Verb “to Be”

We use the verb “to Be” when we express the idea of SER o Estar in Spanish.

e.g: Mary is my best friend.

Mary is here, in Providencia.

And we also use it to express some conditions like: To Be hot, To Be cold, To Be hungry, To be thirsty, To be sleepy, etc.

e.g: The air is hot. Can you open the window, please?

It’s cold in here!. Can you turn on the heater, please?

We also use the verb “to Be” when we talk about the age of a person.

e.g: Mary is 15 years old.

Important: When we talk about a profession or activity, we add “a” or “an” before the profession:

e.g: George is a dentist / Phillip is an engineer.

Note: When we are referring to someone or something (a noun) that begins with a vowel sound, we use “an” before that noun.

e.g: Shrek is an ogre.

We use the verb “to Be” to describe states of affairs:

• To Be tired = Estar cansado

• To Be hot = Tener calor

• To Be cold = Tener frío

• To Be thirsty = Tener sed

• To Be hungry = Tener hambre

• To Be angry = Estar enojado

• To Be good at = Ser bueno para...

• To Be sure = Estar seguro

• To Be interested in = Estar interesado en...

• To be afraid of = Tener miedo de...

• To be fond of = Ser aficionado a...

We use the verb “to Be” to determine nationalities:

We are Chilean.

Evo Morales is Bolivian.

George Bush is American.

Exercises

When we have something that exists in our real world or in any other world we use the verb “to Be”. Use the correct expresions in each of the corresponding cases.

This object... a) ...is a sofa

b) ...are cats

c) ...is a telephone

Good!! c) ...It is a telephone.

These sour fruits :

a) ... is an orange

b) ... are onions

c) ... are lemons

Good!! c) These sour fruits are lemons.

This:

a) ... is a glass

b) ... is a piece of pizza

c) ... is a piece of bread

Good!! c) This is a piece of bread.

This object: a) ...are apples

b) ... is books

c) ...is a glass

Good!! c) This object is a glass.

This animal:

a) ...is a tiger

b) ...is an elephant

c) ...are dogs

Good!! a) This animal is a tiger.

Use the form ‘get married’ plus the Present Continous to describe the situation this picture evokes you.

bride

Conclusion:

The verb “to Be” is of great importance in English. It is used in many times and, as opposed to Spanish, the verb “to Be” has two meanings, that is, ser o estar.

The conjugations are the following:

I = am Verb “to Be”

You= are

He/She/It = is

We = are

You = are

They = are