Phil Druker/Department of English/ University of Idaho

 

BE Verbs
Phil Druker

Here is a list of all the Be Verbs in English:

Am,  is,  are

Was,  Were

Been

Being

Be

 

You should try to avoid these verbs.  Note that I am not saying “do not use them.”  These are perfectly wonderful words and you need to use them, but try to limit their use to 30-35% of your sentences.

Reasons to avoid Be verbs:

·        Clarity

·        Repetition

·        Lack of action

If you want readers to find your documents easy to read or interesting, try to avoid Be verbs.  If you don’t care about your readers, use Be verbs a lot.

 For this course, you need to practice writing for readers, so you should work on expanding your vocabulary so you do not merely rely on Be verbs.

 Note:

“Have, has, had” are not Be Verbs.  They are a different type of auxiliary verb.