İngilizce "to be" fiilinin türkçede tam karşılığı yoktur. "To be" fiili fiillerin yalın haller ile kullanılmazlar. "To be" fiili isim ve sıfatlarla kullanılarak onlara fiillik yapar.
"To be" fiilinin kullanımı şahıslara göre değişir.
Şimdiki zamanda aşağıdaki gibi kullanılır.
| I | am |
| He | is |
| She | is |
| It | is |
| We | are |
| You | are |
| They | are |
Geçmiş zamanda aşağıdaki gibi kullanılır.
| I | was |
| He | was |
| She | was |
| It | was |
| We | were |
| You | were |
| They | were |
Diğer zamanlarda ise "be" olarak kullanılır.
Örnekler
I am going to school. Ben okula gidiyorum.
To be fiilinin olumsuz hali
"To be" fiilini olumsuz yapmak için, "to be" fiilden hemen sonra "not" kullanılır. İngilizce'de bu kısaltmalar konuşma dili ve resmi olmayan yazılarda kullanılır.
| Şimdiki zaman | Kısaltma 1 | Kısaltma 2 |
| I am not | I'm not | |
| He is not | He's not | He isn't |
| She is not | She's not | She isn't |
| It is not | It's not | It isn't |
| We are not | We're not | We aren't |
| You are not | You're not | You aren't |
| They are not | They're not | They aren't |
Geçmiş zaman
| Geçmiş zaman | Kısaltma |
| I was not | I wasn't |
| He was not | He wasn't |
| She was not | She wasn't |
| It was not | It wasn't |
| We were not | We weren't |
| You were not | You weren't |
| They were not | They weren't |
Örnekler
To be fiilinin Soru hali
Şimdiki zaman
| Am | I |
| Is | he |
| Is | she |
| Is | it |
| Are | we |
| Are | you |
| Are | they |
Geçmiş zaman
| Was | I |
| Was | he |
| Was | she |
| Was | it |
| Were | we |
| Were | you |
| Were | they |
Örnekler
To be fiilinin olumsuz soru hali
İki tip olumsuz soru şekli vardır. Birinci kısaltma eski İngilizce'de edebi eserlerde kullanılır.Günlük konuşma dilinde ikinci tip kullanılır.
Şimdiki zaman
| 1.Olumsuz soru | 2.Olumsuz soru |
| Am I not | Aren't I |
| Is he not | Isn't he |
| Is she not | Isn't she |
| Is it not | Isn't it |
| Are we not | Aren't we |
| Are you not | Aren't you |
| Are they not | Aren't they |
Geçmiş zaman
| 1.Olumsuz soru | 2.Olumsuz soru |
| Was I not | Wasn't I |
| Was he not | Wasn't he |
| Was she not | Wasn't she |
| Was it not | Wasn't it |
| Were we not | Weren't we |
| Were you not | Weren't you |
| Were they not | Weren't they |