Be and Continuous Tenses The verb be can be an auxiliary verb (Marie is
learning English) or a main verb (Marie is French). On this page we
look at the verb be as a main verb. Usually we use simple tenses with the verb be as a main
verb. For example, we say: - London is the capital of the UK.
(not London is
being the capital of the UK.) - Is she beautiful?
(not Is she being
beautiful?) - Were you late?
(not Were you being late?) Sometimes, however, we can use the verb be with a
continuous tense. This is when the real sense of the verb be is "act" or
"behave". Also, of course, the action is temporary. Compare the examples in the
table below:  | Here is the structure of the verb be in the
continuous present tense:
I am being
You are
being
He, she, it is being
We are being
They are
being | |
| Mary is a careful person. (Mary is always careful - it's
her nature.) | John is being careful. (John is acting carefully now, but
maybe he is not always careful - we don't know.) | | Is he always so stupid? (Is that his personality?) | They were being really stupid. (They were behaving really
stupidly at that moment.) | | Andrew is not usually selfish. (It is not Andrew's
character to be selfish.) | Why is he being so selfish? (Why is he acting so selfishly
at the moment?) | Notice that we also make a difference between "to be sick" and
"to be being sick": - She is sick (= she is not well)
- She is being sick (= she is vomiting)
Now check your understanding
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