(Here, 'have' is an auxiliary verb helping 'been.') When 'been' is not an auxiliary verb, it has a meaning like 'existed in a state of.' (As before, the meaning comes from the verb 'to milk.' The verbs 'have' and 'been' are both auxiliary verbs.) (Notice that 'to be' is both the auxiliary verb ('are') and the main verb ('being') in this example.)Īs a past participle, 'been' is mostly used as an auxiliary verb. When 'being' is not an auxiliary verb, it has a meaning like 'existing in a state of.' (Here, the meaning comes from the verb 'to milk.' The verbs 'are' and 'being' are both auxiliary verbs.) 'Was' and 'Were' are the past tense forms.Īs a present participle, 'being' is mostly used as an auxiliary verb.'Am,' 'Is,' and 'Are' are the present tense forms.'Was' and 'were' are used to show the past progressive tense. 'Am,' 'is,' and 'are' are used to show the present progressive tense. When used as an auxiliary verb, 'to be' helps to show the tense of the verb it is helping. (Here, 'to be' is an auxiliary verb helping the verb 'to paint.')

(Here, 'to be' is an auxiliary verb helping the verb 'to work.') As a main verb, it means 'exist,' 'occur,' or 'happen.' As an auxiliary verb (or helping verb), the meaning comes from the verb it is helping. 'To be' is a special verb because it can be used as a main verb or an auxiliary verb. This graphic shows how the different forms are used.

What is the verb