To be en anglais : grammaire anglaise / définition
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To be
To be est beaucoup plus employé que notre verbe 'être'.
Il n'est que rarement employé dans le sens 'être', 'exister' :
Il n'est que rarement employé dans le sens 'être', 'exister' :
To be or not to be: that is the question. Etre ou ne pas être, là est la question (Shakespeare).
I think, therefore I am. Je pense, donc je suis (Descartes).
En tant qu'auxiliaire, il peut exprimer :
• La forme progressive, s'il est suivi du participe présent (forme en -ing) :
• La forme progressive, s'il est suivi du participe présent (forme en -ing) :
He is sleeping. Il dort. (il est en train de dormir)
They were chatting when Bruno arrived. Ils discutaient quand Bruno est arrivé. (ils étaient en train de discuter.)
• La voix passive, s'il est suivi d'un participe passé :
The table is set. La table est mise.
The car was repaired by my brother-in-law. La voiture a été réparée par mon beau-frère.
• L'obligation, le devoir, l'action convenue (idée de futur), s'il est suivi d'un infinitif :
You are to do what I tell you to do. Tu fais ce que je te dis de faire.
The Prime Minister is to arrive this afternoon in Paris. Le premier ministre arrivera cet après-midi à Paris.
The meeting is to take place in the boardroom. La réunion doit avoir lieu dans la salle du conseil.
To be compose également de nombreuses périphrases (expressions composées d'auxiliaires) exprimant diverses modalités : be likely to (probabilité), be sure to (certitude), be going to (futur)...
Exercice 1
'Our production manager, Kevin Connors very comfortable negotiating with foreign clients. In fact, as we speak, he to Malaysia to look into some leads. Don't worry though, he should here by next Monday, so you can reach him then.'
'Our production manager, Kevin Connors is 1 very comfortable negotiating with foreign clients. In fact, as we speak, he is flying 2 to Malaysia to look into some leads. Don't worry though, he should be 3 here by next Monday, so you can reach him then.'
1 is: 'Kevin is very comfortable' is the correct form of 'to be'.
1 are: We must use the third person conjugation here. 'You are' is the second person form of the verb 'to be'.
2 is flying: This is the correct way to finish this sentence. We must use the third person auxiliary and the 'ing' form of the verb.
2 was flying: There is no need to use the past progressive form here, because the action is current.
2 flies: Unfortunately, Kevin himself cannot fly. We must use the 'ing' form and say that Kevin is flying.
3 be: We should leave 'be' in the infinitive form here, without the 'to'.
3 is: In this sentence 'be' should be left in its infinitive form. There is no need to conjugate the verb in this case because of the auxiliary 'should' which precedes it.
Exercice 2
Bob Carter a good friend to Bruno Delavigne. In the past, they not as close as they now.
Bob Carter is 1 a good friend to Bruno Delavigne. In the past, they were 2 not as close as they are 3 now.
1 is: The third person singular form of the verb 'to be' is 'is'. This is the best choice here.
1 are: Because Bob Carter is just one man, we should use the singular form of the verb here, and not the plural form.
2 were: 'Were' is the best choice here. The verb must be put in the past tense.
2 are: Because of the phrase 'in the past', we know that the verb must be put into the past tense. The third person plural form of 'to be' is 'were'.
3 are: 'Are' is the correct choice because the phrase requires a present tense verb.
3 were: Because of the word 'now', we must put the verb in the present tense form. The third person plural, past tense form of 'to be' is 'were'.
Exercice 3
Icarus reading some files yesterday morning, when Horatio stopped by his office. 'How you doing today Señor Quincy? Everything going well, I hope.'
Icarus was 1 reading some files yesterday morning, when Horatio stopped by his office. 'How are 2 you doing today Señor Quincy? Everything is 3 going well, I hope.'
1 was: In the past tense, 'was' is the correct form of the verb 'to be' in the third person singular.
1 is: Because of the phrase 'yesterday morning' we know that this incident took place in the past, therefore we must use the third person form of the verb 'to be' in the past tense.
2 are: This is the correct choice. In the present tense, the second person form of 'to be' is 'are'.
2 were: Because of the word 'today' in this question, we must use the present tense form of the verb here.
2 is: 'Is' is the third person form of the verb 'to be'. Because Horatio is speaking directly to Icarus, we must use 'are', the second person form.
3 is: This is the best choice here. In the phrase 'I hope everything is going well', the subject 'everything' is considered a third person subject, and so the verb 'to be' is conjugated as 'is'.
3 are: We cannot use 'are' in this sentence because 'everything' is treated like the third person form, and takes 'is' rather than 'are'.
Exercice 4
Bruno to fly to Florida earlier this month, but he changed his mind after hearing that there still hurricanes in the area.
Bruno was going 1 to fly to Florida earlier this month, but he changed his mind after hearing that there were 2 still hurricanes in the area.
1 was going: This is the best choice here. We must put the verb 'to be' in a past tense form.
1 is going: Because of the phrase 'earlier this month' we know that the past tense (preterit) is required here.
2 were: Because 'hurricanes' is plural, we must use the third person, plural form of the verb 'to be' in the past simple tense (preterit).
2 was: We cannot use a singular form of 'to be' because the plural noun 'hurricanes' requires a plural form of the verb.
Exercice 5
Luna: Hello Mr. Horatio. What you doing?
Horatio: Well, Miss DeLune, I to mix these two chemicals together, so I can create beautiful smells.
Luna: That sounds fun.
Horatio: Yes. Do you any whiskey?
Luna: I have some herbal tea.
Horatio: Please leave me now.
Horatio: Well, Miss DeLune, I to mix these two chemicals together, so I can create beautiful smells.
Luna: That sounds fun.
Horatio: Yes. Do you any whiskey?
Luna: I have some herbal tea.
Horatio: Please leave me now.
Luna: Hello Mr. Horatio. What are 1 you doing?
Horatio: Well, Miss DeLune, I have 2 to mix these two chemicals together, so I can create beautiful smells.
Luna: That sounds fun.
Horatio: Yes. Do you have 3 any whiskey?
Luna: I have some herbal tea.
Horatio: Please leave me now.
Horatio: Well, Miss DeLune, I have 2 to mix these two chemicals together, so I can create beautiful smells.
Luna: That sounds fun.
Horatio: Yes. Do you have 3 any whiskey?
Luna: I have some herbal tea.
Horatio: Please leave me now.
1 are: 'Are' is the best choice here. This is the correct construction for this question. Luna is asking Horatio what he is occupied with at the moment.
1 have: 'Have' does not make sense here. It cannot be used with 'doing' in this construction. We could say, however: 'What have you been doing?'.
1 do: 'Do' does not make sense here. It does not agree with 'doing' in this construction. We could say, however: 'What do you do after work?'.
2 have: We use 'have' to express Horatio's obligation to complete his current task: mixing some chemicals together.
2 do: 'Do' is grammatically incorrect here. We cannot use 'do' to express Horatio's obligation to complete an action.
2 go: 'Go' is grammatically incorrect here. 'I go' is in the simple present tense, and we can't use this tense to refer to an action in the near future. We could say: 'I am going to mix these two chemicals together'.
3 have: We use 'have' here to ask the question if Luna possesses whiskey.
3 are: 'Are' is grammatically incorrect in this case. One cannot 'be' whiskey. At least, not in this lifetime.
3 do: 'Do' does not make sense here, because one cannot 'do' whiskey.
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