Conjugation of the Verb to be

The Indicative Mode
Tense	Person	Singular	Plural
Present	First Person	I am.	We are.
	Second Person	You are.	You are.
	Third Person	He, she or it is.	They are.
Present Perfect	First Person	I have been.	We have been.
	Second Person	You have been.	You have been.
	Third Person	He, she, or it has been.	They have been.
Past	First Person	I was.	We were.
	Second Person	You were.	You were.
	Third person	He, she, or it was.	They were.
Past perfect	First Person	I had been.	We had been.
	Second person	You had been.	You had been.
	Third person	He, she, or it had been.	They had been.
Future	First person	I will be.	We will be.
	Second Person	You will be.	You will be.
	Third Person	He, she, or it will be.	They will be.
Future Perfect	First person	I will have been.	We will have been.
	Second person	You will have been.	You will have been.
	Third Person	He, she, or it will have been.	They will have been.

Note

Shall can be used to form the future and future perfect tense as well as will.
Shall tends to be both more formal and more emphatic than will.

The Potential Mode
Tense	Person	Singular	Plural
Present	First Person	I may be.	We may be.
	Second Person	You may be.	You may be.
	Third Person	He, she or it may be.	They may be.
Present Perfect	First Person	I may have been.	We may have been.
	Second Person	You may have been.	You may have been.
	Third Person	He, she, or it may have been.	They may have been.
Past	First Person	I might be.	We might be.
	Second Person	You might be.	You might be.
	Third person	He, she, or it might be.	They might be.
Past perfect	First Person	I might have been.	We I might have been.
	Second person	You I might have been.	You I might have been.
	Third person	He, she, or it I might have been.	They I might have been.

The Subjunctive Mode
Tense	Person	Singular	Plural
Present	First Person	if I am	if we are
	Second Person	if you are	if you are
	Third Person	if he, she or it is	if they are
Present Perfect	First Person	if I have been	if we have been
	Second Person	if you have been	if you have been
	Third Person	if he, she, or it has been	if they have been
Past	First Person	if I was	if we were
	Second Person	if you were	if you were
	Third person	if he, she, or it was	if they were
Past perfect	First Person	if I had been	if We had been
	Second person	if you had been	if you had been
	Third person	if he, she, or it had been	if they had been
Future	First person	if I will be	if we will be
	Second Person	if you will be	if you will be
	Third Person	if he, she, or it will be	if they will be
Future Perfect	First person	if I will have been	if we will have been
	Second person	if you will have been	if you will have been
	Third Person	if he, she, or it will have been	if they will have been

Along with the forms for the verb to be given above, the subjunctive mode also has the following special forms in the present and the past tenses.

Special Forms for the Subjunctive Mode
Tense	Person	Singular	Plural
Present	First Person	if I be	if we be
	Second Person	if you be	ifyou be
	Third Person	if he, she or it be	if they be
Past	First Person	if I were	if we were
	Second Person	if you were	if you were
	Third Person	if he, she, or it were	if they were

The Infinitive Mode
Present Infinitive	to be
Present Perfect Infinitive	to have been
Present Participle	being
Present Perfect Participle	having been
Past Participle	been

At this point proceed to Exercise 25.

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