İNGİLİZCE'DE OLMAK FİİLİ: TO BE

İngilizce'de sözcükleri rasgele bir araya getirerek cümle kurmamız imkansız. Bu nedenle her cümlede özne ve yüklem olmak zorundadır. İngilizce'de temel fiil, "be" (olmak) fiilidir.

"Go, come, study, eat, do" gibi normal fiillerin olmadığı cümlelerde yüklem olarak "be" fiilini kullanmamız gerekmektedir. Ancak "be" fiili, özneye göre şekil almaktadır. Örneğin, "be" fiili geniş zaman ve şimdiki zamanda kullanılıyorsa, I öznesi için "am", You, We, They özneleri için "are" ve he, she, it özneleri için "is" halini alır. Aşağıdaki tabloda "be" fiilinin çekimi verilmiştir:

I am a teacher
You are a student
He is a boy
She is a girl
It is a dog
We are students
You are friends
They are people

"Be" olmak fiilinin olumsuz hali, "not" alarak belirlenir.

I am not a teacher
You aren't / are not a student
He isn't / is not a boy
She isn't / is not a girl
It isn't / is not a dog
We aren't / are not students
You aren't / are not friends
They aren't / are not people

İngilizce'de soru sorarken yardımcı fiil "be", öznenin önüne getirilir.

am I a teacher?
are You a student?
is He a boy?
is She a girl?
is It a dog?
are We students?
are You friends?
are They people?

Be olmak fiilinin olumsuz soru çekimi:

am I not a teacher?
aren't You a student?
isn't He a boy?
isn't She a girl?
isn't It a dog?
aren't We students?
aren't You friends?
aren't They people?

Yukarda Geniş zaman ve Şimdiki zamanda çekimini verdiğimiz "be" olmak fiilinin Geçmiş zamandaki çekimi de "was/were" şeklindedir:

I was a teacher
You were a student
He was a boy
She was a girl
It was a dog
We were students
You were friends
They were people