To be modal verb examples. Modal verb to be to – how to use correctly

To be or not to be? That is not the question... The sea deity Proteus of the ancient Greeks could (like the sea) take on any form. What are we talking about?

Moreover, the verb “to be” is known in the world not only as the most vital and always relevant, but also as the most changeable (protean) in the English language, constantly changing and accepting different shapes, sometimes not so noticeable to us.

Considering that it is used so often in English speech It's quite sad that "to be" has to be the most fickle and slippery verb in the language. Let's get to know him better. C"mon!

What is the verb to be and why is it needed?

The verb To Be (am, is, are) is the basis of English grammar. If you misunderstood or understudied this material, then your entire study of the English language will most likely be unsuccessful. Therefore, if you feel that there is a gap somewhere in this material, then it is better to stay longer on this article.

It is this verb that underlies the construction of approximately 30 percent of all English grammatical constructions and is where you should start studying English grammar.

For example, to say “I am a student,” we must insert the desired form of the linking verb “to be” and the sentence will take on the meaning “I am a student." - “I (am) a student.”

We must carefully choose the correct verb form for the object, depending on whether it is singular or plural. This is usually easy. We wouldn’t write: “The troops were moving to the border.” Well, where is this good?

However, some proposals require closer attention. For example, how would you write:

The majority of Facebook users are (or is?) upset about the increase in spam.
Most Facebook users are upset about the increase in spam.

In fact, in this sentence everything depends on your accent - if it is focused on users— put “ are", if on group of people— « is».

Plural or singular depends on your choice. If you find it difficult what exactly to focus on, then choose what sounds best to you. It is unlikely that your chosen form of “to be” will upset anyone.

By the way, “majority” is used only with countable nouns: “he ate the majority of cookies", but not "he ate the majority of the pie". instead we will say: “he ate most of the pie."

Translation into Russian of the verb To Be

“To be” is translated as “to be”, “to be”, “to exist”, “to appear” or not translated at all, and can be in Present (am, is, are), Past (was, were) and Future (will ( be)/shall (be)) tenses. The form of the verb depends on who is doing the action.

Unlike the Russian language in English linking verb never omitted, due to strictly fixed word order:

Rule To Be: subject ( subject) + predicate ( verb) + addition ( object).

• As independent verb(to be, to be, to exist or not translated):

I am at home.
I am at home.
She was at the Institute yesterday.
She was at the institute yesterday.
Not is in New York.
He (be) in New York.

• IN interrogative form of the verb “to be” is placed before subject to and does not require an auxiliary verb to form the interrogative or negative form. The same thing happens in the continuative (durative) form of the verb (Continuous).

Is he in New York?
Is he (to be) in New York?
Was she at the Institute yesterday?
Was she at the institute yesterday?

• Negative the form is formed using the negation " not", which is put after verb "to be".

She was not (wasn't) at the Institute yesterday.
She wasn't at the institute yesterday.
Not is not (isn't) in New York.
He is not (located) in New York.

IN colloquial speech"not" usually merges with "to be" to form abbreviations:

is not = isn't
are not = aren't

The verb "to be" is also shortened with personal pronoun:

I am = I"m
We are = we"re
He is = he's

• As auxiliary verb.

Used for education verb forms continuous tenses ( Continuous) and continuous perfect tenses ( Perfect Continuous).

They are reading a book.
They are reading a book.
He is sleeping now.
He is sleeping now.
We have been working here for 10 years.
We have been working here (for) 10 years.

Auxiliary Verbs, By the way , can also be combined with the basic form of "to be" to form simple answers:

Is Jack in class this morning?
Well, he might be.
Is anyone helping Jack with his homework?
I'm not sure. Jane could be.

“to be” is also used to form the passive voice ( Passive Voice):

Active: Didn't buy a new magazine.
He bought a new magazine.
Passive: A new magazine was bought.
We bought a new magazine.

• As verb-ligaments(to be, to appear).

I am a doctor.
I am a doctor.
Not is a doctor.
He is a doctor.
Her new hat is red. Her new hat is red.

