What is To Be in English Grammar

“To be” can be used in positive and negative forms. 

Here are some examples of positive forms:
Jack is my cousin, he is 5 years old;
You are a football player and you are good at it;
We are pupils and this is our school.

Verb “to be” also can be used in the short forms:
I’m glad because of the win;
She’s beautiful in this dress;
They’re far away from that building.

Examples of negative forms:
The book is not on the table, it is on the floor;
I am not ill, I am just tired;
Mary is not American, she is Italian. 

Short forms:
They aren’t happy because of the situation;
You’re not good in Math, but you’re good in Geography;
It isn’t warm today, but it’s sunny.

When the verb “to be” is used:

• In descriptions of properties or qualities:
  She is tall for her age;
  You are a nice and smart girl;
  They are very kind people.
   
• In order to say who we are:
  He is German, so doesn’t speak italian;
  My mother is a doctor. She works in the hospital;
  We are volunteers and we help other people every day. 
   
• When we characterize someone:
  Helen is a good student; 
  I am a famous singer;
  They are important guests.
   
• When we define someone’s location: 
  Nick is in China, he likes to travel;
  We are at home, we don’t like rain;
  I am in the shop, I need to buy some milk.
   
• In talks about the weather and time:
  It is hot today;
  It is usually cold here;
  It is ten o’clock;
  You are late!
   
• When we speak about people age:
  My mother is 50 years old;
  Nick is 4 years old, he likes to play with toys. 

It has three tenses of verbs: Present Simple (am, is, are), two forms of Past Simple (was and were) and one form of Future Simple (will). Let’s look at the examples:

Present Simple:
I am a student;
You are smart;
She is at home.

Past Simple:
I was tired;
They were at school.

Future Simple:
You will be a good mother.

In English, the combination of “There + be” is used to inform about the existence of something. It can be used also to talk about where the things are, for example:

Singular: There was a place for your bag in the car. 
                There will be a new modern school in our city. 
                There is a lot of new information on the web-site. Use it for your school project.
  
Plural:   There were a lot of candies in the box. Interesting, why did they disappear? 
              There will be some pillows on the sofa, you can use them for your comfort. 
              There are many countries you must visit, don’t waste your time, travel as often as possible!   

You have already noticed that none of these sentences contain words “to be”. This is because this verb is the only verb in English that changes in persons and numbers. While playing Langly you can observe it, practice conjugating the verb “to be” and use it in different forms.