Glagol biti (to be) u engleskom jeziku može biti glavni (kada ima svoje značenje - She was here yesterday.) ili pomoćni glagol (kada pomaže u gradjenju nekog drugog vremena - She was helping us). U prvom slučaju se prevodi odgovarajućim oblikom glagola biti na srpski jezik. U drugom slučaju, kada je glagol biti pomoćni glagol, on se ne prevodi. Na primer, rečenica He was reading a book, bi bila prevedena On je čitao knjigu. Prevodi se samo glavni glagol, a to je u ovoj rečenici glagol read (čitati). Pomoćni glagol biti se koristi i u uptinim i odričnim rečenicama, ali ni tada se njegovo značenje ne prevodi.
Koji su oblici glagola biti u prošlom vremenu?
potvrdan oblik:
jednina množina
I was We were
You were You were
He was They were
She was
It is was
upitan oblik:
jednina množina
Was I Were we
Were you Were you
Was he Were they
Was she
Was it
odričan oblik (u zagradi su dati skraćeni oblici):
jednina množina
I was not (wasn't) We were not (weren't)
You were not (weren't) You were not (weren't)
He was not (wasn't) They were not (weren't)
She was not (wasn't)
It was not (wasn't)