Verbo essere in inglese

Come si usa il verbo essere in inglese

Quando inizi a studiare l’inglese troverai molte frasi che hanno il verbo to be, con significati diversi, e potrebbe essere un po’ difficile distinguerle. Presta attenzione alle basi che devi conoscere sulla coniugazione del verbo essere.

Può stare da solo

In sostanza, il verbo essere può stare da solo, ma nella maggior parte dei casi accompagnerà altri verbi nei tempi verbali composti. Ma cominciamo con le basi, diamo un’occhiata alla coniugazione del to be verb.

Presente

Al presente, il verbo si coniuga I am, you are, he/she/it is, e con i pronomi plurali we, you, they si coniuga con are. 

Passato

Al passato, la maggior parte dei pronomi si coniugano con were tranne I, he, she, it, che si coniugano con was. Nella forma perfetta (o participio passato) assume la forma been, e nella forma progressiva diventa being.

Verbo to be come ausiliare

Puoi usare il verbo essere in inglese come verbo ausiliare nei tempi verbali continui accompagnati da un verbo gerundio, come si può vedere nei seguenti esempi:

• Jenny is studying a new career. (Jenny sta studiando un nuovo corso di laurea.)
• I was working till late last night. (Lavoravo fino a tardi ieri sera.)
• We were watching TV last Sunday. (Stavamo guardando la TV domenica scorsa.)

Quando si usa il verbo essere in inglese

Di seguito vedrai alcune situazioni nelle quali si può usare il verbo to be in modo corretto:

Descrivere qualcosa o qualcuno

Se vuoi descrivere una persona, il verbo essere sarà molto utile. Guarda il seguente esempio:

• Colin is an accountant. He is a man. He is canadian. His eyes are brown. He is intelligent and very friendly. 
• (Colin è un contabile. È uomo. È canadese. I suoi occhi sono marroni. È intelligente e molto amichevole.)

💡 Tieni presente che in inglese per parlare di età non si usa il verbo ‘avere’ (have), ma il verbo essere. 

Esempio: (Ho 34 anni.)

• ❌ Incorretto: I have 34 years old.
• ✅ Corretto: I am 34 years old.

Parlare dell’umore di qualcuno

Il verbo essere ti aiuta a descrivere lo stato d’animo di una persona.

• He is angry. (Lui è arrabbiato.)
• You are sad today. (Sei triste oggi.)
• She was tired. (Lei era stanca.)
• They are a bit disappointed. (Loro sono un po’ delusi.)

Parlare del tempo

Puoi usare il verbo to be quando vuoi descrivere la temperatura o il clima di un luogo.

• Manhattan is rainy today. (Oggi piove a Manhattan.)
• The Arctic pole is quite cold. (Il polo artico è piuttosto freddo.)
• Tomorrow will be a sunny day. (Domani sarà una giornata di sole.)

Menzionare una posizione

Puoi parlare della posizione geografica o spaziale di qualcosa o qualcuno.

• Martin is at the university. (Martin è all’università.)
• New Orleans is in the United States. (New Orleans si trova negli Stati Uniti.)
• The keys are under the bed. (Le chiavi sono sotto il letto.)

Registrati gratis e inizia
ora il tuo corso d’inglese.

Coniugazione del verbo to be

Ora diamo una breve occhiata ai tempi verbali del verbo to be in inglese. Ricorda che tutti i tempi verbali hanno forma affermativa, negativa e interrogativa.

Il verbo essere al presente si usa principalmente per riferirsi a qualcosa di vero nel presente o per fornire informazioni di base. Le forme del verbo al presente sono am, is, are.

Il verbo essere al passato si usa per parlare di informazioni reali, fatti o dati accaduti in passato. Il verbo assume la forma di was e were, a seconda del pronome personale con cui si coniuga.

Il verbo essere al futuro usa la forma will be e si usa per parlare di qualcosa che sarà o ci sarà in futuro.

 

Present Simple (Presente)

Affirmative	Negative	Interrogative
I am	I am not	Am I ?
You are	You are not	Are you ?
He/She/It is	He/She/It is not	Is he/she/it ?
We are	We are not	Are we ?
You are	You are not	Are you ?
They are	They are not	Are they ?

Past Simple (Passato)

Affirmative	Negative	Interrogative
I was	I was not	Was I ?
You were	You were not	Were you ?
He/She/It was	He/She/It was not	Was he/she/it ?
We were	We were not	Were we ?
You were	You were not	Were you ?
They were	They were not	Were they ?

Future Simple (Futuro Semplice)

Affirmative	Negative	Interrogative
I will be	I will not be	Will I be?
You will be	You will not be	Will you be?
He/She/It will be	He/She/It will not be	Will he/she/it be?
We will be	We will not be	Will we be?
You will be	You will not be	Will you be?
They will be	They will not be	Will they be?

Present Perfect Simple (Passato Prossimo)

Affirmative	Negative	Interrogative
I have been	I have not been	Have I been?
You have been	You have not been	Have you been?
He/She/It has been	He/She/It has not been	Has he/she/it been?
We have been	We have not been	Have we been?
You have been	You have not been	Have you been?
They have been	They have not been	Have they been?

Past Perfect Simple (Trapassato Prossimo)

Affirmative	Negative	Interrogative
I had been	I had not been	Had I been?
You had been	You had not been	Had you been?
He/She/It had been	He/She/It had not been	Had he/she/it been?
We had been	We had not been	Had we been?
You had been	You had not been	Had you been?
They had been	They had not been	Had they been?

Future Perfect (Futuro Anteriore)

Affirmative	Negative	Interrogative
I will have been	I will not have been	Will I have been?
You will have been	You will not have been	Will you have been?
He/She/It will have been	He/She/It will not have been	Will he/she/it have been?
We will have been	We will not have been	Will we have been?
You will have been	You will not have been	Will you have been?
They will have been	They will not have been	Will they have been?

Conditional (Condizionale)

Affirmative	Negative	Interrogative
I would be	I would not be	Would I be?
You would be	You would not be	Would you be?
He/She/It would be	He/She/It would not be	Would he/she/it be?
We would be	We would not be	Would we be?
You would be	You would not be	Would you be?
They would be	They would not be	Would they be?

Conditional Perfect (Condizionale Passato)

Affirmative	Negative	Interrogative
I would have been	I would not have been	Would I have been?
You would have been	You would not have been	Would you have been?
He/She/It would have been	He/She/It would not have been	Would he/she/it have been?
We would have been	We would not have been	Would we have been?
You would have been	You would not have been	Would you have been?
They would have been	They would not have been	Would they have been?

Esercizi in inglese sul verbo essere