Grammaire anglaise

Le verbe to be en anglais

Le verbe to be - verbe principal, auxiliaire, ou modal

Aller à...:

1. Le verbe to be comme verbe principal

Le verbe to be est le verbe fondamental utilisé pour indiquer l'existence d'une entité (personne, objet, abstraction) ou pour présenter les qualités ou les caractéristiques d'une entité. En linguistique, on dit parfoit qu'il s'agit d'une copule.

A la différence des verbes transitifs, to be n'est pas suivi d'un c.o.d., mais d'un complément, puisque sujet et complément du verbe to be se réfèrent à la même entité. Le complément de to be peut être un groupe nominal, un adjectif ou une expression prépositionnelle.

Les temps principaux de to be

Personne		Présent	prétérit	Present perfect	Past perfect
1e sing.	I	am	was	have been	had been
2e sing	you	are	were	have been
3e sing	he, she, etc.	is	was	has been
1e pluriel.	we	are	were	have been
2e pluriel	you	are	were	have been
3e pluriel	they	are	were	have been

D'autres temps existent, notamment les temps composés avec des verbes modaux.

Exemples d'emplois du verbe to be comme verbe principal

Exemples
That man is my father.
That man is the winner of last year's Pulitzer Prize.
That man is not very clever
That man is in the middle of the road.
I have been to London before
We were much happier in the summer.
The three women were all sisters.
The child had been in the room all morning, before anyone found him.
You should have been in London last week.

2. Le verbe to be comme auxiliaire

2.1. Les formes progressives avec be

Le verbe to be est utilisé comme auxiliaire pour indiquer l'aspect progressif ou continu d'une action; ainsi il sert à former le temps "présent progressif" et "passé progressif" et d'autres temps progressifs (aussi dénommés présent continu et passé continu, etc.). Dans ces cas, be est suivi du participe présent d'un verbe..

Modèle "stand"	Presént progressif	Futur progressif	Prétérit progressif	Present perfect progressif	Past perfect progressif
1e sing	I am standing	I will be standing	I was standing	I have been standing	I had been standing
2e sing	you are standing	You will be standing	You were standing	You have been standing	You had been standing
3e sing	he / she... is standing	He / she ... will be standing	He/ she ... was standing	He / she... have been standing	he / she ... had been standing
1e pluriel	we are standing	We will be standing	We were standing	We have been standing	We had been standing
2e pluriel	you are standing	You will be standing	You were standing	You have been standing	You had been standing
3e pluriel	they are standing	They will be standing	They were standing	They have been standing	They had been standing

D'autres temps peuvent être formés, y compris les temps avec auxiliaires modaux, par exemple:
I could have been living in Miami
She must have been telling a lie.

2.2. To be comme auxiliaire du passif

Le verbe to be est également employé comme auxiliaire pour former les temps du passif. Dans ces cas, le verbe be est suivi du participe passé d'un verbe..

Modèle "Take"	Présent simple passif	Futur passif	prétérit passif	Present perfect passif	Past perfect passif
1e sing	I am taken	I will be taken	I was taken	I have been taken	I had been taken
3e sing	It... is taken	He / she ... will be taken	He / she ... was taken	He / she ... has been taken	He / she ... had been taken
Etc.

D'autres temps peuvent être formés, y compris les temps avec auxiliaires modaux, par exemple:
You should have been sent home.
They must have been told the truth.

2.3. Les temps du passif progressif

Employé comme auxiliaire dans la formation des temps passifs, et pour donner un aspect progressif au temps, le verbe to be figure ainsi deux fois quand il s'agit d'employer un verbe avec aspect progressif, dans une forme passive.
Si une gamme complète de temps est théoriquement possible, dans la réalité l'anglais ne connaît couramment que deux temps au passif progressif, le présent et le passé ou prétérit.

Modèle "Take"	Présent progressif passif	Passé progressif passif
1e sing	I am being taken	I was being taken
3e sing	It... is being taken	He / she ... was being taken
Etc.

Be remplacé par get :

En anglais courant, le l'auxiliaire be peut souvent être remplacé par get dans l'expression du temps passif (dans les temps simples ou progressifs).

Exemples
I was being / was getting presented to my new boss, when I suddenly felt ill.
The computer system is down, as the software is being/ is getting updated.
The house is being / is getting repainted.
The employees were being given a new uniform.
The boss was given / got given a fine present when he retired.

2.4. Evitez les confusions

N'oubliez pas que quand l'auxiliaire to be est suivi d'un participe présent, le verbe est à l'actif; lorsqu'il est suivi d'un participe passé, le verbe est au passif..

Exemples
The fish were eating their dinner
The fish were eaten for dinner
They were selling cheap watches, when the police arrested them
They were sold cheap watches by a man who said they were valuable.
The children have been asking to go to bed.
The children have been asked to go to bed.

3. Le verbe to be comme verbe modal

Le verbe to be est parfois utilisé comme auxiliaire modal; mais c'est un modal étrange, dans la mesure où il peut revêtir plusieurs sens différents - un sens de futurité, un sens d'obligation, ou un sens un peu entre les deux, un sens de supposition.
A la première et à la troisième personne, ce modal implique le plus souvent la futurité; mais à la seconde personne, le sens le plus courant est l'obligation. Mais cette distribution n'est pas toujours respectée.

Personne		Présent	prétérit
1e sing.	I	I am to get	was to get
2e sing	you	You are to get	were to get
3e sing	he, she, etc.	... is to get	was to get
1e pluriel.	we	... are to get	were to get
2e pluriel	you	... are to get	were to get
3e pluriel	they	... are to get	were to get

Autrement dit, alors que "I'm to get a new job next week" aurait habituellement le sens de "I'm going to get a new job next week" (futurité), et "You're to go to Bristol next week" veut dire habituellement "You should go to Bristol next week" (obligation), ce ne sera pas toujours le cas. Dans de nombreux cas, même si l'ambiguïté est possible, le sens du modal be sera évident en fonction du contexte.

Exemples

The plane was to land at 10. (Sens: The plane was supposed to land at 10.)
I'm to work in Paris next week (I'm going to / have to work in Paris.....)
I'm to build five of these houses ( I must / am supposed to build five..... )
He's to stand as candidate in the election ( He is going to stand.....)
The women were to stay at home that afternoon (The women were meant to / were going to / were supposed to .....)
After entering the forest, they were to get lost. (After entering the forest, they were going to get lost).
After Paris, they were to go to Lyons (After Paris, they were supposed to go to Lyons).
You're to make more effort next time. (You must make more effort ....)
When you get to the hospital, you're to see the doctor at once. (When you get to the hospital, you must see the doctor at once).