“Go, come, study, eat, do” gibi normal fiillerin olmadığı cümlelerde yüklem olarak “be” fiilini kullanmamız gerekmektedir. Ancak “be” fiili, özneye göre şekil almaktadır. Örneğin, “be” fiili geniş zaman ve şimdiki zamanda kullanılıyorsa, I öznesi için “am”, You, We, They özneleri için “are” ve he, she, it özneleri için “is” halini alır. Aşağıdaki tabloda “be” fiilinin çekimi verilmiştir:

I am a teacher
You are a student
He is a boy
She is a girl
It is a dog
We are students
You are friends
They are people

“Be” olmak fiilinin olumsuz hali, “not” alarak belirlenir.

I am not a teacher
You aren’t / are not a student
He isn’t / is not a boy
She isn’t / is not a girl
It isn’t / is not a dog
We aren’t / are not students
You aren’t / are not friends
They aren’t / are not people

İngilizce’de soru sorarken yardımcı fiil “be”, öznenin önüne getirilir.

am I a teacher?
are You a student?
is He a boy?
is She a girl?
is It a dog?
are We students?
are You friends?
are They people?

Be olmak fiilinin olumsuz soru çekimi:

am I not a teacher?
aren’t You a student?
isn’t He a boy?
isn’t She a girl?
isn’t It a dog?
aren’t We students?
aren’t You friends?
aren’t They people?

Yukarda Geniş zaman ve Şimdiki zamanda çekimini verdiğimiz “be” olmak fiilinin Geçmiş zamandaki çekimi de “was/were” şeklindedir:

I was a teacher
You were a student
He was a boy
She was a girl
It was a dog
We were students
You were friends
They were people