (él es) | (él no es) | (¿es él?) |
| she is | she is not | is she? |
| (ella es) | (ella no es) | (¿es ella?) |
| it is | it is not | is it? |
| (es) | (no es) | (¿ lo es ?) |
| we are | we are not | are we? |
| (somos) | (no somos) | (¿somos?) |
| you are | you are not | are you? |
| (sois) | (no sois) | (¿sois?) |
| they are | they are not | are they? |
| (son) | (no son) | (¿son?) |
Past Simple * | ||
| Affirmative | Negative | Interrogative |
| I was | I was not | was I? |
| (yo era) | (yo no era) | (era yo?) |
| you were | you were not | were you? |
| (tú eras) | (tú no eras) | (eras tú?) |
| he was | he was not | was he? |
| (él era) | (él no era) | (era él?) |
| she was | she was not | was she? |
| (ella era) | (ella no era) | (era ella?) |
| it was | it was not | was it? |
| (era) | (no era) | (¿ lo era?) |
| we were | we were not | were we? |
| (éramos) | (no éramos) | (¿éramos?) |
| you were | you were not | were you? |
| (erais) | (no erais) | (¿erais?) |
| they were | they were not | were they? |
| (eran) | (no eran) | (¿eran?) |
* El Past Simple además de corresponder al Pretérito Imperfecto español (yo era), también se corresponde con el Pretérito Perfecto Simple o Pretérito Indefinido: yo fui, tú fuiste, él fue, nosotros fuimos, vosotros fuisteis, ellos fueron.
En la conversación se suelen contraer las formas verbales, pero no se usan de forma escrita salvo que el escrito tenga un carácter informal o refleje una conversación.
Las formas afirmativa y negativa del Presente, se pueden contraer, mientras que la forma interrogativa no. En el Pretérito sólo se contrae la forma negativa.
Forms that can be contracted
Present Simple
| Affirmative | Negative * | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| I am | I'm | I am not | I'm not |
| you are | you're | you are not | you're not |
| he is | he's | he is not | he's not |
| she is | she's | she is not | she's not |
| it is | it's | it is not | it's not |
| we are | we're | we are not | we're not |
| you are | you're | you are not | you're not |
| they are | they're | they are not | they're not |
Past Simple
| Negative | |
|---|---|
| I was not | I wasn't |
| you were not | you weren't |
| he was not | he wasn't |
| she was not | she wasn't |
| it was not | it wasn't |
| we were not | we weren't |
| you were not | you weren't |
| they were not | they weren't |
* La forma negativa del Present Simple, también admite las siguientes contracciones:
you aren't, he isn't, we aren't, they aren't.