• In the design " there is/there are"(to be, to be).

There is a table in the room.
There (is) a table in the room.

In this sentence " there" is a formal subject. The active subject is the noun that follows the verb "be" (is), i.e. "table".

If the subject is plural, then the verb “to be” must also be plural.

There are tables in the room.
There (are) tables in the room.

At time change the form of the verb changes to be»:

There was a table in the room.
There was a table in the room.
There were tables in the room.
There were tables in the room.

Translation of sentences with the construction “there is/there are” begins with translation circumstances places.

Negative form:

There is no table in the room. (There isn't a table...).
In the room there is (no) table.
There is no water in the bottle. (There isn't any water in the bottle.)
In a bottle no water.

Interrogative form:

Is there a man in the house?
In the house is there a man?
Are there(any) apples in the greengrocers?
In vegetable Are there any apples in the store?

• “To be” often works in conjunction with others verbs:

He is playing the piano
She will be arriving this afternoon.

• And sometimes “to be” will stand myself By to myself. Especially in simple answers to equally simple questions:

Who's going to the movies with me tonight?
I am.
Who's responsible for this mess?
She is.

Present:
I am to (not to) / We are to (not to) / You are to (not to);
He/she/it is to (not to) / They are to (not to).

Past:
I was to (not to) / We were to (not to) / You were to (not to) You were to (not to);
He/she/it was to (not to) / They were to (not to).

• To be ( Present) is used only With Indefinite Infinitive (indefinite infinitive).

They are to be here.
They should be here.

• "To be" ( Past) used with Indefinite Infinitive(indefinite infinitive) and with Perfect Infinitive(perfect infinitive), which means that the action was not performed:

She was(supposed) to be in the cinema.
She should have been in the movies.

• Modal verb"to be" can be used to express responsibilities, which is based on previous agreements (plan, schedule etc.)

We are to go to the cinema.
We should go to the cinema.

• We also use this modal verb to express order or instructions:

You are to go to school.
You have to go to school.

• We use "to be" if something categorically forbidden V negative form.

Children are not allowed to drink alcohol.
Children are prohibited from drinking alcohol.

• "To be" is used for urgency council or wishes:

You are to drive straight.
Drive straight.

• "To be", in passive voice(constructed using the infinitive “to be”) and Past Participle— 3 form irregular verb or adding the ending “- ed" to the correct one), describes opportunity:

She was not to be heard.
It was impossible to hear her.

You were to be heard very good on the concert.
You could be heard very well at the concert.

Conclusion

We have looked at all the main important nuances of this tricky verb. For the last time, we draw your attention to the fact that when you say a phrase and doubt whether you should put the verb be there, you can always test yourself by asking questions to the sentence: am I who/what, is where, is what?

If in translation the words “is, is, is” give the sentence a logical meaning, then in English such a sentence will be correct.

We hope this article helped you understand the verb to be, which is simple only at first glance. Cheers!

Big and friendly EnglishDom family

Be to is used to denote an action that must be performed according to a plan, according to a schedule or according to instructions. That is, there is always an element of planning, and the planning does not always come from the speaker himself. In the case of a plan and schedule, the execution of an action may not depend on the speaker. This is especially clear when we're talking about about transport schedules, store openings, and so on. For example:

The train is to leave in 20 minutes, hurry up and book the tickets quickly – The train should leave in 20 minutes, hurry up and quickly buy tickets.

Using the verb to be to

Use of to be to obeys certain rules. So, it is used when something needs to be done according to instructions or directions:

• I am to read this text, as the teacher said. But I simply can’t do it so quickly even if I must! — The teacher said that I should read this text. But I can't do it that fast, even if I should.

From the sentence it is clearly visible that be to here corresponds to the duty according to the instructions, since the teacher gave the task to read the text. Also note that in translation the difference in meaning between be to and must is lost by using the same word. In order to emphasize the implementation of an action according to instructions, the phrase “the teacher said” was introduced, which implies a direct instruction.

• They went there and now we are to wait as the administrator said, until they finish - They went there, and now, according to the administrator, we will have to wait until they finish.
• I was at the doctor and now I am to take calcium pills twice a day - I was at the doctor and now I need to drink calcium twice a day.

