How to Use TO BE (infinitive) and BE (base)

hi everybody welcome back to right to the top I'm Adam in today's video I'm gonna look at the be verb but I'm not gonna look at the very basic aspect of the be verb I'm gonna look at something a little bit more complicated a little bit more advanced what I'm talking about are the infinitive and base uses of the be verb so not the am is are was were will be etc I'm looking at only to be and be without any changes and the different structures that use these forms of the beaver it was very very important especially in writing because even little mistakes can change the meaning completely the meaning of your sentence completely so I'm gonna give you a few different looks at these verbs so let's start with the most commonly used forms of to be and I'm talking about the infinitive phrases now it's very important to understand what infinitive means infinitive means without time or timeless is the more correct aspect so we're looking at the idea not the specific action nobody or no subject is doing any action to an object right this is the idea so we're looking at it as not a main verb because remember a main verb must take a tense in a clause the infinitive verb because it is timeless cannot take a tense obviously and therefore it cannot be a main verb so here we're looking at it as the infinitive phrase and the infinitive phrase meaning there's no clause just a phrase no subject a verb can be used as an object a subject or complement in a sentence so I'm gonna give you some examples little Cindy isn't sure what she wants to be when she grows up so here to be when she grows up you have an infinitive phrase followed by an adverb clause but you're looking at this whole phrase as the object to the verb wants so to be what wants what to be something when she grows up and then you have the adverb clause connected so the actual to be as is the what to be what wants to be something whatever that's something is she doesn't know that's the whole point but anyways you have an infinitive phrase answering the question what answering becoming the object of the verb once that's one it is important to be ready at all times in this case we have an infinitive phrase to be ready at all times as the subject of the sentence now you might be a little bit confused because it's coming later in the sentence here we have something called a dummy subject you could write this sentence as to be ready at all times is important but this is not a very comfortable way to write a sentence which is why we generally move the phrase to the end and put the dummy subject the it in its place but that's what it's working at it that's how it's working in this sentence as a subject one must work hard this is a complete clause you have a subject you have a verb you have a compliment how it should work why to be successful in life you could say in order to be successful in life you have a more complete phrase but then it's a prepositional phrase because in is a preposition or you can just have the infinitive phrase to be with the same meaning so this is working as a complement to work hard why should you work hard to be successful so here you have your infinitive phrases these are a little bit straightforward I think most people are okay with these now we're going to get a little bit more tricky and where a lot of people have problems with the infinitive is with the infinitive passive we have a be verb and then a to be following it the first be the initial B is a conjugated one this is like the main verb it takes the tense is to be are to be am to be was to be etc the thing you have to remember is when we using B to be is our to be with infinitive means it's gonna be followed by a participle in the simple tense the Amma's are we're implying a future means we're suggesting something that isn't true yet it's going to be true it's coming but it isn't right this particular moment so it's a little bit of a future which is also why we never use will be to be but I'll talk about that in a moment and when we use this infinitive passive with a simple first be verb we're generally talking about an arrangement or a plan or an order or the opposite of an order is a prohibition so order to order not to so with prohibition you're going to use the not the negative form of the verb I'll give you some examples all visitors are to be quarantined upon arrival means when they do come here again they're not here now it's in the future so when they do come or every time a new visitor comes this person is to be quarantined so the the authorities will quarantine this person okay put them in a separate place to make sure they're not sick visitors are to be given special consideration so the first one is more of an order or an arrangement like it's everything you said every time a visitor comes they will be quarantined visitors are to be given special consideration this is also the plan or the order you when the visitors come give them special consideration so they are to be given special consideration visitors are not to be treated differently so you're not allowed to treat them differently than the residents of the place that's a prohibition but again all of this implies when this happens means future time it could be very like very near future but it's not yet the case we were supposed to be given or we were to be given instructions now when you're talking about an infinitive passive in the past so the war in this case the the main verb is were so past tense generally this means that it probably didn't happen if it if it did happen then we were given instructions right very simple we were to be given instructions the idea is that we weren't or we can't confirm that the instructions were given it's not it's not a fact it's it was supposed to be that way that was the plan we're not sure exactly if it happened or not or it just didn't happen right now all of these are used with b2b it's much easier to turn the stand like for example the visitors are to arrive at noon means they're set - that was the plan that was the arrangement so when you have a different verb are to arrive arrive is the main verb like the active verb there are to arrive suggest say this is an active not passive so it's much easier to understand but what do you have are to be with another verb it's always going to be a passive and it's always going to be about an applied future but there are situations where we don't use a passive with b2b here we have the active the visitors are to be here within the hour so that's the arrangement we made an arrangement they're supposed to be here at 5 o'clock it's now 4 o'clock or 4:15 so they are going to be here within the hour they are to be here you could say the visitors are going to be here within the hour you don't need to that that's more of a fact are to be here I'm just telling you what the arrangement was it's a slight difference in meaning but again both of them are future if you are to be here more than an hour then what more than one hour should be more than let's say an hour if you are to be here more than an hour you will need special permission so if your plan or if you are going to or if you are planning to be here more than an hour if you are to be here again plan order arrangement etc and you can notice that the reason I'm using this as an active is because here is not a verb this is the that's being used as the main and our is the auxiliary obviously and that's why you can use it as an active once you add the extra verb then you have like four verbs are to be given are to be one given so three verbs sorry here you have to it followed by an adverb then