Be Verbs

"Be" verbs are am, are, was, were, is, being, have been being. . .

Some people call them "taboo" words and try to get students to avoid them in everything they write. But don't give up your "be" verbs--know when you want them and use them.

Take a look at your "be" verbs. If you use a lot of them, you may be wordy. You may be loading your sentences with nouns (often in prepositional phrases), too. But then you may need those "be" verbs to say what you need to say.

Do "be" verbs replace stronger verbs?
- John is the type who thinks he's right. [John thinks he's right.]
- His facial expression was an indication that he was wrong. [His face convinced us that he was wrong.]
- It was an exaggeration. [Jones exaggerated.]
- It was a commitment that they had shown. [They showed a commitment.]
- John was in an aggressive frame of mind. [(maybe) John aggressively attacked George's opinions.]
Do "be" verbs delay your point?
- It was true that he was a late-bloomer. [He was a late-bloomer.]
- There was occasionally a hamster in the basement. [A hamster was occasionally in the basement.]
- It was difficult for him to go. [He couldn't find the time to go.]
Use "be" verbs to help you recognize passives.
Use "be" verbs in statements of "existence" or "being":
- It was blue.
- He was a fire marshall.
- There were pigeons in the loft. [You could, of course, say "Pigeons roosted in the loft"--but if all you want to do is to point at the pigeons, then "There were pigeons" is fine.]
  
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