English for Agriculture unit 2 grammar

GRAMMAR

Form of the Verb to be

Look at the following sentences:

1. Lowland rice is the most important crop.
2. Irrigation is vital.
3. There is enough water.
4. Agriculture is one of the world's most important industries.

Please note that

• these sentences all use a form of the verb 'to be'.
• in these cases the form = is
• however, the verb 'to be' has many forms.

The most important forms of the verb to be:

Tense	Form
Present	is (singular) / are (plural)
Future Simple	will be
Future with 'going to'	is going to be / are going to be
Past Simple	was / were
Present Perfect	has been / have been
Auxilliary Constructions	can be / may be /should be / etc.

Note:

• Usually, there is only one present tense used for the verb 'to be'.
• Present continuous tense is not used in these types of construction.

Look at how we use 'to be' with different time periods:

Tense	When?
Present	Lowland rice is the most important crop now.
Future Simple	Lowland rice will be the most important crop in the future.
Future with 'going to'	Lowland rice is going to be the most important crop in the future.
Past Simple	Lowland rice was the most important crop in the past.
Present Perfect	Lowland rice has been the most important crop for a long time.
Auxilliary Constructions	Lowland rice must be the most imortant crop now.

Note that the sentences used the singular form of the verb 'to be'.  The following set of sentences show how plural nouns use a different form of 'to be':

Tense	When?
Present	In Europe, potatoes are one of the most important crops now.
Future Simple	In Europe, potatoes will be one of the most important crops in the future.
Future with 'going to'	In Europe, potatoes are going to be one of the most important crops in the future.
Past Simple	In Europe, potatoes were one of the most important crops in the past.
Present Perfect	In Europe, potatoes have been one of the most important crops for many years
Auxilliary Constructions	In Europe, potatoes must be one of the most important crops at the moment.

WRITE A SENTENCE IN THE COMMENT BOX, USING THE FORM TO BE IN EACH TIME TENSE.

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Watch the following video and write a short summary, do it in the cooment box.