In this case, it is clear from the context that the action will be carried out as prescribed, since the speaker was at the doctor's. That is, the influence of the external factor is clearly visible.

• Relatives are not allowed to go there. It's a surgery. - Relatives are not allowed to enter here. This is the operating room.
• Parents are not to be present at the lessons, it’s not my wish, it’s common order of the headmistress - Parents are not allowed to be present at the lessons, this is not my whim, but a general order for the school, signed by the director.

It is clearly implied here that relatives are not allowed to enter, not because the speaker does not want to, but because these are his job descriptions.

Predestination or inevitability is also indicated in English verb to be. As a rule, the sentence in this case is in the past tense, since the action being discussed has already happened. But there are also exceptions. It all depends on the context and the intentions of the speaker. For example:

• This girl was to become a teacher, as her mother was and as there were lots of her ancestors. Actually, she did had a gift for teaching but didn’t like it much as was expected - This girl was destined to become a teacher, like her mother, and like many of her ancestors before that. Overall, she had a talent for teaching, but she was not as captivated by it as others thought.

This example shows a situation where an event should have occurred under the influence of external factors. An alternative version of events was not considered, which made it possible to use be to in the meaning of reflecting predestination. Let's look at another example to reinforce this:

• This boy was to become rich and famous, but yet it looked like a miracle, totally impossible miracle - This boy was destined to become rich and famous. But now it seemed like a miracle, a completely unreal miracle.

As in the previous version, here there is also an indication of predetermination. In this version, be to is used mainly in literature.

Fundamental, guaranteed impossibility is also expressed using be to. Use in this meaning is permissible only in negative sentences. For example:

This technique of dancing is not to be obtained in a week, it’s too difficult even for the most famous dancers - This dance style cannot be perfectly learned in a month. It is too difficult even for the world's best dancers.

These are the main uses of be to in both written and spoken language.

Grammatical features of the modal verb be to

The most obvious grammatical feature of be to is the presence after it. As a general rule, after modal verbs there is a functional verb without to, which is called bare infinitive. This distinguishes it from a number of other modal ones. For example:

• I am to go to the dentist this Monday but I can’t because of my sister’s wedding. — I have to go to the dentist this Monday, but I can’t because of my sister’s wedding.

The example above clearly shows the difference between be to and can. Going to the dentist is a planned action, which, moreover, is associated with the clinic’s routine. Therefore, be to is more than appropriate here.

The next feature is that be to is used only in the past and present tense. For example:

• I was to finish tis task in 40 minutes but it was too difficult so I don't know, whether I can do it at all – I was supposed to finish this task in 40 minutes, but it is too difficult and I don’t even know if I can whether to cope with it.
• They are to visit this museum on Friday according to the schedule, after all the schools attend it. — According to the schedule, they should go to this museum on Friday, after all the other schools have visited it.

If you need to convey the obligation of a scheduled action in the future tense. The equivalent is used:

• We will have to go there after this lady in pink - We will have to go after this woman in pink.
• You will have to read your lines after Kate, don’t forget about it and, for God’s sake, learn them by heart – You will have to read your speech after Kate, don’t forget about it. And, for God's sake, memorize it.

What's the difficulty? Why is the topic so simple, but there are so many errors? Because when starting to study English, not everyone changes their thinking, but continues to think in Russian. Verb "be" is present in Russian, but... we miss it when we build a sentence in the present tense. In the past, the verb "to be" had many present tense forms: you are, are, are, the essence and so on. But in modern Russian only “is” is preserved: I am, he is, we are and so on. But no one says that, “is” remains “in the mind”! Therefore, it seems very strange to us that this very “is” needs to be inserted into English.

In English the verb to be has three present tense forms: am, is, are.

If you are talking about yourself ( I), then use the verb am:

I am a teacher. - I (am) a teacher.

I am happy. - I (am) happy.

If you are talking about he(He), she(she), or it(it), use the form is:

He is a doctor. - He (is) a doctor.

