Basic English Grammar: Using "to be" to describe your life

Hi, my name is Rebecca from www.engvid.com. In today's lesson, I'll be talking about a

very commonly used verb in the English language, and that's the verb "to be". Even though this

is a very commonly used verb, it's still confusing to a lot of English students for a variety

of different reasons. So, in today's lesson, we're going to divide the lesson into two

parts. First, I'm going to explain to you when to use the verb "to be", and then I'll

show you how to use it in three different tenses; in the present, in the past, and in

the present perfect. Okay? Now, that's really important to be able to do, so if you stick

with me right until the end of this lesson, you will know how to use the sentences that

start with "I am", "I was", and "I have been". Okay? Now, why is the verb "to be" so difficult?

Well, first of all, because the verb "to be" is different from all other verbs in the English

language. Okay? There's like a division. There's the verb "to be", and then there are all the

other verbs in English. So, the verb "to be", you have to learn the structure and the rules

of using that verb. And the second reason why the verb "to be" is so challenging at

times is because in many languages, we don't use the verb "to be", especially in the present

tense. That's why sometimes you have students saying things like "I student" or "I happy".

Now, those sentences are not correct because what's missing? The verb "to be". That student

should say "I am a student", "I am happy", but perhaps in their languages, they don't

need to use that in the present tense, and that's why it can become a bit of a challenge

to get used to using it. So, let me explain to you first when we use the verb "to be",

there are many, many different contexts in which we use it, so let's review that and

then we'll go further. Okay? Let's get started. So, we can use the verb "to be" to talk about

age, "I am 26", about gender, "I am a woman". Somebody could talk about their marital status,

"I'm married", "I'm engaged", "I'm divorced", etc. "I'm separated", okay? Family status,

"I'm a mother", "I'm a father", okay? You could also use the verb "to be" to talk about

your health, your physical health and your mental or emotional health. So, you could

say "I'm well" or "I'm ill", you could say "I'm happy" or "I'm depressed", right? Okay?

We use the verb "to be" also to talk about our occupation, "I'm a doctor", "I'm a teacher",

etc., right? Also about nationality, somebody could say "I'm Egyptian" or "I am Korean",

okay? Also about your political affiliation, somebody could say "I'm a liberal", "I'm a

conservative", all right? Also your religion, "I'm a Muslim" or "I'm Muslim", "I'm Hindu",

"I'm Christian", okay? When we say "I'm Hindu", it means I'm a person of... From the Hindu

religion. "I'm a Hindu" means a person who is a Hindu. So, you could actually say it

either way, with the word "a" or without the article "a", okay?

You could use the verb "to be" to describe your location, "I am in Moscow", "I am from

Brazil", again, we need to use the verb "to be". You could also use it to describe the

field you are... You work in, right? For example, I, as a teacher, I'm in the field of education,

so I could say, "I am in education". Somebody else could say, "I am in computers", right?

So, these are just a few of the very many situations in which we need to use the verb

"to be". Next, we'll be talking about the verb "to be" in the present, in the past,

and in the present perfect.

Okay, so let's look at how to use this essential verb "to be" in three different tenses. These

are the present, the past, and the present perfect, okay? So, in the present, I would

say, "I am tired", for example. When I say, "I am tired", it means right now, okay? That's

the present. If I'm using the past tense, I would say, "Yesterday, I was tired", okay?

So, when I use the simple past and I say, "I was", it means I'm referring to a time

in the past which is finished and over. "Yesterday, I was tired", alright?

Present perfect, we combine the present and the past, and we say something like this,

"I have been tired all week." That means at the beginning of the week, in the middle of

the week, and now. So, in present perfect, we are referring to the present and the past,

okay? Or the past and the present, alright? Depending on how you look at it. Alright?

So, "I am", "I was", "I have been". Let's see how we can use this in different examples

and how it changes the meaning of what we're trying to communicate.

So, somebody could say, "I am a doctor." That means he or she is a doctor now. "Five years

ago, I was a student." Or, "I was a medical student." Okay? So, five years ago, clearly

in the past, it's finished, it's over, so that's past. And the third one, "I have been

a doctor for five years." What does that mean? "I have been" is present perfect. It means

the person started being a doctor five years ago, four years ago, three years ago, two

years ago, and now. Alright? So, "I have been a doctor for five years" includes the past

as well as the present. So, you see how by using present tense, past tense, or present

perfect, we are in fact able to communicate different kinds of information.

Let's look at another example. "I am ill." "I am ill" means I am ill now, in the present.

"I was ill on Monday." Let's say today is Wednesday. "I was ill on Monday", which is

clearly in the past. Or, "I have been ill for the last two days." "I have been ill"

means I was ill and I am still ill. Okay? So, that's present perfect for you.

Another example, "I am married." That means now, for example. "I was married in 2001."

Usually we say, "I got married", but people could also say, "I was married in 2001." Okay?

And last one, "I have been married for 12 years." Okay? Now, here, the person is saying

that he or she got married 12 years ago and has been married throughout that period of

time, including right now. Okay? So, I hope that these examples in the present past and

present perfect have shown you ways in which you can talk about your life in terms of what

you're doing now, what you did yesterday or in the past, and what you have been doing.

Okay? So, if you'd like some more practice on this, please feel free to go to our website,

www.engvid.com. Thanks for watching. Good luck with your English.