Basic Tenses: Be

This page shows the basic tenses with the verb be. It includes the affirmative or positive form (+), the negative form (-) and the interrogative or question form (?).

The basic structure is:

positive (+):	subject + auxiliary verb + main verb
negative (-):	subject + auxiliary verb + not + main verb
question (?):	auxiliary verb + subject + main verb

But for simple past and simple present tenses, the structure is not the same. In fact, it's even easier. There is no auxiliary verb. Here is the structure:

positive (+):	subject + main verb
negative (-):	subject + main verb + not
question (?):	main verb + subject

These are the forms of the main verb be that we use to construct the tenses:

base	past simple	past participle	present participle	present simple
be	was, were	been	being	am, are, is

 

		past	present	future
SIMPLE present simple or past simple (except future: will + be)	+	I was	I am	I will be
	-	I was not	I am not	I will not be
	?	Was I?	Am I?	Will I be?
SIMPLE PERFECT have + been	+	I had been	I have been	I will have been
	-	I had not been	I have not been	I will not have been
	?	Had I been?	Have I been?	Will I have been?
CONTINUOUS be + being	+	I was being	I am being	I will be being
	-	I was not being	I am not being	I will not be being
	?	Was I being?	Am I being?	Will I be being?
CONTINUOUS PERFECT have been + being	+	I had been being	I have been being	I will have been being
	-	I had not been being	I have not been being	I will not have been being
	?	Had I been being?	Have I been being?	Will I have been being?

In the following table, we see be conjugated for 12 basic tenses.

SIMPLE		past	present	future
singular	I	was	am	will be
	you	were	are	will be
	he/she/it	was	is	will be
plural	we	were	are	will be
	you	were	are	will be
	they	were	are	will be
PERFECT		past	present	future
singular	I	had been	have been	will have been
	you	had been	have been	will have been
	he/she/it	had been	has been	will have been
plural	we	had been	have been	will have been
	you	had been	have been	will have been
	they	had been	have been	will have been
CONTINUOUS		past	present	future
singular	I	was being	am being	will be being
	you	were being	are being	will be being
	he/she/it	was being	is being	will be being
plural	we	were being	are being	will be being
	you	were being	are being	will be being
	they	were being	are being	will be being
CONTINUOUS PERFECT		past	present	future
singular	I	had been being	have been being	will have been being
	you	had been being	have been being	will have been being
	he/she/it	had been being	has been being	will have been being
plural	we	had been being	have been being	will have been being
	you	had been being	have been being	will have been being
	they	had been being	have been being	will have been being