She is beautiful. - She (is) beautiful.

It is my dog. - This (is) my dog

If you are talking about we(We), you(you you), they(they) then use the form are:

We are friends. - We (are) friends.

You are hungry. - You (are) hungry.

They are my parents. - They (are) my parents..

Many textbooks say that the verb to be is not translated into Russian. Agree that the word "is" looks rather strange in our example sentences, but if you want to speak English, you will have to think this way, especially in initial stages studying. To be can be translated by verbs "to be", "to be", "to exist", although this gives the statement some formal coloring, you can also put a dash.

Another observation from practice that you need to pay attention to. Sometimes they forget about the three forms and say this: I be a teacher. It's something like: I be a teacher. Of course, you should get rid of such an error if you notice it in your speech.

To use the verb to be correctly, you need to remember the main cases of its use. Because to be acts primarily as a linking verb, its main function is to connect parts of a sentence.

1. The verb to be connects a noun (pronoun) and an adjective.

Since to be is indispensable in descriptions, when characterizing or describing something using adjectives, do not forget to connect words using a linking verb:

I am fine. - I (am) fine.

My son (he) is happy. - My son (is) happy.

The children (they) are healthy. - The children (are) healthy.

This book (it) is interesting. - It's an interesting book.

Please note that if the subject of the sentence is a noun, then to find the correct form of the verb to be, you should replace the noun with the appropriate pronoun: son- he; children- they; book- it.

2. The verb to be is used when they want to say who or what the subject of discussion is.

In other words, answering questions like: Who is this? What is this?, in your answer use to be. To be is also required if you are introducing yourself or representing someone:

I am your teacher. - I'm your teacher.

She is my sister Mary. - This is my sister Mary.

They are my colleagues. - They are my colleagues.

3. The verb to be is used when talking about professions.

Mary is a writer. - Mary is a writer.

John is a businessman. - John is a businessman.

My friends are engineers. - My friends are engineers.

If you are talking about someone's profession, then the verb to be can be translated as "to be", but such a translation is not always appropriate.

4. To be is used when talking about nationalities.

It’s not for nothing that many English textbooks begin with studying the names of countries and nationalities, so it’s very convenient to practice using the verb to be:

I'm American. - I am American.

Anna is Russian. - Anna is Russian.

Max is Canadian. - Max is Canadian.

My partners are Chinese. - My partners are Chinese.

You can find detailed information about nationalities in English.

5. To be is used when talking about age.

A common mistake is to use the verb have in this case. Although some languages ​​use have when talking about age, in English you always use to be in the correct form:

I am thirty (years old). - I am thirty years old.

My sister is twenty-five (years old). - My sister is twenty-five years old.

The students are eighteen (years old). - Students are eighteen years old.

6. The verb to be should be used if you are talking about the location of something.

Verbs "to be", "to be located" may be used if the content of the proposal allows:

I am in the kitchen. - I am in the kitchen.

We are at home. - We're home.

Her bag is on the table. - Her bag is on the table.

The cat is in the box. - Cat in a box.

London is in Great Britain. - London is located in Great Britain.

7. To be (or rather its forms is and are) is an important part of the phrase there is/there are.

We will not talk about this turnover here, because we have already published detailed material about this theme. You can read more about the turnover there is/there are, but first we recommend that you finish reading this article so as not to get confused.

Modal verb to be to can be used in two time planes: in and in. Accordingly, the forms will be suitable. If this is the present tense, then we choose among - I am to, he / she / it is to, you / we / they are to. When we need the past tense, we use two options - was to(singular), were to (plural). But what if we need to express some thoughts in the future tense? In this case, it comes to our aid.

Meaning of a modal verb to be to is that the presence of this verb in a sentence implies a preliminary mutual agreement on the need to perform some action. Therefore, the translation of this modal verb will be based on vocabulary such as “agreed”, “agreed”, “should, was obliged”, “destined”, “were going to”, etc. This can be seen very clearly in the examples provided:

We are to decide it right now. “We have to solve this right now.”

Who is to do the talking today? – Who is going to talk today?

