What is the present participle of “be”?
“Being” is the present participle of “be” (e.g., “They were being watched”). “Been” is the past participle.
“Being” is the present participle of “be” (e.g., “They were being watched”). “Been” is the past participle.
An indicative sentence is a sentence that states a fact or opinion or asks a question (e.g., “I worked all day,” “Basketball is more fun than baseball,” “Do you like coffee?”).
The verbs of indicative sentences are considered to be in the indicative mood, which is the most common of the three moods in English: indicative, imperative, and subjunctive.
“Was” and “were” are both simple past tense forms of the stative verb “be.” The correct form to use depends on the subject.
“Was” is used for most singular subjects, including first person and third person (e.g., “I was,” “she was”).
“Were” is used for plural subjects (e.g., “we were,” “they were”), but it’s also used for the second person regardless of whether the subject is singular or plural (e.g., “you were”).
Whether “was” or “were” is correct can also depend on whether you’re using the subjunctive mood or indicative mood. The subjunctive mood is used to express wishes, hypotheticals, and suggestions (e.g., “if I were you, I would say something”).
QuillBot’s Grammar Checker can help you ensure you’re using was and were correctly.
Grammatical moods refer to how verbs are used to indicate the intention of a sentence or the speaker’s attitude toward what they are saying.
English has three grammatical moods:
“Fall head over heels” means “to have sudden and intense romantic feelings for someone.” It’s an English idiom that uses the physical act of falling as a metaphor. Here are a couple of examples:
When you’re curious about other idioms and phrasal verbs with “fall,” ask QuillBot’s AI Chat for definitions and examples.
“Be” is a stative verb and linking verb and is the most irregular verb in English. It has three simple present tense forms: “am,” “is,” and “are.”
“Am” is used for a first person subject (e.g., “I am Spanish”).
“Are” is used for plural subjects (e.g., “we are Spanish”) and for both singular and plural second person subjects (e.g., “you are Spanish”).
“Is” is used for a third person singular subject (e.g., “he/she/it is Spanish”).
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