The tenses of 'be' 14 CORE GRAMMAR 14. In this chapter. The present tense. 2 The past tense. 3 The present future tenset~e'\

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1 14 CORE GRAMMAR 14 2 The tenses of 'be' In this chapter The present tense 2 The past tense 3 The present future tenset~e'\ 4 The past past future tense 5 The present perfect tense 6 The past perfect tense 7 Would have been (zou/zouden geweest zijn) Intro The verb 'be' is the most frequently used verb in the English language. It may, therefore, be useful to revise al! the tenses (tijden) of this important verb. Maybe you already know al! of them, but better be safe than sorry, as the expression goes. At the same time you wil! learn the English terminology for the various tenses. Do you know which two tenses of 'be' are used in this newspaper heading? Internet bookseller AIpazon has been a success since its launch years ago. But will îts supremacy be threatened bia rival's new plan? By Jane Robins Noordhoff Uitgevers bv

2 CORE GRAMMAR 15 The present tense (onvoltooid tegenwoordige tijd) S' gular Plural 's person lam ik ben 1st person d person you are jij bent 2nd person d person she/he/it is zij/hij/het 3rd person is we are wij zijn you are jullie zijn they are zij zijn refers things and also to animais: Where is my mobile? It is over there. hort forms: I'm, you're, he's, she's, it's, we're, you're, they're 2 The past tense (onvoltooid verleden tijd) I was you were she/he/it was ik was jij was zij/hij/het was we were you were they were wij waren jullie waren zij waren 3 The present future tense (tegenwoordig toekomende tijd) Iwill be you wil! be she/he/it will be ik zal zijn jij zult zijn zij/hij/het zal zijn wewill be you will be they will be wij zullen zijn jullie zullen zijn zij zullen zijn ~ e present future tense of 'be' in all persons is: will beoin the first person singular ;: d plural (I/we), both will and shall can be used, though shall is usually restricted to - rmal usage. Short forms: 1'11, we'ii, etc. 4 The past ~~~tfuture tense (verleden toekomende tijd) I would be you would be she/he/it would be ik zou zijn jij zou zijn zij/hij/het zou zijn we would be you would be they would be wij zouden zijn jullie zouden zijn zij zouden zijn e past future tense of 'be' is would be in all persons. Short forms: I'd, you'd, etc. ~:",""",,-_'Ym-. Uitgevers bv

3 CaRE GRAMMAR 16 5 The present perfect tense (voltooid tegenwoordige tijd) I have been you have been she/he/it has been ik ben geweest jij bent geweest zij/hij/het is geweest we have been you have been they have been wij zijn geweest jullie zijn geweest zij zijn geweest The present perfect tense of 'be' is have/has + been. Weak forms: I've been, he's been, etc. Note that the auxiliary (hulpwerkwoord) of the perfect tense is always have. In Dutch, zijn is often used. 6 The past perfect tense (voltooid verleden tijd) I had been ik was geweest you had been jij was geweest she/he/it had been zij/hij/het was geweest we had been you had been they had been wij waren geweest jullie waren geweest zij waren geweest The past perfect tense of 'be' is had been in all persons. Weak forms: I'd been, you'd been, etc. 7 Would have been (zou/zouden geweest zijn) Het zou beter geweest zijn. Er zouden minder klachten geweest zijn. It would have been better. There would have been fewer cornplaints. Zou(den) geweest zijn = would have been. Tsunami warning system would have been of 'little use' for Solomon Islanders Noordhoff Uitgevers bv

4 CORE GRAMMAR 17 RCISES in the blanks with a farm of 'be'. me that he had a sales manager. st last year we in Morocco. e station at 8 o'clock tomorrow. _-:ever... to Greece. - "3.. a meeting tomorrow.... you from? t... at home tonight.... you last night? I... at home.... a busy week. Id have... better if you had warned me. ranslate. nooit in Schotland geweest. zijn jullie in de vakantie geweest? -s:' morgen koud. et zou hoger geweest zijn als het warmer was geweest. turnover waren jullie gisteravond? volgende week in Londen.. dat hij morgen om acht uur op het station zou zijn. lang is hij ziek geweest? Complete this text with the following farms of 'be'. - oast tense esenttense esent perfect - oast tense nast perfect tense tense the present perfect tense the present perfect tense the present future tense the present tense - =... foundedint998 by two Stanford T (2)... now'valued af $25 billion _ tne subjeçt,oftakeover speculatien lt:i:=o:~tt.there@"'55billionsearches vear. E' Y said yesteliq.ay that its engine ded to cover 6 billion items. The.: Uo inclucï~s. g45 million messages which (6) left by discussion groups. Google (7) a hit with internet users because its powerful technology allows the results of a search to be produced instantly. Google's earnings (8)... kept secret but e~ti, mates put revenues at about $r billion à year. Bankers believe that Googlë (9)... planning a fiotation this year.

5 The word 'it's' is always short for it is (as in it's raining), or in informal speech, for it has (as in it's gatsix.legs). The word its means 'belonging to it' (as in hald us head still while Ijump on its back);,,)t i~apossessive pronoun like his. - (SA,1 U! aqdonsode ue md or uaqm MOU){I op MOH (urruoj ;}~enilul!ll;}w;}lui ue urorj] suohsano pa}{sv ÁIluanbal d 8l <JVWWVIJfJ 3IJDe:)