What am I to tell my parents? - Well, what should I tell my parents now?

It was the last ceremony I was to see. – This was the last ceremony that I had (was destined to) see.

She couldn’t decide whether the letter was to be answered or not. She couldn't decide whether she should answer the letter or not.

The film was to be dubbed later. – The film should have been dubbed later.

Will I see you again? – It’s likely. I am to be at the hotel for another week. – Will I see you again? - More likely. I need to stay at the hotel for another week.

Please note that if after a modal verb to be to the perfect is used, implying that the action was originally planned, but, unfortunately, was not carried out.

Who was to have done the shopping? - Well, who was supposed to go shopping? (and no one went)

The detective was to have carried out an investigation but the circumstances changed. “This detective was supposed to conduct investigations, but circumstances changed. (and he is not conducting an investigation)

What else does a modal verb express? to be to?

In addition to its main meaning, the modal verb to be to can be used to express:

1. Order
   

   You are to report to the captain. “You must tell the captain.”

2. Prohibition (negative sentences)
   

   You are not to tell anyone about it! -You shouldn't tell anyone this!

3. Asking for further directions or instructions (in interrogative sentences)
   

   What am I to do, Sir? -What should I do, sir?

This topic is closely related to others described in the articles that need attention.

The verb “to be to” is one of the modal verbs of the English language. “Modal” means expressing the attitude towards the action of the speaker, and not the action itself. If so, they also need to take a verb that expresses the action directly.

Without it, verbs of this type do not make sense, and together with it they form the so-called compound modal predicate (compound modal predicate, - ed.), the elements of which are closely related to each other and interdependent.

Example: I might help you, sir (I can, with all due respect, help you - ed.).

The example clearly shows the role of the modal verb “might”, which is no different from the role of any other modal verb. It adds meaning to the main verb "help", indicating how politely and with what nuance a person speaks. Replace “might” with “can” or “could” and you will get a slightly different meaning of the sentence in translation.

“To be to” also gives the main verb of a compound predicate an additional meaning. Its presence indicates that there is some real or conditional agreement that the action should be performed. The key word here is “should,” and “to be to” is often translated by adding this word to the sentence.

Example: Bob Smith is to have the flour today (Bob Smith should speak today - ed.).

It is quite clear that “must” “to be to” is a completely different “should” of another modal verb – “must”. “To be to” can, depending on the context, translate “agreed”, “agreed”, “should”, “agreed”, “destined” and so on.

Example:“If I am to be remembered: The life and work of Julian Huxley” (The title of the book can be translated as follows: “If I am to be remembered: The life and work of Julian Huxley,” ed.).

“Must” is another matter. Almost always in Russian a sentence with it contains “must”, “obliged”. As for "to be to", let's now go through some specific cases of its use.

“To be to” can be used to express the inevitability of the occurrence of an event.

Example: He is to be a great artist (He simply must become a great artist - ed.).

Phrases with “to be to” are often found in instructions and official documents, as it can be used to imply that an action will be carried out within the framework of following an instruction, guide, schedule or any other plan.

Example: The flashlight isn’t to be used in such a way that someone could be dazzled.

“To be to” with negation can often be found in sentences that communicate the unreality of certain events or actions.

Example: They aren’t to master the language for a few weeks (It is an unrealistic task for them to learn a language in a few weeks - ed.).

In official announcements you can find the use of the modal verb “to be to” to state the permissibility or impermissibility of certain possible actions.

“To be to” with tenses and faces

The question remains of how the use of “to be to” varies across tenses and persons. As you know, all modal verbs have their own forms of past, present and future tenses that do not obey grammatical tenses. The changes inherent in the verb “to be” also need to be made. What this looks like in relation to “to be to” is most conveniently shown in tabular form:

In the future tense, “to be to” is not used, since it is customary to resort to “have to” instead - accordingly, “will have to”. There is still such an aspect as an interrogative sentence - here our modal verb behaves in the same way as other similar verbs, it itself moves into position in front of the subject, regardless of whether its form is negative or positive. But we dwell on this here in passing, in more detail in a separate article on this topic.