12.2: To Be
- Page ID
- 6535
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When a form of be (am, is, are, was, were) serves as the main verb of a sentence, an adverbial of time or place, an adjectival, or a noun phrase will follow it. The following are the three sentence patterns that occur with the be verb:
For definitions and examples of the adverb, adjective, and noun phrase, see Chapter 11.
- (subject)+(be verb)+(adverbial of time or place)
Prepositional phrases often take the form of adverbials, as seen in the third example. For a definition and examples of prepositional phrases, see Chapter 12, Lesson 2.Subject Be Adverbial of time or place The children Were Upstairs The meeting Is Tomorrow The nutmeg Is On the shelf - (subject)+(be verb)+(subject complement [adjective])
Sometimes a prepositional phrase, in the form of an idiomatic expression, will fill the role of subject complement, as seen in the third exampleSubject Be Subject complement [adj.] The children Were Excited The meeting Is Boring Jacob Is In a bad mood - (subject)+(be verb)+(subject complement [noun phrase])
Subject Be Subject complement [NP] The children Were Angels The meeting Will be A success
Review Questions
Identify the subject and be verb of each sentence—as well as the adverbial, subject complement [adj.], or subject complement [noun phrase].
- My neighbor is uncommonly thrifty.
- The Oldsmobile was on its last legs
- Celia is the CEO of a large multinational corporation.
- The last performance of Death of a Salesman was on Friday.
- The plumber will be here soon.