you have an active if we are to be ready followed by an adjective for the test we should start preparing so if this is our goal this is what we should do right so again always implying a little bit of a future nevertheless to be ready for the test we should start preparing right away in this case we have a infinitive and infinitive phrase it basically applies this phrase applies to the entire clause that comes after this is called an absolute phrase but I'll do a different video about the different types of phrases okay now do not remember I already mentioned that it's implying a future because it's implying a future you cannot use will be to be right then you have too many futures and it gets a little bit well redundant but a little bit confusing as well so you can say going to be or just are to be she is going to be given a choice again very definite future she's going to be given a choice this is already a fact this has already been decided whereas she is to be given a choice it's just a plan it hasn't been done yet it's not yet a fact yet she is going to be happy with her choice or she is to be happy with her choice if you're not entirely sure it but it's a definite future plan just use going to be it's much easier than leaving it all out now other uses of be verb now we're looking at the B as a base not as an infinitive and we're looking at the subjunctive this is the subjunctive is a particular irregular structure clause structure if you're not too sure about it I've made an actual a whole video about the subjunctive you can link there's a link to it up there but just to give you a quick review it is important that's do be now when you have it is adjectives certain adjectives followed by a that Clause the be verb is always going to be a base verb other verbs will be base of that verb but the be verb because it's not M is R is a little bit confusing and a lot of students get this incorrect it is adjectives that cause the be verb is B not any conjugation and the same for the doctor advised that so when you have certain verbs and again those are listed in that video I made some verbs followed by a that cause you're gonna use the be verb now notice that here you can also have the B admitted you can still have a base infinite passive a base verb passive now just in case you're not exactly sure about the subjunctive you've heard this word before there are other types of subjunctive then you use a special form of the be verb so she would have been selected if she were if you have if you also have work if you have wish you're also gonna use work so notice that she is not she if she was if I was if she were if I were if you were if they were if we were always work I wish I were you wish you weren't she wishes she worked always work with it in which this is just another form of the subjunctive that you can review a bit later but we're talking about the beaver beer today this is a plain beaver just a plain beaver bat infinity now another time you use the beaver business the modal verbs must can should ought to may etc these are all modal verbs and the key to remember here is that when you see a be verb with a modal verb focus on the modal verb that is the function of the verb in the sentence not the be verb the modal another thing to remember is when you have the modal verb with a be verb there are two possible meanings that you can use it's not always the same thing so that's the examples the president you may not be approached without authorization in this case may not be approached means you don't have permission you are prohibited from approaching the president's due to unexpected demand deliveries may be late and they are cheap maybe in this case we're talking about a possibility there it's likely that or it's possible that it will be delayed you may not be prohibited may be allowed may be possible so different meanings when you mix the modal so concentrate on the function of the modal not the beaver but use the be verb don't use may our may is may well be that doesn't work you should be working and again you can use the B with an ing or past participle you should be working on your project should be suggestion the plane should be landing soon I think it should be landing soon it's a guess it's likelihood like a possibility but more like a probability in this case dogs must be kept on a leash this is a rule it must be that's the mandatory she must be stuck in traffic where is Linda where is Lisa I don't know she must be stuck in traffic I'm just guessing it's a possibility or a probability because of her qualifications she could be selected for the position here you have to be a little bit careful because it could could just mean the past tense so because she was qualified she was able to be she could be selected in the past she would that's the situation or a hypothetical situation possible she could be because she's qualified it's possible that she will be because of her qualifications she could be the CEO she could be again this is more likely my hypothetical so with the modal verbs don't concentrate on the B concentrate on the modal and see the context of how it's being used now a couple more things to look at they had to be told so now I have the affinity of passive but I have had mortal they must be told what to do they must have been told what to do so here I'm not using B I'm using the beam this is a different form I'm gonna make another video about a general review of the beaver but very careful that you understand the different uses here they had to be told what to do so in the past someone had to tell them they must be told somebody must tell them they must have been told I guess that somebody told them it's very likely that somebody told them that's why they know now they must have been told why do they know somebody must have told them etc okay and that's a different form entirely so that's basically it's very very narrow focus of this video but it's very important that you understand the different uses of the infinitive and the base use of the be verb without mixing them up with all the other forms of you know simple present and continuous and perfect and all that stuff make sure you know exactly what you're trying to say with each of these be verb forms okay now if you have any questions about any of this please ask me in the YouTube comments section you can also go to my Instagram page or my Instagram page I guess my Facebook page you can also go to my you can come and join my facebook group where you can read a lot with other people you can write to other people have some sort of contact and ask all these questions get to know how to use all the grammar correctly especially for writing okay and that's it if you liked the video give me a like don't forget to subscribe to my channel don't forget to click the notification button to get notices of new videos and come back for more videos about writing and grammar and English and all kinds of interesting things okay see you again soon bye bye

Channel: Write to Top

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Keywords: IELTS, TOEFL, English writing, writing skills, language test, English grammar, English vocabulary, how to write an essay, essay writing, English test, English skills, test preparation, IELTS high score, TOEFL high score, lexical resource, language skills, how to write in English, IELTS high band, IELTS writing, TOEFL writing, academic writing, academic vocabulary, IELTS prep, IELTS test, TOEFL test, IELTS success, TOEFL success, English teacher Adam, BE verb

Id: 1iNU5viel3o

Length: 17min 38sec (1058 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 01 2020